iPad Pro Hesitation between iPad Pro m4 and new surface pro

[ThailandToo]

Agree. I own a 16GB i7 Surface Pro 7 and M4 13" Pro. SP7 = great laptop, iPad = great tablet, some overlap between them.

Couldn’t the iPad Pro be the absolute best of both if Apple just let us run Mac Apps? I know they won’t do it because they can’t control and profit from the 30% commission on Mac apps. But it sucks to pay this much money and be hamstrung by iPadOS. I believe at least the overpriced iPad Pros would become somewhat of a value if they ran MacOS Apps. They don’t even need to do multitasking better. Just allow full screen MacOS Apps.

 

[okkibs]

Just allow full screen MacOS Apps.

They wouldn't run. The hardware is the same but the OS works differently so all the OS functions MacOS apps rely on just wouldn't be there and the apps couldn't start. It only works the other way around to launch iPad apps on MacOS since iPad apps are much simpler. You could as well ask to "just allow" Windows apps on the iPad. What you want would require running MacOS on an iPad and we're back to square one since it's very clear Apple will not do that.

You can use Mac apps via Sidecar by connecting the iPad to a Mac. It works wirelessly as long as a Mac is nearby.

 

[aevan]

As others have said - these are different devices with different experiences. For laptop stuff, Surface is better and if I could only have one computer out of the two, I guess I’d go with that. However, since my main computer is Mac, and I vastly prefer macOS to Windows, iPad was a no brainer to me. I have my laptop for laptop things and the best tablet for tablet things.

You mentioned illustration, iPad Pro offers a much more premium illustration experience. The Pencil is simply better than the Surface pen (whether you’ll notice and care about the differences is another thing, but it is noticeably better) so that might also play a role in your decision making. Then again, Surface has full Photoshop, but for illustration, CSP is better regardless of platform and it runs great on iPads. Also, there’s Procreate, which is the most enjoyable illustration app out there.

 

[Isengardtom]

I think the Surface pro is compelling for many users but not for me personally

- too heavy so diminished ”tabletability”
- I have a windows work laptop with a touchscreen (which is more a gimmick than a useful feature if I’m honest). The surface pro doesn’t add much
- I’m in the Apple ecosystem so the iPad makes more sense

Now assuming i had to have my own machine for my work I might get the surface pro, but I’d still get the iPad Pro as well for as my main private computer.

As a work companion device the iPad is great too:
- I can perform my monthly closings with the consolidation web app. a small compromise here and there but works well
- the iPad is great for communication apps MS Teams / Outlook
- other MS apps like SharePoint, Office for light tasks and reading reports
- signing documents

If the iPad had full MS Office feature parity with windows machines it would be perfect. Now, that’s something that the Mac doesn’t even have

 

[Pezimak]

I think something is wrong with me.

I keep getting ready to purchase the new m4 iPad Pro but hesitating at the cart. I’m not out here trying to justify it as a laptop or desktop. I love it for watching things, browsing but mostly for art an animation. While yes I intend if I get good enough to on the side illustrate books at the end of the day it’s a fun relaxation tool for me, like a gaming rig or a sports car for those interested in those things. I have a MacBook Pro and air for all the computing needs. I started with a iPad Air 2 and eventually got the 2018 11inch iPad Pro only to switch it for the M1 12.9 inch with a friend who bought but it was too big for them. So I didn’t pay full price for my when I got it, I liked hover on the M2, but I couldn’t not justify the purchase. I always said that if I could switch to an oled screen, then I would do so I would highly consider getting 16 GB of ram and holding onto that for a while, especially if there was pencil updates along with the OLED. we got that we got pencil upgrades and we got a great screen that if anything shows us that is better than miniLED but that miniLED is good technology too. Everything about this iPad Pro from hardware perspective is not just what I told myself would be my limit to update but actually better. I have not determined storage purchase decisions, although I do lean towards the one terabyte 16 GB ram version that’s because I’m a sucker for Big ram and I cannot lie which is likely worsening sticker shock.

That said seeing surface pro also go OLED on arm with a somewhat performant arm chip has me more on the fence. I’ve never had a surface laptop, but my expectation would be that windows would allow me better gaming opportunities than the iPad and free range of software. The price is better still high but lower than iPad Pro. The surface can function as a tablet but also has full computer capabilities and access to games potentially perhaps more importantly there’s more desktop class art apps.

Anyone here tried the surface pros only to come back to the iPad? My fear is that, Apple has likely evaluated putting desktop in a tablet. Doesn’t really work. You just get a device that’s neither a good computer nor a good tablet but man would it be nice to merge the MacBook Air and iPad Pro.

So looking for anyone that’s gone to surface pro from an iPad (and maybe back) to share their experience. For general use or for art/animation.

If you are using it for art and animation, then surely the tools available are what’s more important? At the end of the day Windows will have far more options then iPad, but, how those run on ARM I guess remains to be seen. I think you’ll need to look at the tools you use and how they performed each platform. But it does also seem a lot of artists love the iPad Pro over the Surface Pro when it comes to drawing. Z Brush is coming to iPad soon too. What tools / apps do you use?

 

[mguzman]

I bought a Surface Pro 4 at a heavy discount shortly before the next version came out. I bought it to replace an Intel Mac Mini that died shortly after the warranty expired. I connected the SP4 to the same monitor, keyboard and mouse that I was using for the Mini.

Like others have said, I hardly ever used it as a tablet and just kept using a series of iPad Pro’s for tablet use. The graphics card on the SP4 was definitely not suited for heavy gaming, but it was adequate for light gaming. My twin grandsons used it for over a year to play Minecraft and Roblox with no complaints. And worked great for general laptop tasks.

I would probably still be using the SP4 for anything requiring Windows if not for the release of Flight Simulator 2020 and the Quest VR headsets. I needed a Windows machine with enough CPU and graphics power to handle the load, so retired the Surface Pro 4 for a Windows gaming desktop. I pulled the Surface Pro out a few weeks ago and it still functions perfectly, so I can‘t fault the reliability.

 

[ZombiePete]

I have had two Surface Pros and currently have a Dell Latitude Windows tablet (work issued) and I have had the same experience with all of them: bad tablet and mediocre laptop. Windows is not a good touchscreen experience in my opinion; touch based controls are still bolted on rather than being at the heart of the design. The magnetic keyboard is okay; when it’s propped up I find it noisy.

Battery life was absolute crap; hopefully it’ll be significantly better in the new Qualcomm chips. Microsoft is advertising 14 hours on the new SPs; their estimates have generally been questionable so it remains to be seen.

If you need Windows then there are worse devices, but I wouldn’t buy another one.

 

[varezhka]

As many others have said, Surface Pros are serviceable as both tablet and laptop but not great at either. Still better than those touchscreen laptops though.

Two additional things:
1. The display on the Surface devices are quite reflective, even by the glossy display standards. I found it too much for my eyes, but YMMV.

2. For gaming, some DRM software might make the Prism x86 emulation a non-starter for the Snapdragon X devices. Even when they work, games do tend to be the most difficult in terms of compatibility. I’d stick with the x86 Surface if gaming matters at all (and even then, more for lighter gaming).

 

[teohyc]

Surface Pro is gonna be more versatile simply because it uses Windows OS so you will have the whole variety of desktop apps to choose from.

The main downside with Surface Pros, and I have tested many in the past, is battery life is usually just 5-6 hours with auto brightness. Hopefully the new model will have better battery life but it is highly unlikely.

 

[ZombiePete]

Hopefully the new model will have better battery life but it is highly unlikely.

I think they will for sure have better battery life than previous generations; the bar is so low it’s almost inevitable. The question is how much better; I’m willing to give Microsoft some benefit of the doubt and guess that for the average user who is doing mostly Office-type work and some browsing/streaming that it’ll be between 8-10 hours of SoT.

 

[teohyc]

I think they will for sure have better battery life than previous generations; the bar is so low it’s almost inevitable. The question is how much better; I’m willing to give Microsoft some benefit of the doubt and guess that for the average user who is doing mostly Office-type work and some browsing/streaming that it’ll be between 8-10 hours of SoT.

I hope so but I won't be surprised if battery life still sucks.

I mean Microsoft had Surface Pro 1 to 9 to improve on battery life but it's still nowhere near iPads or Android tablets. The fact that they like to list 15 or whatever hours battery life that includes standby time is incredibly deceiving.

I've used and tested many Microsoft Surface products before I am giving them no benefit of the doubt. Only their Surface Laptop has better battery life. For some reason, their tablets just have bad battery life.

 

[ZombiePete]

I hope so but I won't be surprised if battery life still sucks.

I mean Microsoft had Surface Pro 1 to 9 to improve on battery life but it's still nowhere near iPads or Android tablets. The fact that they like to list 15 or whatever hours battery life that includes standby time is incredibly deceiving.

I've used and tested many Microsoft Surface products before I am giving them no benefit of the doubt. Only their Surface Laptop has better battery life. For some reason, their tablets just have bad battery life.

I sympathize for sure. Their battery estimates have been a joke.

 

[Rafterman]

I ordered this for Monday. Imagine a Surface Pro, but with gaming spec (i9, RTX 4050, etc)

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (2023) Gaming Laptop Tablet, 13.4” Nebula Display 16:10 QHD 165Hz, GeForce RTX 4050, Intel Core i9-13900H, 16GB LPDDR5, 1TB PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi 6E, Windows 11, GZ301VU-DS94,Black

The Z13 tablet is a versatile and powerful device for both work and play. It features a tablet form factor with touchscreen and active stylus support, as well as an included keyboard. The device is powered by a 13th Gen Intel Core Processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series, and has lightning-fast...

www.amazon.com

Well, I tried the above device. It was basically a Surface clone in so many ways I'm surprised MS doesn't sue

The hardware was fine, though the original BIOS had some flakiness. It got stabilized as I configured things and updated firmware. The hardware is really nice, especially the screen, but the OS....

Don't get me wrong, I like Windows 11, no issues with it normally. But the licensing...When Windows 10 was coming, they had a dog and pony show for us at our university because we are a major partner. They said "oh, we're simplifying licensing." LOL sure they did. Not only has licensing not simplified, it got way more complex. So many versions, digital licenses vs. retail vs OEM vs KMS...and if you use the wrong image to build a machine, you can't change the licensing model, you need the "right" image. MS, are you freakin' kidding me? On the ASUS, I could not upgrade Home (why is Home version still a thing?) to Pro. The retail key would say "my hardware changed", couldn't activate. Couldn't upgrade via the store because "something went wrong." Thanks MS, that's helpful. ASUS support was no help.

Plus, I replaced the drive to 2TB, so I tried to use their built in cloud restore feature and, for course, it didn't work, couldn't even access it (its in BIOS). ASUS said it was because it was a blank drive. Huh? That is the point of cloud restore. So I dug out the USB drive. Installed it and of course had to install the drivers manually. Only to discover the I accidentally use the KMS image, not the retail image. And of course (see above) I had to reinstall everything. Wasted time - Re-install time! Just for giggles, I went into ASUS cloud restore again and this time it worked. Very nice in fact, got their (Home) image and all drivers installed automatically. And then, see above, the upgrade to Pro fiasco.

Long story short, after 10 out of futzing with it, I returned it. When getting it to work, the ASUS Z13 is a really powerful tablet. a Surface Pro on steroids, with i9 core processors and 4050/60 or 70 game cards. But just too many hoops to jump through. If only I had more patience.

iPads may be a weak-azz OS, but it's simple, And there is something to be said for simple.

 

[ThailandToo]

They wouldn't run. The hardware is the same but the OS works differently so all the OS functions MacOS apps rely on just wouldn't be there and the apps couldn't start. It only works the other way around to launch iPad apps on MacOS since iPad apps are much simpler. You could as well ask to "just allow" Windows apps on the iPad. What you want would require running MacOS on an iPad and we're back to square one since it's very clear Apple will not do that.

You can use Mac apps via Sidecar by connecting the iPad to a Mac. It works wirelessly as long as a Mac is nearby.

Obviously, they fix the code so it runs. Geez.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Why not take advantage of whatever return policy the store you're shopping at has? Take the Surface for a 'test drive' of sorts, especially if there's no restocking fees.

 

[LouisLoh]

I hope so but I won't be surprised if battery life still sucks.

I mean Microsoft had Surface Pro 1 to 9 to improve on battery life but it's still nowhere near iPads or Android tablets. The fact that they like to list 15 or whatever hours battery life that includes standby time is incredibly deceiving.

I've used and tested many Microsoft Surface products before I am giving them no benefit of the doubt. Only their Surface Laptop has better battery life. For some reason, their tablets just have bad battery life.

I think that has to do with Intel... Go back to the Surface Pro 9 5G (ARM), it apparently had great battery. So, on the contrary, I wouldn't be surprised if the 11 has excellent battery.

 

[Delivered]

I think they will for sure have better battery life than previous generations; the bar is so low it’s almost inevitable. The question is how much better; I’m willing to give Microsoft some benefit of the doubt and guess that for the average user who is doing mostly Office-type work and some browsing/streaming that it’ll be between 8-10 hours of SoT.

Well if the comparative is the iPad Pro that’s about even. Since the iPads actually look like they have poor battery life now compared to the MacBooks.

 

[sparksd]

Well if the comparative is the iPad Pro that’s about even. Since the iPads actually look like they have poor battery life now compared to the MacBooks.

My M4 Pro 13 blows my Surface Pro 7 away on battery life.

 

[ZombiePete]

Well if the comparative is the iPad Pro that’s about even. Since the iPads actually look like they have poor battery life now compared to the MacBooks.

iPads have had “poor” battery life relative to MacBooks since the M1 was released; MacBooks are big and heavy and can accommodate huge batteries compared to what a much thinner/lighter tablet could support.