While people are still waxing lyrical about the new Apple iPad Pro, Microsoft decided it is the best time to take the wraps off the successor to its own professional-focused Surface Pro 3. And attention appears to have shifted since the Surface Pro 4 was unveiled, with the new 2-in-1 tablet becoming a trending topic. But how does the two compare and where should you put your money? Let’s help make your decision-making easier.
Where to Buy iPad Pro
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Where to Buy Surface Pro 4
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The Design
Looking at the Surface Pro 4 and iPad Pro, you will notice that the Microsoft tablet is smaller in size. But the Apple slate is thinner and lighter at 6.9 mm and 712 grams respectively, compared to its rival’s 8.4 mm and starting weight of 766 grams. Both tablets features premium build quality.
The Surface Pro 4 parades a chassis made of magnesium alloy, while the iPad Pro features an aluminium unibody construction.
Keyboard and Stylus
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 comes with an improved Type Cover which you can use both as stand and case for the tablet. The backlit keyboard looks similar to what you get on high-end notebooks offering wide key spacing and a 40-percent larger glass touchpad with five pressure sensitivity levels.
The Type Cover also features an integrated fingerprint reader. The Surface Pen, which comes included with the Surface Pro 4, has 1024 pressure sensitivity levels, a digital eraser and replaceable heads. It includes magnets that allow you attach the stylus to the slate.
While the iPad Pro also comes with a quality keyboard made of woven material, the keyboard lacks backlight and a fingerprint reader while it is available in only one colour, compared to the Surface Pro 4’s five.
The Apple Pencil is able to detect not only pressure, but also angle and position. However, there are no magnets built in for attaching it to the tablet. You will also need to pay extra money to get the iPad Pro stylus.
The Display
The Surface Pro 4 is fitted with a 12.3-inch diagonal touch display, while its Apple rival packs in a larger 12.9-inch touchscreen. The Microsoft tablet has a screen resolution of 2,736 x 1,824 pixels and a pixel density of 267 ppi.
The iPad Pro has a resolution of 2,732 x 2,048 pixels for about 264ppi pixel density. What this means is that the Surface Pro 4 packs a slightly sharper display.
Performance and OS
Latest sixth-generation Intel Core processor, starting from Core M3 going up to Core i7, handles the heavy lifting on Microsoft Surface Pro 4, supported by up to 16 GB of RAM.
By comparison, the iPad Pro will be powered by its maker’s latest A9X processor clocked at 2.25 GHz and paired with 4GB RAM. The Surface tablet, on paper, should deliver better performance since its processor is capable of faster speed and is assisted by more generous RAM capacity.
The Surface Pro 4 runs on Windows 10 Pro operating system, giving you full desktop-class experience and access to great features such as Continuum and Cortana. On the other hand, the iPad Pro boots latest iOS 9, an operating system which is used for mobile devices from its maker.
This means the iPad tablet is somewhat limited in terms of its laptop capability.
Miscellaneous Information
While internal storage on the iPad Pro maxes out at 128 GB, you get up to 1 TB of storage on its rival. Battery runtime of up to 10 hours is promised on the Apple tablet, outdoing the Surface Pro 4’s estimated battery life of nine hours.
In addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Surface slate comes with a USB 3.0 port, an audio jack, a Mini DisplayPort and card reader; the iPad Pro has only a lightning connector.
