Apple CEO Tim Cook took a shot at Microsoft, calling its Surface Book laptop “deluded,” according to Irish Independent’s Adrian Weckler.
Apple later walked back the quote, telling Weckler that Cook meant to say “diluted.” But regardless of the phrasing, it’s clear Cook thinks Microsoft’s attempts to create a flagship “hybrid” laptop are misguided.
Cook said the Surface Book, Microsoft’s “ultimate laptop,” is “a product that tries too hard to do too much. It’s trying to be a tablet and a notebook and it really succeeds at being neither.”
This isn’t the first time an Apple executive has criticized Microsoft’s commitment to the “hybrid” tablet-laptop market.
In a recent interview with Mashable, Apple’s SVP of marketing, Phil Schiller, dismissed the idea that there was even a real market for hybrids.
“There certainly are more offerings today, more people trying to create a market, but based on all the data that I’ve been able to see, it is still incredibly small and niche and may not be growing to anything significant,” Schiller told Mashable.
Both of these comments are significant in light of Apple’s release of the iPad Pro, its giant tablet that Cook claims can replace your laptop — and includes a keyboard attachment.
Is this not a hybrid of sorts?
Most of the early reviews of the iPad Pro have been positive, but criticism has centered around the iPad Pro’s inability to bridge the gap between laptop and tablet using accessories like a stylus and a keyboard.
Maybe Cook is right. It’s hard to have one device replace a laptop and tablet — even if you’re Apple.
Business Insider has reached out to Apple for comment.
Business Insider
