A launch film that rivalled Apple's own
Microsoft released the launch film for its Surface Studio on October 26, 2016, at its Windows 10 Event in New York, alongside the announcement of the product itself. The spot marked a measurable shift in how Microsoft presented its hardware: a slow, cinematic, tightly choreographed product film that placed the all-in-one desktop in the visual language long associated with premium consumer technology, and specifically with Apple. Industry reaction captured the intent immediately. Writing for Ad Age on October 27, Simon Dumenco titled his review "Microsoft Just Out-Apple'd Apple With This Insanely Gorgeous Surface Studio Ad."
Microsoft's first real hardware film
The spot represented Microsoft's first serious attempt to advertise its own hardware at the cinematic register that Apple had developed across more than a decade of iPhone and iPad product films. Prior Surface campaigns had leaned on informational comparison advertising or user-focused lifestyle spots. The Surface Studio launch film set the product in a wordless, music-led visual narrative, a register historically reserved by Microsoft competitors rather than Microsoft itself.
The shift aligned with the product positioning of the Surface Studio as a creative workstation for illustrators, designers, and architects. By committing to the aesthetic codes of premium product cinema, Microsoft positioned the Surface line as a direct alternative to Apple's iMac for the professional creative audience, supported by the pen and Surface Dial inputs that the film made central to its staging. The reception in the creative press and from the production community confirmed that the gesture registered.
Source: EE Store Youtube
