When Microsoft unveiled a number of new devices last month, a surprise treat for fans was also announced. The Redmond-based company is entering the full laptop workstation market with the first-ever Microsoft Surface Book.

Meanwhile, speculations and rumors about the possible new iteration of Apple's laptop lineup, the 2016 MacBook Air, have surfaced online. Observers have then asked, which of these two would be a better workhorse?

Platform environment

One of the factors that would make a head-to-head comparison between the two is which of the two environments users will find more convenient. The recent laptop lineups of Apple have all enjoyed the OS X environment, and since the Cupertino-based company has already made headway into its newest OS X El Capitan, observers expect that the 2016 version of the MacBook Air will carry it right out of the box.

Meanwhile, as a Microsoft product, the Surface Book has been featured with the newest Windows 10 platform, with all its bells and whistles present. Tighter security, continuous and regular updates, and a more varied and user-prompted experience via Cortana were all highlighted by Microsoft when it announced Windows 10.

Hardware features

As one of the newest releases, the Surface Book has been confirmed to have a 3000 x 2000 resolution brought out by its 13.5-inch PixelSense display. Meanwhile, still unconfirmed, it is said that the new MacBook lineups will be able to support 4K display, as Apple laptops are reportedly favored by graphics professionals. In addition, the 2016 MacBook Air is said to come out in two variants, the 13-inch and 15-inch versions.

Under the hood, the Surface Book is run by 6th-gen Intel Core, which came in i5 and i7 versions depending on the model. The memory is also a variable, and users may opt for the base 8-GB RAM and go up from there. Meanwhile, according to Yibada, the new MacBooks, both the Air and Pro versions, will come with an Intel Skylake processor.