Both laptops are widely renowned as the ultimate to-go tools for either Apple or Windows creative professionals, but which device stands out?

In terms of portability, the latest MacBook Pro wins by being smaller and more compact than the Surface Book. The Surface Book has actually the thinnest point of 13mm, just 1mm thinner than the MacBook, but its bending hinge creates a gap when the laptop is closed. Microsoft's device has 22.8 mm as its thickest point.

Apple's MacBook Pro also only weighs 1.37kg, compared to the Surface Book that weighs 1.51kg.

The MacBook's has an aluminum unibody, while the Surface Book has a magnesium build. Apple's flagship laptop has two color options - silver and space grey, while Microsoft offers the laptop only in silver color.

The Surface Book has a 6% bigger display area than the MacBook Pro by the former using a 13.5" screen than the latter's 13.3". The Surface Book also has more pixel density as it boasts a 267ppi rating at 3000x2000, compared to the MacBook's 227ppi, 2560x1600 Retina display.

Microsoft's machine may also serve as a tablet my making the two halves detachable. Furthermore, the Surface Book has a 10-point multi-touch sensitive screen, something Apple reserved for their iPhone and iPad.

The MacBook Pro has a 720p camera above the screen, while the Surface Book, being a tablet-laptop convertible, has an 8-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front camera. Furthermore, logging in to the Surface Book via facial recognition is possible with the Windows Hello technology.

Upon purchase, the Surface Book ships with the Surface Pen to compliment for the device's touch screen. The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, has the Touch Bar, an OLED strip that dynamically changes its contents according to the current app in use. In addition to the Touch Bar, it also has a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

Both laptops may feature Core i5 or Core i7 processors, up to 1TB of solid-state storage, and up to 16 GB of RAM. In terms of ports, however, Apple made a controversial move with including only Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C ports. The Surface Book, on the other hand, keeps it simple but more accessible by including 2 full-size USB 3.0 ports, and an SD card slot.

Additionally, the MacBook Pro requires using a Thunderbolt charger, thus having one less free port to use while plugged in. The Surface Book has a dedicated, magnetic charging port.

Under full charge, Apple estimates up to 10 hours of web browsing for the MacBook Pro, while Microsoft claims up to 16 hours of usage for the Surface Book. The latter's main batter is in its keyboard compartment, however, and tablet mode usage drops to only a few hours.

The Surface Book ships with Windows 10, while the MacBook Pro runs on macOS Sierra. With Boot Camp, a Windows 10 installation on a MacBook Pro is also possible.

The base models of the two laptops are competitively priced with each other, both starting at $1,499. A performance edition of the Surface Book, however, starts at $2,399, while the Touch Bar variant of the MacBook Pro starts at $1,799.

It is worth mentioning that the new MacBook Pro is a lighter and thinner version of the tried-and-tested laptop that people used to love over the years, while the Surface Book is a breath of fresh air with its new and unique approach, especially with professional creative computing.