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iPad Pro I'm a big iPad fan but isn't the Surface Pro more of a "pro" than the new iPads?

I use several programs that don't exist in iOS format (or even Mac, for that matter) so the Surface Book (same as Pro but with hard keyboard, basically) is my main computer. I work with embroidery digitizing, and most programs only exist in Windows format, especially my preferred ones. I also like that the Surface, being a real laptop, has a mouse. Of all features I'd like to see iPad Pro get would be the ability to use a mouse, probably above anything else, with a real file system being the 2nd one.
 
If I'm going to buy a Surface, I'll just get a Mac, which I already have. There is just something nice about cozying up to an iPad on a snowy evening with a cup of hot cocoa in one hand and an Apple Pencil in the other. That's what I did yesterday.
 
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Kendo said:
I refuse to buy a Surface simply because I'm locked into the Apple ecosystem but I played around with the new Pro models in the Apple Store today and functionally they look, act, and smell like all the other iPads, even the 9.7" version. Yes they are much more premium feeling but looking at a $300 9.7" iPad and an $800 11" Pro, they don't really seem to offer that much more of a user experience for the price. Am I crazy here?
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No, I think you're absolutely right. While the new iPad Pro can go at 100mph, the speed limit is still only 20mph (thanks iOS :D) So effectively, the 9.7" is just as capable at the moment. However, I do believe there were 2 reasons to do this. 1) making the iPads as powerful as a lot of computers may entice developers to consider "full" versions of apps. Of course, the power may have not been the only limitation. Some may not be willing to compromise on the interface. 2) I do believe apple has laid the groundwork for some major improvements for iOS next WWDC. If you think back, it took iOS 6 versions to majorly revamp with the iOS6 to iOS7 design changes. Another 6 versions have passed, so maybe they have something great under the hood for next year and they needed the hardware out first to roll it out.

But yeah, I was definitely able to do more pro on my surface pro, than an iPad pro. Im hoping 3D cad software takes some serious considerations in advancing into iOS. But I did switch from my surface pro to a macbook for the ecosystem.
 
Surface Pro(fessional) vs iPad Pro(sumer)

That should make it more clear. Even for consumption the Professional is better since it supports VP9 codec for YouTube 4K and preliminary modern AV1 codec support. Plus, only the Professional can DFU recover a soft bricked Prosumer. And, the Professional can multiboot the three major desktop OS' Linux, Windows and MacOS. Much more capable and for less money too.

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Surface is a decent windows laptop that can also be an average tablet. If that’s what you want then go for it. No one is locking you to any ecosystem.
 
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JayMysterio said:
For me, it was something as small as the M$ pen on the surface drove me nuts. I didn't care for the cursor below the glass & trailing. I just like that the latency on Apple pencil is so low & the iPad gives the appearance of drawing on the glass/tablet itself to me.
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There is actually a setting to turn off the cursor, it's one of the first things I do on my surface. As for latency, I have tried both iPad and Surface and I really cant tell the difference. I honestly like how the surface pen feels in my hand over the apple pen but to each their own.
 
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MacOS remains significantly more pro to me than Windows, simply because of the native Unix terminal. I’m sure there are arguments for workarounds with Windows / Unix, but to me, it’s just more comfortable to work natively.

I think you shouldn’t get caught up to much with the “Pro” marketing. Buy whatever works well for you. Professionally, I find MacOS indispensible - and this applies across the 12” MacBook, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro - but I still enjoy using my iPad Pro.

I do agree that I’m getting irritated that Apple still doesn’t open up natively open up external storage for iOS though. It’s probably to protect their own pricing strategy of an additional US$50 for every 64GB for practically every iOS device.
 
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Shanghaichica said:
There’s nothing professional about an os that crashes and throws up error messages all the time
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Not for nothing, that is my experience with certain native apps in iOS 12. Notes and Safari are crashing and freezing all the time. It is beyond frustrating to be writing in notes and touch fails to respond so I have to exit and restart it.

I tested a Surface Pro and love the concept, but the Pen and experience did not work for me.

Basically, whatever works for the person is fine by me.

I just wish Apple would stop charging more and doing less when it comes to QC and build quality now.

As far as iPad Pro vs. Surface Pro? There is no issue for me. Use what you want, how you want.
 
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Shanghaichica said:
There’s nothing professional about an os that crashes and throws up error messages all the time
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You may want to teleport back to 2018. Windows 10 is easily as stable as macOS and iOS. In fact, of those three, iOS is by far the one that crashes (apps and OS itself) the most for me.

As for the OP. You are not locked in. It is not as bad leaving the walled garden as you think. You wouldn't want to do it all at once, but starting with a single piece, you will see that life on the outside is pretty good.

Lastly, this discussion of "pro" is so tired. What is pro really depends on who you are. If you are in a career that requires specialized skills then you are a professional and the stuff you do and the tools you use would be classified "pro." It is a matter of the right tool for the job and sometimes that tool works great for one job but not another. The iPad Pro is fantastic while I am teaching, but I would never use it to write assessments or enter/evaluate data.

I would suggest everyone consider others perspectives and realize that there is a very large world out there.
 
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As someone who used a Surface Pro at work, sure it’s a laptop replacement (as far as laptop replacements can go) but I absolutely hated the damn thing. So much so that I want to just throw it across the room many times. Just too damn buggy and was irriating. Now I use a Surface Book at work, and I hate that even more. I’ve used PC’s in the past with no problems, but there’s something about the Surface that just gets my blood boiling.

When home, I just work on my Mac or iPad Pro, and it’s a much more enjoyable experience. I use the Surface Book at work mainly because I don’t want to lug my MacBook and iPad to work and back every day, and of course because I have a docking station with two monitors.
 
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kazmac said:
Not for nothing, that is my experience with certain native apps in iOS 12. Notes and Safari are crashing and freezing all the time. It is beyond frustrating to be writing in notes and touch fails to respond so I have to exit and restart it.
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I have the same experience. I use iOS, Android and Windows. iOS is the system that crashes the most, lags the most and in general has the most issues. Only in my case when Notes crashes, I have to restart the whole iPad if I want to continue using the Notes app. It's so annoying. Killing the app does not help.

I tested a Surface Pro and love the concept, but the Pen and experience did not work for me.
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Unfortunately I have not tried the Surface Pro. What did you not like about the pen and the experience with it?
 
secretk said:
I have the same experience. I use iOS, Android and Windows. iOS is the system that crashes the most, lags the most and in general has the most issues. Only in my case when Notes crashes, I have to restart the whole iPad if I want to continue using the Notes app. It's so annoying. Killing the app does not help.



Unfortunately I have not tried the Surface Pro. What did you not like about the pen and the experience with it?
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Ugh. Sorry to hear that your Notes experience is even worse than mine.


Surface: The Pen, the nibs felt very clunky and drawing on the surface there was some lag. Granted these were demo models on display, but I felt utterly lost using Windows 10, which I have basic knowledge of thanks to one job and owning a 2017 Acer laptop. My experience isn’t the norm (there are several folks here who love their Surface devices).
 
kazmac said:
Ugh. Sorry to hear that your Notes experience is even worse than mine.
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Luckily I use mostly OneNote as I use Windows both at work and at home :). I wanted to use Notes for brainstorming while I use OneNote for meeting reports. I sure can find other Note taking apps and I did, but just the whole idea that I paid money for device where the in house app created by the manufacturer does not work annoys me. This is just wrong.

Surface: The Pen, the nibs felt very clunky and drawing on the surface there was some lag. Granted these were demo models on display, but I felt utterly lost using Windows 10, which I have basic knowledge of thanks to one job and owning a 2017 Acer laptop. My experience isn’t the norm (there are several folks here who love their Surface devices).
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Ah I see. Yeah maybe it's also related to how much you are used to Windows 10. I have used Windows all my life so for me certain things might be easier than others :). Either way if I decide to go for Surface device and pen, it would still be for the OneNote experience as I am not artist. Like no talent or what's so ever :D.
 
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Shanghaichica said:
Yes it’s even worse on the computers at work. They are incredibly slow too.
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Sounds like a new IT department is warranted. Windows 10 has reached full parity with macOS for reliability, stability and speed. Anyone arguing any different (in either direction, Windows or macOS) is using outdated or poorly implemented equipment or is simply rooting for their side.
 
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Cashmonee said:
Sounds like a new IT department is warranted. Windows 10 has reached full parity with macOS for reliability, stability and speed. Anyone arguing any different (in either direction, Windows or macOS) is using outdated or poorly implemented equipment or is simply rooting for their side.
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I have to agree that Windows 10 is vastly improved. Now that being said I am pretty sure that there are people that have some issues and that might be related either to the software they use or to the hardware they use or both.
 
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secretk said:
I have to agree that Windows 10 is vastly improved. Now that being said I am pretty sure that there are people that have some issues and that might be related either to the software they use or to the hardware they use or both.
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I do not doubt they have issues. It is true of every OS that implementation could lead to stability issues, which I suspect is what is being referred to here. I don't think it is fair to blame Microsoft, Google, or Apple for an IT department's poor implementation.
 
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