iPad Pro iPad Pro M4 vs. Microsoft's New Surface Pro 11: Sound Off!

[Rafterman]

Surface Pro for me all the way. I spend 8-10 hours daily on my Surface Pro 8. My iPad Pro M2 is only used to consume media or browse on the web/social media/quick email or IM/ light Microsoft Office during off time. For me to consider upgrading my iPad Pro, it would need to be able to replace my Surface by having a real productivity OS when connected to a keyboard and trackpad (MacOS or a really productive version of iPadOS). I can live without my iPad, but I could not get by without my Surface.

I’m excited about the new devices, but not really sold on this iteration. Will have to see some reviews on Windows on ARM to see how it performs.

I know this has been argued to death, but I still say Apple needs to do something Surface-like. They don't have to replace MacBooks or run MacOS on iPads, but maybe a third device class, a "MacPad." An iPad-sized device, running a touch version MacOS. And the added bonus is, the MacPad could still run iPad apps, as well a Mac apps.

One of Apple's VPs recently gave the usual speel about MacOS not being a touch OS, then ended it with "but we've changed or minds before."


rce

 

[Analog Kid]

I gotta say, that ad looks like what generative AI would create if you prompted with "Create an Apple advertisement, but replace the product with the Microsoft Surface."

I'm not a Windows user, and I'm not a huge fan of the recent AI gimmicks (though I am a fan of more pragmatic uses of AI), but I'm excited to see the Surface start to hit its stride after all this time, and I'm hoping Microsoft is seriously reconsidering its monogamous relationship with Intel. I mean beyond the "sorry honey, I was drunk and Qualcomm was there, but it didn't mean anything", and moving to the "What we had was hot, but I'm finding cooling things down helps bring out the real me" phase.

 

[KPOM]

I know this has been argued to death, but I still say Apple needs to do something Surface-like. They don't have to replace MacBooks or run MacOS on iPads, but maybe a third device class, a "MacPad." An iPad-sized device, running a touch version MacOS. And the added bonus is, the MacPad could still run iPad apps, as well a Mac apps.

One of Apple's VPs recently gave the usual speel about MacOS not being a touch OS, then ended it with "but we've changed or minds before."


rce

If the new Surface sells like hotcakes Apple will release a “MacPad.” For the last 14 years they have rightfully been skeptical that Microsoft could pull one off. Perhaps they have done so today.

 

[Cricketman]

flexible keyboard is cool

 

[Nikhil72]

If Apple is going to do anything Surface-like, it’ll be with the Mac, not to replace iPad. Has anyone tried to “cozy up” with a Surface tablet off the keyboard? It’s almost 2 pounds, reasonably thick, and not something I’m itching to get in bed and read on. Even my 13” is light enough that I can prop it up on my legs and read a two page novel on or read a magazine article in Safari or Apple News.

 

[cardfan]

These PCs do offers that compatibility for 95% of software. If the new emulation is as good as they claim, it's going to be pretty seamless.
And these are not chips made by Qualcomm, these were made by the same people who made Apple Silicon, who created a separate company and were bought by Qualcomm.
But are we surprised that Apple sheeps are skeptical and trash these devices without knowing much about them? We are not.

Returned m4 ipad few days ago. Preordered an oled surface pro. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[Rafterman]

I still hate what MS does with the colors. That cool black color is only available in lower configs, like 16Gb RAM .If you want 32GB RAM, you need to go platinum. And no 64GB option at all, the like Surface Pro 10 has?

 

[Rafterman]

Returned m4 ipad few days ago. Preordered an oled surface pro. We’ll see how it goes.

As another poster wrote, I would like to see reviews of ARM performance (including emulation) first before committing.

 

[fw85]

If the new Surface sells like hotcakes Apple will release a “MacPad.” For the last 14 years they have rightfully been skeptical that Microsoft could pull one off. Perhaps they have done so today.

Big doubt. Basically everything Microsoft touches is low effort, half baked and has no attention to detail. They have no taste and have perpetually failed to come up with anything innovative.

 

[Digitalguy]

One big advantage of the flexible keyboard for me is ergonomics. At home I work on a desktop, it's much more ergonomic than a laptop. On the go of course a laptop can be the only options, but working for hours on it is bad for the neck. When I go work at my girlfriend place, I use a large tablet as an external monitor (on a box) to recreate a desktop setup. This could be done with a Macbook + 13" iPad with sidecar (and some sort of support) but in my case it's a cellular Thinkpad + S8 ultra (my girlfriend has no wifi at home). A cellular surface pro 11 would be an all in one solution.

 

[klasma]

One big advantage of the flexible keyboard for me is ergonomics. At home I work on a desktop, it's much more ergonomic than a laptop. On the go of course a laptop can be the only options, but working for hours on it is bad for the neck. When I go work at my girlfriend place, I use a large tablet as an external monitor (on a box) to recreate a desktop setup. This could be done with a Macbook + 13" iPad with sidecar (and some sort of support) but in my case it's a cellular Thinkpad + S8 ultra (my girlfriend has no wifi at home). A cellular surface pro 11 would be an all in one solution.

Yep, that's what I don’t like about the iPad Magic Keyboard, it's limited to an unergonomic laptop-like placement.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Does it do iOS?

 

[jclardy]

This would be a great machine for the folks wanting a more "Pro" iPad!

Not really - as it is a worse tablet than iPad, and a worse laptop than a mac I'm in the wanting an "actual Pro" iPad camp. But I hate using Windows, everything just feels wrong. And tablet mode on Windows has improved greatly over the years, but just can't compete with the polish of iPadOS.

All I want is an iPad that runs iPadOS when in tablet mode, and optionally macOS when docked to a mouse/keyboard. I would happily pay $5000 for that iPad (64GB RAM, 4TB SSD, two TB4 ports) as it would become my singular mobile workstation. Apple still gets their money they feel they are missing by not having me buy two devices that perform a huge overlap of the same tasks. And ultimately - I'd rather just do everything in iPadOS - but Apple has made it clear that iPadOS is only allowed to do what they want it to do, and absolutely nothing more.

That is why I'm pretty disappointed with "Pro" just meaning OLED, a faster chip and a fancier keyboard. In a way - that is all the Macbook Pro is (Other than more ports), but since macOS was built for "pros" and brought down for regular users, it is more flexible than the iPhone software being brought "up" to pro level in very specific niches.

 

[gigapocket1]

I guess we will find out in a few days what Apple has cooking. I wouldn’t be worried about Microsoft yet, but it’s clear that competition is heating up, especially on the efficiency side. If there translation layer is as good as Rosetta. Oh boy.. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out over the next 2 years or so

 

[Digitalguy]

Not really - as it is a worse tablet than iPad, and a worse laptop than a mac I'm in the wanting an "actual Pro" iPad camp. But I hate using Windows, everything just feels wrong. And tablet mode on Windows has improved greatly over the years, but just can't compete with the polish of iPadOS.

All I want is an iPad that runs iPadOS when in tablet mode, and optionally macOS when docked to a mouse/keyboard. I would happily pay $5000 for that iPad (64GB RAM, 4TB SSD, two TB4 ports) as it would become my singular mobile workstation. Apple still gets their money they feel they are missing by not having me buy two devices that perform a huge overlap of the same tasks. And ultimately - I'd rather just do everything in iPadOS - but Apple has made it clear that iPadOS is only allowed to do what they want it to do, and absolutely nothing more.

That is why I'm pretty disappointed with "Pro" just meaning OLED, a faster chip and a fancier keyboard. In a way - that is all the Macbook Pro is (Other than more ports), but since macOS was built for "pros" and brought down for regular users, it is more flexible than the iPhone software being brought "up" to pro level in very specific niches.

Normal we are on Macrumors, people prefer MacOS to Windows. But the world is not Macrumors.
Personally, while I do want the main iPad OS to be... iPadOS, I would much rather have an iPad that can also run Windows than an iPad than can also run MacOS...

 

[gpat]

Normal we are on Macrumors, people prefer MacOS to Windows. But the world is not Macrumors.
Personally, while I do want the main iPad OS to be... iPadOS, I would much rather have an iPad that can also run Windows than an iPad than can also run MacOS...

Honestly, Apple should just add virtualization support to iPadOS, enable Parallels and VMWare to be released and just make people do whatever they wanted with it.
It should also boost sales of costlier 1TB/16GB RAM iPads.
But they're just too stubborn and specifically nerfed iPadOS in that regard.

 

[aevan]

Different devices with different priorities, but it really looks nice.

My biggest issue with Surface devices: they are not sold in my country officially. Seriously, Microsoft.

 

[ZombiePete]

read a two page novel

I think that would qualify more as a short story

 

[starlabjump]

If new surface can bring usual arm-cpu based features such as long battery time, good temperature management, good power to performance ratio, instant on, and plus good translation performance like rosetta2, this new surface will be popular.

So have to wait for actual reviews for a few weeks.

 

[ZombiePete]

If new surface can bring usual arm-cpu based features such as long battery time, good temperature management, good power to performance ratio, instant on, and plus good translation performance like rosetta2, this new surface will be popular.

So have to wait for actual reviews for a few weeks.

It’ll still be a Windows tablet.

 

[JCCL]

It’ll still be a Windows tablet.

Many users are fine with that. It can still do far more than any iPad out there.

 

[starlabjump]

Many users are fine with that. It can still do far more than any iPad out there.

yes true
just run powerpoint on ipad pro and surface pro and see clear differences in functionality
i do not need to mention that surface can run a full version of MATLAB easily unlike ipad pro…

i have felt that other than hand-writing using apple pencil or media consumption, there are so little things to do with my ipad at current stage.

 

[ZombiePete]

Many users are fine with that. It can still do far more than any iPad out there.

Sure; just like a Windows laptop or MacBook can do more than any iPad. At the end of the day, the Surface is a laptop with some tablet-like features; it is not a tablet-first device, and if that’s what you want then I am glad they’re improving it. It made me do a double-take to see that they’re selling the new keyboard as a $500 accessory since, unlike an iPad, the Surface is running an OS designed for a mouse/keyboard interface.

Yeah, they sold it as a separate accessory before but $500?

The other thing that kind of surprised me is that Microsoft is estimating 14 hours video playback for the Surface; they have way overestimated Surface Pro battery life in the past, so I am really interested in seeing how that actually plays out. If this thing ends up getting around 10 hours of battery life with moderate use it would be an improvement for the SP lineup, but that’s hardly as revolutionary as Microsoft would like it to seem given its weight/size.

I have tried to get into the Surface line up in the past but I just cannot get into Windows tablets; the tablet app ecosystem is bad and using Windows apps when trying to tablet is a bad experience. Nothing they announced yesterday makes me think any of that is changing; Surface users are just going to be able to do the things they were doing before with (moderately?) better battery life. Otherwise it’s basically the same form factor, same size/weight, the same OS, same apps…it’s just not as revolutionary as I see Microsoft trying to make it out to be.

Competition is a good thing so I’d like to see them do more.

 

[Jackbequickly]

If you HAVE to have windows, it is an option.

 

[JCCL]

Sure; just like a Windows laptop or MacBook can do more than any iPad. At the end of the day, the Surface is a laptop with some tablet-like features; it is not a tablet-first device, and if that’s what you want then I am glad they’re improving it. It made me do a double-take to see that they’re selling the new keyboard as a $500 accessory since, unlike an iPad, the Surface is running an OS designed for a mouse/keyboard interface.

The 500 accessory is just an option. There are different tiers, starting with the 139 option. And guess what? Unlike the iPad Pro M4, If I decide to upgrade my Surface Pro 8 to the new Surface Pro, I can use my existing keyboard and pen - just need to change the device..I personally wouldn’t need a keyboard to detach as I already have a desk with external keyboards for those scenario, but if someone needs it they have that option

For me as a tablet, the iPad is much better. But overall as a device, I prefer my Surface so much more. The Surface I can use as my main productive device. For ME, the iPad is not much more than a more comfortable version of my iPhone with a larger screen better for reading and browsing at home. Still don’t know if it is the right time to go for Windows on ARM so may stick to my SP8 a bit longer, we’ll see.