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To be objective, if you are looking for a tablet first, the iPad is much better. The iPad is the best tablet you can buy. If your need is for more of a true laptop computer with the bonus of occasional use in tablet mode, then the Surface would be a better choice. It all depends on your needs, and also whether or not you are a Windows user. The two devices are not direct competitors, despite whatever the advertisement says. An iPad versus a Surface is an apples versus oranges comparison. I own both an iPad mini and a 13 inch Windows notebook that has a tablet mode. Both are excellent devices, but are for different uses. I use them both heavily.
 
When you consider what the vast majority use a computer with a desktop OS for, it’s really a 1:1 substitute. Are there millions who have needs above and beyond any tablet form factor? ABSOLUTELY true. Are there hundreds of millions that only check email, surf the web, and other light tasks? Also true. Just considering that the majority of people running a “Desktop OS” are doing so on some mobile device, indicates that for most people, a computer is “that thing I check my email on and face my books” for which even a phone would be sufficient.

The main miss I see with the Surface is the lack of cellular support. It’s a mobile device capable of accessing the internet but can only do so with the help of additional hardware.

The Surface Pro 7+ has an LTE model.
 
They're not wrong, but they're missing the point. If you're looking for a Windows machine get a Surface. If you're looking for iOS then get an iPad.

If you're looking for a tablet computer then the choice isn't as straightforward...but maybe you should start with a cheap Amazon tablet or an iPad and see how it works out.
 
😂Until the surface run window I prefer to spend 10k on another device and adding 1k more for a stand.
 
I like my iPhone 12 Pro as my daily driver, my iPad mini for media content, but my Surface Pro X for all other stuff where I need/want to use my mouse and I know I am going to be sitting down for awhile, extended researches, writing on my personal blog, updating hobby site, travel planning etc. I like my Mac Mini for creating family videos since most of my media is on my iPhone. One is not really better than another, I just use what I need depending on what I'm doing.
 
A hybrid is a compromised laptop and a very compromised tablet. Apple has taken the right approach by focusing on dedicated hardware for each approach.

I bought my iPad Pro 12.9 second-hand and it came with the official keyboard as well, but I have never used the keyboard, even though I use an iMac, not a laptop.

Yes, but you know the second Apple comes out with their own MacOS tablet (and you know they will eventually), people here will go ape**** over it and how revolutionary it is.
 
I’m sure this will be an unpopular opinion here, but yes I would choose the surface pro IF I were looking for a single device solution. iPad is a better tablet by far, but even now, it’s a poor substitute for a computer with a desktop OS.
A single device that has no compromises doesn’t exist. And if I need to use a computer running Windows I would never use anything other than a laptop or desktop.
 
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I think the iPad Pro has one of the most interesting growth potential out there still. Not the iPhone, and not even the Mac despite the M1 revolution but the iPad (pro)
There’s no PC vendor that sells more mobile systems than Apple sells iPads and Apple STILL has lots of room to grow.
 
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What Microsoft should have done....

See, with a Microsoft surface tablet, you can minimize your work, switch to something else, come back later and hey, it's still there ready for yout to finish, app doesn't suddenly 'forget itself'.

With an ipad, look lets minimize our work, switch to something else, but when you come back, oh look, app has reset itself and totally forgotten where you were at. Hope you saved that work somewhere else to pick back up.
 
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The ad isn't wrong though with the iPad Pros shortfalls. It might not be what everyone wants/needs/cares about, and the surface may be just as bad/the ipad does other things way better.

But it isn't wrong, dongles/lack of 'proper OS' can be really limiting on the ipad pro for some use cases. And no, throwing another 1k at a laptop isn't always the answer, even more so now they more or less have identical chipsets.
What does ‘proper OS’ mean?
 
Yes, but you know the second Apple comes out with their own MacOS tablet (and you know they will eventually), people here will go ape**** over it and how revolutionary it is.
If iPad wasn’t beating every other laptop in sales, they MIGHT have went in that direction. As it is, the only folks that want a macOS tablet (complete with non-tablet optimized apps) are folks that grew up on macOS. That market is small and shrinking everyday.
 
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Funny! “Many people wanted me to compare...” Did people call Microsoft and ask for that kid to do this comparison since his first appearance?

Don’t get why they create commercials where they try to make him appear like a youtuber. Dora any work, at all...
 
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Big whoop. I have a touch-screen PC. I never use the touch screen. My guess is that nobody does except for a few special use-cases which would explain why Apple ditched the Touchbar. I also have a MPB with one and it looks cool but I rarely use it for anything that traditional keyboard buttons used to do.
We have three touchscreen PC's in our household, a Dell all-in-one desktop with a 27" screen, a Dell 15" laptop, and a Samsung Galaxy Book Flex Alpha 13.3" 2-in-1, primarily used by my husband. He never, ever uses the touchscreen on any of them. Even my kids, who are used to their iPads and iPhones (and touchscreen Chromebooks issued by their schools), when they very occasionally use the Dell desktop and Dell laptop, surprisingly never reach for the screen.

Weighing in on the original theme of this discussion, I have found that I can get absolutely everything done for my work on my combo of an 11" iPad Pro, Smart Keyboard Folio, and Apple Pencil. Granted, I know that not everybody can, but for my work purposes I can and I would love an iPad Pro with an even bigger 15" screen, paired with a Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil. The combo has the perfect versatility I want, in that I never use a case with my iPad and I love being able to simply and quickly attach and un-attach the keyboard based on whether I want to get work done, or have some leisure time/entertainment. I actually just sold my 11" iPad Pro to purchase the (hopefully-soon-to-be-out) 12.9" with Magic Keyboard, and hopefully sometime in the future Apple will come out with a bigger iPad Pro which will be a day one purchase for me.

I bought my husband the Surface Pro (the biggest screen size, with the best specs), along with the keyboard and pen, and we both used it extensively for a few weeks (I really wanted to get a feel for it and give it a chance, see what it was like to use on a daily basis, although it was really for my husband). We both disliked it immensely. And my husband uses PC's regularly. As many people have said, it was not a good tablet when we used it in tablet mode, and not a good laptop in laptop mode, but a sort of compromise between the two. The touch interface was nowhere near as good and smooth as on the iPad; same goes when using the Surface Pen vs. Apple Pencil. My husband said the laptop/PC experience was far superior on his Samsung laptop; I felt the tablet experience was basically crap on the Surface and leaps and bounds better on the iPad. My husband would frequently just go back to using his Samsung laptop and I'd go back to my iPad Pro/keyboard/Pencil. Needless to say we returned the Surface Pro.
 
Predictably, their two ads are:
- Surface vs MacBook, which complains that the MacBook isn't a tablet
- Surface vs iPad, which complains that the iPad isn't a laptop

I still think iPads are silly luxuries mostly only for people who can afford to also buy a laptop. If you really need both in one and don't mind Windows, seems Microsoft is there for you.
Yeah no. I used to run a laptop and an iPad, but now am running an iPad and M1 Mini. I just don't need a laptop anymore. For anything out and about, the iPad is great. Music, photos, video, reading, docs, remote support, etc.
 
There's one thing *both have problems with, in our workshop, there are a lot of tiny metal pieces, they stick to the magnets, the surface I had got those pieces in between the keyboard and in the charging port, what a pain in the behind.


*Haven't used an iPad Pro yet in our workshop.
And those magnets are STRONG, too, as I’m reminded every time some metal ends up attached to my device LOL Are there vendors aware of your requirements that work to meet your needs? With many systems using magnets for fairly trivial tasks, I’d guess there’s few that your folks can use.
 
Video does have good points. Surface form factor, kickstand and keyboard are better than iPad Pro and rubbish magic keyboard. No way I'm paying $1100+ for a dumbed down and locked down iPad Pro that's only barely decent for consumption. That said I would skip the Surface Pro 7 and get the Surface Pro 7+ or wait for Surface Pro 8 and hope it comes with AMD instead of Intel.
 
Yeah no. I used to run a laptop and an iPad, but now am running an iPad and M1 Mini. I just don't need a laptop anymore. For anything out and about, the iPad is great. Music, photos, video, reading, docs, remote support, etc.
people who can also afford to buy a laptop (or in rare cases, a desktop)**
 
It's not so much the buying thats the problem for me. It's the physical need to carry both devices around. Seems pointless to me when the insides are the same. Since I can't remove the keyboard from a laptop, I'd much rather get around the ipads shortfalls with software (i.e. remote desktop). Really shouldn't have to given the hardware/price but there we go. Still suffers with the lack of external display support though...
I'd argue there is quite a negative here for Apple as given I'm not really able to utilise the hardware to its full potential, there's absoluetely zero reason for me to upgrade it. I don't think that's going away anytime soon unless they decide to allow people that want to be able to utitlise the hardware fully the ability to do so. The 'normal' iPad line up can stay as is, but the 'Pro' line really needs some love now, specifically on the software side.
I agree with all of that as far as usability goes. There's no technical reason the iPad line needs to exist alongside the Mac line. But it seems like Apple has found it more profitable to do that.
 
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I’m sure this will be an unpopular opinion here, but yes I would choose the surface pro IF I were looking for a single device solution. iPad is a better tablet by far, but even now, it’s a poor substitute for a computer with a desktop OS.
I really wish iPadOS had the ability to create encrypted containers -- like how you can create an encrypted disk image on a Mac using Disk Utility. I'm sure it's not heavily requested, but that's one of the top features that would make it a more capable, computer-like device in my eyes.
 
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