Microsoft Pits Surface Pro 7 Against iPad Pro, Says Surface is 'Still the Better Choice'

[hot-gril]

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.

Seems like a niche request, but yeah, macOS has always been amazingly flexible about volumes. I've made extensive use of encrypted containers, external boot disks, boot partitions, AFPS's higher-layer partitions, network volumes, software RAID (that's bootable!), ...

For a while I had a striped RAID set of disk image volumes stored on separate partitions of separate physical disks. And it was easy to set up.

 

[ani4ani]

The iPad Pro (2018 12.9") that I've been using for the past couple of years, became my primary daily device in early 2020 when Apple launched iPadOS with trackpad support. That solved the biggest issue I had with it, using Numbers absolutely sucked having to touch the screen for every cell action. It's also not great for multi-tasking, but it's clear they're working to improve that too - and frankly multi-tasking on just about any 12.9" screen has its own challenges. I've held off on getting an M1 MBA because I am more interested in upgrading the iPad Pro because it is such a great multi-use device, imho.

Just use your external monitors for proper multi-tasking....oh wait!

 

[Bawstun]

That Surface is running an Intel i3 processor, has a fan, and its thicker, bulkier & heavier, almost a no go as a tablet (and let's not talk about tablet optimized apps in Windows), and at the same time is very slow as a laptop. The 2 in 1 Intel devices have always being a compromise, as they're usually inferior as both a tablet & a traditional laptop.

The iPad Pro is no laptop, but you get the best tablet experience available, best performance, battery life, app support, etc.

Not anymore...

 

[neoelectronaut]

The complaints about "dongles" in 2021 feels like the complaints about the iMac not having a floppy drive in 1998.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

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.

The Surface Pro is even a crappy LAPtop. It's a mediocre, portable "real computer", a crappy laptop and a crappy tablet.

 

[jlocker]

Microsoft entered the tablet market late, trying to one up Apple. They had a series of issues with the first Surface units. I am not a fan of trying to make a tablet a all purpose computer. Their is a lot of compromises doing that. I would rather have a tablet like my iPad for tablet work and a desktop/laptop for functional work. Microsoft has done a great job on the Xbox Series X gaming systems. Apple tried to do it with Bandai and failed on gaming. So Microsoft has had successes, I just don't think the Surface is one of them.

 

[JosephAW]

"Surface Pro carries Windows"

Comparison over.

PS: ..and Intel.

Is it Intel? Or at that price tag is it arm?

 

[Mr.Blacky]

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.

I (basically) grew up on macOS, but I still don't want kt on my iPad. All I want is some functionality from macOS in iPad OS.

 

[fenderbass146]

One with icons that can be organized in little pictures of folders on a desktop, I’m guessing.

or a real file system...the "file" browser on iPad is a lame excuse. Functions as simple as drag and drop and copy and paste are tricky. I really do use my iPad Pro for almost everything. I recently got a gopro and figure I'd load the videos on there and play with them...what a nightmare. They wouldn't play smoothly off the SD card, so I tried to copy them to Files...they are 5 GB files and I didn't even get a progress meter. It was so clunky. I switched to my mac for that in a heartbeat. iOS has come a long way....still has a very long way to go to be a true desktop replacement


ultimate answer. Give me iOS when no magic keyboard attached, when I attach a magic keyboard give me MacOS. The hardware is there.

 

[lyunmac]

For work I would choose the Surface no doubt. I can dock it to two monitors easily and run multiple apps on different windows spread out. It's more efficient simple as that. Now if I was looking for a tablet I would choose the iPad Pro and not the Surface. It has more apps built for it, I'm not dealing with windows, its blue screens and not dealing with wifi driver issues. The iPad I feel is good for single screen apps and tasks and your managing your own business. Now if Apple can enable a Dex mode on the iPad like Samsung has on their tablets then it's iPad hands down.

 

[minivini]

Microsoft today shared an ad that pits the Surface Pro 7 against Apple's iPad Pro, in a continuation of a Surface Pro 7 vs. MacBook ad campaign that kicked off in January.

The ad highlights the Surface Pro 7's kickstand, pointing out that the iPad does not have a built-in kickstand option, and it calls the iPad Pro's keyboard "a lot heavier" than the Surface option.

Microsoft also goes for the dongle angle, pointing out that the iPad Pro only has a single USB-C port while the Surface Pro 7 has several available ports. "You wanna be this guy?" says the actor in the ad, while holding up an iPad with a dongle attached.

"iPad Pro's just a tablet," adds the actor. "Surface is a whole computer and a tablet." The ad ends by pointing out the price with the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard, which comes to $1,348 for the 12.9-inch model ($999 + $349 for the keyboard). Microsoft's Surface Pro 7 is priced starting at $750, and Microsoft says the version used in the ad is $880, which includes the cost of the keyboard.

Microsoft's previous Surface Pro 7 ad compared the tablet to the MacBook Pro, pointing out its touchscreen vs. the Touch Bar and calling the Surface Pro a "much better gaming device" than the MacBook Pro.

Microsoft often likes to position its Surface line as a tablet/computer experience that Apple is unable to compete with because it has no convertible devices. Intel too has been claiming that touchscreen-based convertible computers are better than Apple's M1 Macs in its ongoing anti-Mac ad campaign.

Apple executives have long said that they have no plans to combine the Mac and iPad lineups, and Apple engineering chief Craig Federighi said in November that Apple does not have plans for a touchscreen Mac.

Article Link: Microsoft Pits Surface Pro 7 Against iPad Pro, Says Surface is 'Still the Better Choice'

Not surprising. The iPad Pro and the Surface Pro are different animals. I have both a Surface Pro and a 2018 iPad Pro. I can definitely do more on the Surface Pro. It’s a full computer, as capable as most any laptop plus touch. There are things I use each for. Not a valid compass far as I’m concerned.

 

[CDubMac]

better choice for gaming. sure. it still has solitaire preinstalled.

HAHAHA 👍

 

[MBAir2010]

didn't this spokespersonKID compare some Surface to a MacBook Pro during the sports events TV Ads this year?
he really likes his game!
and the price, that price....

personally the current iPad Pro might be better than the Surface in 2021, but not in 2024!

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Every single thing on the Ad is true. This is effective marketing on Microsoft's side.

But I'd still go for the iPad, BECAUSE it's not trying to be both a tablet and a laptop.

The iPad is unique, and it's that uniqueness that makes it better than anything else out there: It's a touch-based device that you can also use as a keyboard/mouse device sometimes.

Microsoft tries to do both, and fails on both fronts when compared to dedicated laptops and iPads. Why? Because they shoehorned touch-based controls onto a mouse-centric desktop OS.

Compared to Apple's, Microsoft's touch implementations alone (trackpads, multi-touch, etc.) SUCK.

HARD.

To try to then do a device like the Surface COMPOUNDS these problems.

I concede that for many of you this is a non issue, but I just cannot put up with this.

I use a mouse and keyboard with a PC. Period. Everything else is simply unacceptable to me.

 

[MauiPa]

Won’t talk about the merits of the devices, but the pricing is disingenuous.

Apple: full list price (no discounts)
MS: discounted price at MS Store.

Unless your remote in to a much more powerful machine, then it can do more than a laptop (unless you remote in with that.)

Hahaha. No offense but that is disengenuous. The “real computer” has a i3 with 4 gig running windows. Lol. Not even going to boot. iPad pros run specifically designed and compiled programs to optimize the hardware/software, not iPhone apps as you say

the low specs of the chosen surface pro model means you can’t run many programs on it period you would be happy to be able to run phone apps

I’d never say the iPad Pro is the best match for all use situations, but for a lot of them in handily beats the surface pro 7 , especially the low end one

 

[alexandr]

and to be frank, part of my original comment was targeted at the MR readers who cry out wolf when some other business says something bad about Apple ... it's a business, not a cult (anymore), a very successful business led by business people.

and i can stand by that remark as well. i have no issue when people make valid arguments against apple(or any other company/brand), but most of these comparisons, like the intel videos using the "i'm a mac" guy, are presenting very subjective and biased info, using only specific scenarios that work in their favor. that i'm not a fan of.

 

[Rafterman]

HAHAHA 👍

It is a better choice for gaming. Windows has 100 times more games than MacOS has.

 

[cgsnipinva]

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 wouldn't argue that scenario, but its a false choice - the iPad is not marketed as a full computer solution. I have a Mac on my desk, but my iPad solves my mobile computing needs in lieu of a laptop. If I could only have one device then yes I would choose a Mac.

I have a Surface Pro provided by my company - great laptop - I never use the touch screen capability while using it and I never use it as a tablet. When you do take the tablet part off - the experience is suboptimal for what I want to use a tablet for.

 

[mi7chy]

To get a useful Surface though, it's WAY more than these silly ads let on. My Surface Pro 4 was nearly $2K. The $899 or whatever model it is they're talking about is so underpowered it's barely useful as a web browser, IMHO.

There are Surface deals everywhere like at local Costco or look on slickdeals.net. For cost comparison, even through Microsoft a bundled Surface Pro 7 i7/16GB/256GB + keyboard + pen bundle is $1274.98 compared to iPad Pro 12.9 6GB/256GB for $1577.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/build/Surface-Pro-7-and-Pro-Type-Cover-Bundle/8T2K2LVN9QHJ

For web browsing, i3/4GB/128GB is plenty.

Personally, I'd wait for AMD option or at least the Surface Pro 7+ since it has 10nm Intel 11th gen and not antiquated 14nm but no way I'm spending $1500+ on an iPad toy.

 

[Rafterman]

I wouldn't argue that scenario, but its a false choice - the iPad is not marketed as a full computer solution. I have a Mac on my desk, but my iPad solves my mobile computing needs in lieu of a laptop. If I could only have one device then yes I would choose a Mac.

I have a Surface Pro provided by my company - great laptop - I never use the touch screen capability while using it and I never use it as a tablet. When you do take the tablet part off - the experience is suboptimal for what I want to use a tablet for.

Actually, Apple IS marketing iPad as a full computer solution. Remember the young girl and "what's a computer?"

 

[Manzanito]

Yeah right, you gotta be joking.

Depends on what the poster needs the surface to do flawlessly. Surely for office the thing can’t suck. I guess, I’ve never owned one.

 

[cgsnipinva]

To be fair in defence to Microsoft the iPad is just a big iPhone it’s not a computer or full operating system where as surface is a computer

Ehhh I would argue with iPadOS the iPad has developed into something more than a large iPhone. There OS has more capability and the apps are different.

 

[Manzanito]

Actually, Apple IS marketing iPad as a full computer solution. Remember the young girl and "what's a computer?"

Apple marketing and reality aren’t always the same thing.

 

[TakeshimaIslands]

That Surface is running an Intel i3 processor, has a fan, and its thicker, bulkier & heavier, almost a no go as a tablet (and let's not talk about tablet optimized apps in Windows), and at the same time is very slow as a laptop. The 2 in 1 Intel devices have always being a compromise, as they're usually inferior as both a tablet & a traditional laptop.

The iPad Pro is no laptop, but you get the best tablet experience available, best performance, battery life, app support, etc.

yet another disgusting Microsoft bait and switch scam advert with a deceptively low “starting from” price that's massively compromised and under spec’d to get the headline grabbing number. option out that surface and it has a potato core i3 with 4gb ram on top of a bloated windows 10 os which would be a painfully low laggy mess if you compared it to a ipad pro..

 

[jz0309]

and i can stand by that remark as well. i have no issue when people make valid arguments against apple(or any other company/brand), but most of these comparisons, like the intel videos using the "i'm a mac" guy, are presenting very subjective and biased info, using only specific scenarios that work in their favor. that i'm not a fan of.

I can appreciate that, but at the same token, similar to the “patent trolls” threads, those guys are within their legal rights. I have yet to see a “fair” competitive ad, always one-sided...
I’m originally from Germany and back in those days, competitive ads were illegal, still might be, and so was product placement...