It's been a LOOOONG ride! i was going to buy the Macbook Air however i started having issues with my 12.9" iPad Pro 2017, it would randomly restart itself, the first time i was like ok it was probably just a glitch or something. The next day in the evening time turned on the iPad, used it for a few hours and it did exactly the same again, turned itself off and back on to the Apple log with white background, came back on to the lock screen, i started using it again, then within about a minute it repeated the issue, this happened 5 times in one night!
The next day after i had finished up some work, i contact Apple who then ran me through the process of restoring my iPad Pro back to factory settings, i was told the issue could be a software one and that a restore would fix it. Later that evening the same thing happened again, around 3 or more times, so the next day i contact Apple again, different person this time who took a look at the case number i quoted, they told me to once again restore from factory settings and this time set up the iPad Pro as new which i did. Yet again a few hours later the issue reoccured, again i contacted Apple, they took a look at the case number i again quoted.
The person i was in contact with informed me it was a hardware issue and that i needed to bring my iPad Pro to an Apple store, i told them my nearest one was a fair few miles away, they insisted i bring it in for a technician to look at it, since it was out of warranty there would be a charge, that charge was going to be £566.44!! I was not happy! they want to charge me that much for an iPad Pro that is only 15 months old, i tried to make this point and the response i got was that because it was out of warranty i was not entitled to a free repair, i could either bring it in OR buy a new iPad Pro
I understand that issue can occur, Apple sell LOTS of devices but to charge a customer that amount of money for something that is only 15 months old is an insult in my eyes.
So over the Black Friday weekend i saw that the Surface Pro 6 was on sale, i could try it out for 35 days if i don't like it i can return it for a full refund no questions asked, it also came with a 2 year warranty! the deal was £899.95 for the Surface Pro 6 with the Alcantara type cover! having been told how good they are and with nothing to loose (since i can return it within 35 days) i brought one.
So far it's been a great device, as a writer i need a good keyboard and the type cover for the Surface Pro is great, full key travel and works without issue, the trackpad is also great, it's smaller than the one on the Macbook's but it works really well. I will be keeping the Surface Pro 6 if i have no issues with it between now and when the 35 days are up.
Pro's:
Screen is great with fast and responsive touch screen
Windows Hello is really fast and works every time so far
It works really well as a computer
typing documents in Word, split screening and multitasking are great
It has FULL computer specs - quad core i5, 8GB Ram, 256GB SSD are my specs but they do go higher (i7, 16GB, up to 1TB SSD)
It can play Windows games
VERY portable
Battery life is so far great, i get a full day on mine
Kickstand is way better than the Smart Keyboard on the iPad Pro, the Surface kickstand can be positioned at any angle which is great for using on my lap.
The Surface Pen is great, no lag, i can make notes on web pages and save them (handy for when doing research) also i don't have to worry about charging it
Windows is a LOT faster than i remember it pre-2011
Cons:
Windows 10 isn't as refined as MacOS
Windows can get in the way but after tweaking the settings it's great
Not a great tablet - it's good for watching Netflix and drawing BUT it doesn't have the Apps that the iPad has.
In closing i would say if you just want a tablet get the iPad, BUT if you want a great computer that you can use in tablet mode to watch Netflix, iTunes and other content, get the Surface Pro! it's a great device that can be more than an iPad can in its current state.
