Microsoft Says New Surface Pro is 1.7× Faster Than iPad Pro With 35% More Battery Life

[nylon]

I never understood the rationale between comparing the Surface Pro and the iPad. They are entirely different devices. The Surface Pro is a PC that requires a keyboard to be fully functional. The iPad is a tablet that focusses on touch as the primary interface. Both run a different class of applications.

 

[paulryp]

Looks really good. If you can get google play store then this will probably be my new tablet.

 

[ebatalha]

Apple will never turn an iDevice into a computer UI/UX like Microsoft is doing since ever, so what's the point?
Besides that, you can have Photoshop in a Surface Pro but will never beat the Procreate app for the iPad, NEVER! About the speed, yeah, right… LOL

 

[jamesrick80]

Looks really good. If you can get google play store then this will probably be my new tablet.

Its not a chrome os or android device so don't expect a playstore.....

 

[ihackalot]

I miss Microsoft's incompetence under Ballmer.

Yep, but this thing still runs Windows. They are so close... they just need the courage Jobs had dropping MacOS 8. Let Microsoft embrace *nix, then things will get interesting.

 

[Marx55]

Apple should make a Mac tablet.

 

[AFEPPL]

I have no idea.

Feel free to address my question (with respect to Windows these days being arguably a better OS than OS X): "OK, I'm curious. Let's hear your argument supporting that assertion."

I agree with you - it's the multi level quote not coming through on here.
Its just preference, and bias. If people took time to use windows they would see in most cases it better than OSX (posted from a mac)..

 

[44267547]

It's the same back for forth for a while now. Most people use their laptops for very basic things. This is what the iPad can replace very well. If you need more advanced software, you go for a desktop or laptop of your choice. That doesn't negate the fact that an iPad can do most of what a basic user needs.

In fairness, you're starting to tread into generalizations and what's considered a "Basic user." I think you will find out that an iPad primarily serves as a media device, which can be used for productivity. However, a laptop has a keyboard (Which only the iPad Pro offers as a separate purchase) and runs different platforms. Where as the iPad primarily serves as a touch interface with various limits in applications. Also, considering desk top versions versus iOS/mobile applications is something to consider as well.

I see both avenues having advantages, but a basic user is more dynamic than what you're portraying based off your quote.

 

[Mrumors]

Here is the reason why my surface pro 4 devices i5 and i7 was returned in a past thread; did not feel like always doing these work arounds:

Based on my experience, the SP3 i5 thermal throttling is severe, both on the CPU and GPU side. The SP4 i7 on the other hand both suffers from power throttling and thermal throttling although it's much less critical than on the SP3. I've observed power throttling using the 35 W adapter, but haven't seen it by using the 65 W one. Power throttling happens with the 35 W adapter, 'cause it doesn't supply enough power for the whole package (tablet) whenever the i7 is running as a sustained loaded (greater than 15 W). Thermal throttling kicks in whenever the back case sensor crosses a certain temperature treshold. I've done some gaming sessions. By plugging a USB fan and pointing it straight at the back of the SP4, I can easily increase my framerates by 20 % (I guess the sustained TDP using a fan is a bit higher in that case). For instance, I get about 2200 3DMarks 11 without a fan and easily 2500 - 2550 /DMarks using a fan. Of course, in both scenarios, I'm using a 65 W adapter (to avoid power throttling).

Don't get me wrong, there is still throttling in the SP4, but nothing I would describe as heavy given a mobile device. The i7 SP3 had heavy throttling to a point where it would almost completely cripple the performance of applications being run.

 

[rowspaxe]

Look guys, another opinion presented as fact! Guess what: you can have extensive knowledge and experience with Windows 10, with a fully open mind, and think it's utter junk. Similarly you can think it's great.
.

Its not all subjective: you can factually argue the relative merits of an os. Open minded informed users cannot arbitrarily conclude its good or junk; they can argue relative merits. At MR, many posters are just in the bubble haters. i use macOs. iOS and windows--they are all very usable. I prefer windows.

 

[Ethosik]

Windows 10 is actually pretty nice. It's good to see somebody is still innovating.

Nope. Absolutely not. Why can't my Windows 10 open some snap-ins from the Microsoft Management Console without crashing? Many others have this issue too. When the anniversary update hit, why did ALL shortcuts break resulting in bad stub data received error? How can Microsoft break shortcuts?!?! It also broke Windows Update so in order to fix it, you had to manually install the cumulative update. You really do need to format every time a big update comes out, which is around twice a year. These big updates are actually upgrades. Upgrading one OS to another OS always has issues. I have no idea why Microsoft decided to go this route. It is ridiculous. And I actually spent around $900 on Windows 10 licenses! it was much much MUCH MUCH better at launch.

 

[petetropolis]

IKR? I don't know a single person who owns a Surface, yet I and everyone owns 1 to several iPads, Macs and iPhones! Meow!

Um, I own one.

I use it for application development in Visual Studio and Unity, video and image editing in Premiere and Photoshop. I take it to conferences and meetings where I take notes with the pen and OneNote. Back at base I have it docked with multiple monitors. It's great. Really is a versatile little machine and I've had no problems with throttling and over heating.

 

[4look4rd]

Whaaa? A Chromebook has less functionality than an iPad. It's just a laptop running an Internet browser.

What's all this "true laptop" stuff? Why can't an iPad replace a laptop for most people, but a Chromebook can?

If the ipad had mouse support, a user accessible file system, and easy connectivity to external periferals (printer and monitor mainly) I'd certainly have one as my main computer. But if this happens we'd have something that looks a lot like the Surface Pro.

 

[ShufromChina]

Keyboard is still not included and they are even selling the pen separately for a higher price.

And 4G/128SSD for a base model is just tiny for any sort of task--similar to where 16G iPhones stand nowadays, except that they're not being sold anymore.

 

[MrNomNoms]

A great piece of hardware that is undermined by a horrible operating system.

 

[rowspaxe]

Microsoft's battery claims had been misleading with previous Surfaces.
Surface Pro 4: 10 hours
Real life:
Browsing: 5 hours
Video: 6 to 7 hours

Browsing with Chrome: 1 hour

 

[guzhogi]

I wonder if/when they'll update the Surface Studio? IMO, it's a good concept. I just like how if you can use touch if you want or keyboard & mouse if you want. Whatever floats your boat. Don't want to use one? Fine, you're not forced to use it.

I just wish it could run macOS & had Apple support. Also, I wonder what new specs would be. It could use a better GPU, and maybe for RAM.

 

[coolfactor]

A fun fact about the Alcantara fabric:

Alcantara is being used currently as a flame-retardant driver seat covering material for Formula One race cars, including the Williams Formula One 2011 FW33 car.[7] It is also used as a covering material for high-end headphones including the Sennheiser HD800, the Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear, and Bose QuietComfort 35[9] as well as for other consumer products such as Microsoft's Alcantara Surface Pro 4 cover, Microsoft's Surface Laptop keyboard and Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphone cover. Alcantara is also used in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.

So... Samsung was wise enough to wrap their latest smartphone in fire-resistant fabric, as was Microsoft for their Surface.

 

[Ethosik]

Really, this is getting OLD. Really OLD. Who spends their entire time in the SETTINGS apps when doing work on a PC or APPLE device. Windows 10 is very stable and works great. I am sorry that your hang up is that there are multiple places for SETTINGS. WOW....

Windows 10 is NOT stable.

 

[rowspaxe]

So, minimum acceptable configuration (256 GB SSD / i5 / 8 GB RAM) is $1299. Add keyboard ($159) and you're pretty much at non-Touch Bar MBP 13's $1500 (not to mention you can get Touch Bar version for around $1550 on sale sometimes).

"Starts at 799" is very misleading. Minimum viable configuration is $1460.

worth it.

 

[coolfactor]

Browsing with Chrome: 1 hour

Sometimes that can be attributed to poorly-coded websites. I left a website open for a couple of hours this morning and came back to my MacBook Air's fan spinning madly. Nothing was apparent on the website itself (no animations, etc.), but clearly something on there was eating CPU cycles like mad.

 

[AFEPPL]

Windows 10 is NOT stable.

Less crashes on my W10 machine than i have on my 4 macs.
Just saying and I'm running only standard software.

 

[Ethosik]

Windows 10 blows from a troubleshooting perspective. No option to disable specific updates which fail. Updates take ages to download and then preparing takes even longer. Can't boot into Safe Mode unless you can boot into the OS; and who would want to boot into Safe Mode if the OS boots normally?! Some real stupid decisions.

SoftwareDistribution folder needing to be emptied & Win Update service needing to be restarted just to apply the AE update or Creators update; or even any update if it keeps failing. Disk usage from "Tips and tricks" going through the roof. Default bandwidth sharing for updates and all that delicious data mining enabled too.

And the legacy bugs are just excessive. Every stupid bug that exists in Windows 7 or Windows 8 seems to be amplified in Windows 10. Still has the two nameless folders on the desktop when you're going between versions of Office. Still indefinitely loads Devices & Printers if you've got a Bluetooth issue. Windows Explorer crashing and restarting with folders (a lovely unique one for W10, issue somewhere isolated to something in AppData). The list just goes on and on and on.

sfc /scannow might as well be called sfc /wasteyourtime. DISM repair is a joke and the troubleshooting options on a failed startup are worse than useless.

It's okay when it works, but a nightmare when it doesn't and it's ever-more-frequently impossible to isolate exactly what's causing the problem. I'll stick with macOS, iOS, or even Windows 8.1, because I can't think of anything less rewarding to do with my time than troubleshooting widespread issues Microsoft haven't bothered fixing. It's a barely usable OS in my eyes.

Also, with the anniversary update, shortcuts on 8....EIGHT....different machines broke. WHY?!?! How did MS break all shortcuts? On top of that, WU was so messed up too that the only fix was to apply the Cumulative Update manually from the Windows Update Catalog site.

Through TWO VERSIONS now, I still CANNOT get some snap-ins to work through the Microsoft Management Console. Some of them just crash MMC when you add the snap in.

How is it that I am the administrator, yet when I right click my desktop and go to Display Settings, then Display Adapter properties I am greeted with "You do not have permission"? That was ONLY fixed by doing a dism restore health command.

This is why when XP, Vista, 7 and 8.x were out, you should NEVER EVER EVER EVER "upgrade" the OS. We don't have a choice now. These big updates are full OS upgrades. And they are JUST AS BUGGY as when upgrading from XP to Vista and others. You really REALLY need to format when one of these big updates comes out. But then you would be formatting around twice a year.

 

[ksnell]

Does it still run Windows? Yeah?

OK, never mind then.

Curious if you use Windows 10 much. In my experience Windows 10 is actually pretty good and equally as stable as macOS. Also, way more customization for people like me who don't just use a word processor, web browser, and photos app.

The key to either OS is to just run it on good hardware.

 

[Robnsn2015]

I'm pretty impressed with what I read about this new Surface Pro. It should serve well as a small Windows 10 laptop and should dominate its market niche.

By contrast, I think the iPad Pro is a different category of device. I don't think it is a "PC replacement" in the literal sense that it can run the same applications or fit all of the same use cases of a Windows or Mac PC. I use my iPad Pro almost daily. I primarily use it as a note taker (OneNote), PDF reader that allows me to draw directly on the document (PDF Expert) and a visualizer (OneNote and OmniGraffle).

I agree with many people who think that iOS is currently too limiting for the iPad Pro. Could Apple PLEASE put Finder on the iPad? I think there should be a separate "iPad OS" or "iOS/iPad"). Hopefully, we will see some improvements at WWDC.

Basically, I don't think direct comparisons of the Surface Pro and iPad Pro are fair to either device. They are both really good in their respective lanes.