Apple's M4 iPad Pro vs. Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra

[MacRumors]

Both Samsung and Apple have come out with new top-of-the-line tablet options this year, with Apple introducing the M4 iPad Pro back in May and Samsung debuting the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra earlier this month. Given the similarities between the two, we thought we'd see how Apple's high-end iPad Pro compares to Samsung's best Galaxy Tab.

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In terms of design, Apple makes the iPad Pro in 11-inch and 13-inch size options, while Samsung's tablets are bigger at 12.4 (S10+) and 14.6 inches (Ultra). The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra looks a lot like the iPad Pro with slim bezels, a thin design, and rounded squircle corners. Like Apple, Samsung is using OLED display technology, and there is a new anti-reflective coating this year, but it's not quite as good at cutting down on glare as Apple's nano-texture display.

Samsung added a lot of Galaxy AI features to the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, and some of them are similar to what Apple will bring with Apple Intelligence in iPadOS 18.1. There's a Note Assist option that can auto format notes with headers, bullet points, and paragraphs, which is useful if you just want to write, and Galaxy AI can also provide summaries of notes and voice recording summaries. Those summaries also extend to the web browser for quick summaries of long articles.

In Samsung's image app, you can sketch an object onto a photo and AI will create a more realistic version of what you sketched, adding it in to your picture, plus you can use portrait studio to change the look of your images. There's also built-in access to the Google Gemini chatbot, and with Circle to Search, you can circle anything on your screen to get more information about it.

Year over year, Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is a lot like the S9 Ultra, but with AI features. Samsung is advertising an 18 percent increase in CPU performance and a 28 percent increase in GPU performance, but it doesn't come close to M4 chip performance.

Samsung's tablets come with the S Pen, and there are optional Book Cover Keyboards, but the keyboard isn't as premium or as nice as Apple's latest Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. The trackpad just doesn't come close, and you might be better off with the keyboard that doesn't have trackpad functionality. Samsung does still come out ahead at multitasking and it's simpler to use multiple apps on the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra than on the iPad Pro, plus there's DeX for a desktop-like experience.

Pricing on the 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra starts at $1,200, while the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,300. Which do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: Apple's M4 iPad Pro vs. Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra

 

[waquzy]

Android tablets are useless

 

[Vulkan]

Dan... you are fired!

 

[Darren.h]

no snapdragon in it this year?? I'm out.

 

[GMShadow]

no snapdragon in it this year?? I'm out.

Yeah, if you have an S8 or S9 this is a year to skip unless you want to leverage trading in. The MediaTek chip apparently isn't *bad* but it's still, well, MediaTek, something that doesn't belong in a product in this price class.

 

[617arg]

When the iPad has an M4, but Mac Pro is on the M2 😔....... Shouldn't they start by putting the best and newest chips in what should be the most advanced product?

 

[vegetassj4]

Isn't this like comparing the following, then again which one would be Apple?

 

[sjebleu]

What’s the benefit of S10 when the Surface Pro exist?

 

[Z∆K]

Android tablets are useless

To android tablets support procreate or any respectable drawing apps?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Android on a smartphone is usable. Put it on a tablet, however, and it’s a different story. You’re going from what is already fairly fragmented optimisation to very little, simply due to the sheer number of Android tablet designs out there.

And this is a rare instance where even many Android fans agree that the iPad is a better all-round tablet.

 

[klasma]

I own both an 11” Tab S9 and an M4 iPad Pro. The S9 feels nicer in the hand (less sharp edges), and at low brightness in the dark its display has less visible temporal dithering than the M4. Most people probably won’t notice the latter, but for me it made the difference between distracting and non-distracting. For that reason I use the S9 for video at night, which also suits its more narrow aspect ratio, and the M4 for everything else. The M4 is better in bright light.

 

[macfacts]

no snapdragon in it this year?? I'm out.

The mediatek cpu isn't slow. Bestbuy.ca was offering $200 off the tab s10 plus and I got it yesterday, the cpu is comparable to the snapdragon in my galaxy s23 phone. Amazon.ca was also offering a deal on the san disk 1.5 TB micro SD card.

 

[GMShadow]

To android tablets support procreate or any respectable drawing apps?

ClipStudioPaint is on there, there's some others IIRC. The ecosystem isn't up to iPad standards but it's not totally bereft.

 

[klasma]

To android tablets support procreate or any respectable drawing apps?

HiPaint, it’s basically a Procreate clone.

 

[TracerAnalog]

Hardware, schmardware. It's about the operating system and apps.

 

[villagehiker]

Anything from Google these days—including the formerly-incredible search engine—contains oodles of opportunities for improvement.

Don't use Android.

BTW, I like Samsung SSDs—the best. Samsung is just partnering with the wrong people when it comes to mobile devices.

 

[chetzar]

Galaxy tablet would be a lot cooler if it ran Windows.

 

[mi7chy]

Both ARM tablets running mobile OS are useless. Been there, done that and sold both iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S Ultra. Need a minimum of full desktop browser with uBlock Origin and prefer the freedom of x64 multibooting Linux/Windows/Hackintosh so either Lunar Lake or AMD competitor low power Strix Halo family or Strix Point.

 

[Macalway]

It seems they are using a kind of nano texture as standard. I wasn't even considering getting another one of these, but I will now, perhaps. These are very premium tablets, and many of us know exactly what you get, although Android bites on a large tablet.

I have a nano iPad and I like this option on a tablet, or anything else for that matter. Apple's option is unfortunately bound to an upgrade I don't need, so it was a little painful to buy one.

 

[mi7chy]

What’s the benefit of S10 when the Surface Pro exist?

Surface Pro 11 isn't much better since it's ARM so software incompatibilities or compatibility layer overhead that reduces performance. Have to wait for Surface Pro 12 with Lunar Lake since Microsoft is anti-AMD for the that line of product.

 

[robvalentine]

I prefer using my s9+ to iPad Pro m4. The s pen feels cheap in hand but isn’t noisy when touching the glass and has a bit more resistance so feels more natural

 

[Macalway]

Surface Pro 11 isn't much better since it's ARM so software incompatibilities or compatibility layer overhead that reduces performance. Have to wait for Surface Pro 12 with Lunar Lake since Microsoft is anti-AMD for the that line of product.

Odd that MS hasn't announced a Lunar Lake version, considering that Arm Windows is fringe.

Many people believed companies would embrace Arm Windows just like Apple and Arm, which ain't gonna happen, IMO. Considering Lunar Lake is available now, and MS still sells N200 Alder lake, and Meteor Lake, the whole thing seems mixed up with the 'business editions', which they make hard to buy? Really? (0r did).

 

[AltecX]

Anything from Google these days—including the formerly-incredible search engine—contains oodles of opportunities for improvement.

Don't use Android.

BTW, I like Samsung SSDs—the best. Samsung is just partnering with the wrong people when it comes to mobile devices.

Odd thing to say when the last few iOS updates added many features that Android has had for like 10+years.

 

[Macalway]

I prefer using my s9+ to iPad Pro m4. The s pen feels cheap in hand but isn’t noisy when touching the glass and has a bit more resistance so feels more natural

This. It's the sound and feel. Felt or softer plastic or rubber, or at least make soft nibs available. I use an attachment that works ok actually, but it's kind of a hack.

I guess they just cater to the art crowd and not the note taking, where the noise resistance is an issue. You move an hard object fast on glass there's going to be countless course corrections as it slips. Add the horrible sound, you can count me out.

 

[Isengardtom]

Nice tablet but way too big for me to use as a tablet