I’ve got the iPad Pro 11 and a Surface Go. The Surface Go is a great little laptop (with keyboard). The Surface Go is a terrible tablet. If you want a tablety device, go with the iPad. If you want a computer go with the Surface.
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iPad Pro iPad Pro or Surface
- Thread starter jerryk
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I owned a Surface Pro for over a year. Here is what it boils down to:
a) If you want to have just one device for everything, get the Surface Pro. But be aware that is an OKish laptop experience and a very mediocre tablet experience.
b) If you can afford 2 devices, get a MacBook Pro (older model with proper keyboard) and an iPad Pro. Then you have the best laptop in the market and the best tablet in the market.
I moved from a) to b) recently and I couldn't be happier. Yes, when travelling to the office I need to carry much more weight, as I need a laptop there, but when I go on holidays for example, I just take the iPad. I bring the camera connection kit, the iPad is a beast handling 4K video, raw photos, etc. Everything goes into iCloud, I can see photos in my phone, apple TV, etc. I remember loading photos on holidays with the a) option and the experience was abismal. Photo processing was really slow, making edits painful.
I also remember trying to watch a movie with a) during a flight, it took me 10 minutes until I could get the movie started, tablet mode is painful, I had to browse through folders with my fingers, then somehow right click to open with VLC, then navigate through the menus to find the subtitles, at some point full screen stopped working, or the portrait mode, I can't remember but I had to restart. It was painful.
On a recent trip with the iPad Pro I just bought a few movies on sale for under a fiver the day before, downloaded a few episodes for offline viewing with Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Plex. Sit on the plane, play, done.
a) If you want to have just one device for everything, get the Surface Pro. But be aware that is an OKish laptop experience and a very mediocre tablet experience.
b) If you can afford 2 devices, get a MacBook Pro (older model with proper keyboard) and an iPad Pro. Then you have the best laptop in the market and the best tablet in the market.
I moved from a) to b) recently and I couldn't be happier. Yes, when travelling to the office I need to carry much more weight, as I need a laptop there, but when I go on holidays for example, I just take the iPad. I bring the camera connection kit, the iPad is a beast handling 4K video, raw photos, etc. Everything goes into iCloud, I can see photos in my phone, apple TV, etc. I remember loading photos on holidays with the a) option and the experience was abismal. Photo processing was really slow, making edits painful.
I also remember trying to watch a movie with a) during a flight, it took me 10 minutes until I could get the movie started, tablet mode is painful, I had to browse through folders with my fingers, then somehow right click to open with VLC, then navigate through the menus to find the subtitles, at some point full screen stopped working, or the portrait mode, I can't remember but I had to restart. It was painful.
On a recent trip with the iPad Pro I just bought a few movies on sale for under a fiver the day before, downloaded a few episodes for offline viewing with Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Plex. Sit on the plane, play, done.
iPadOS needs to be put to the test once it arrives. So far what Apple showed off and from I’ve seen online, iPadOS completely changes the game. It’s up to developers to adopt the new features in their webpages for “desktop safari”, spit view…. I would hope to see a few more changes to the mouse cursor as the beta goes on.
Only time will tell if it can go toe to toe with a PC now.
Only time will tell if it can go toe to toe with a PC now.
Surface Laptop is a traditional laptop form factor 13.5" and 2.7 lbs. It has a 3;2 screen and a great keyboard.
I would pair with the 9.7 ipad fo travel. For day to day workstuff, go with small laptop only. If you
are doing any traditional computer work, skip the ipad for productivity tasks. I am a fan of the Surface pro, but I like the laptop form factor and larger screen of the Surface laptop.
Go to an apple store and work with the ipad smartcover: its garbage! (imo)
Plus, a mouse is must for me doing excel. Why eff around?
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I have the 2018 IPP and a Surface Pro 6. I LOVE the keyboard on the surface - nothing else comes close. But I'm still happiest using my IPP. I wanted the Surface for two reasons: 1) I realized I no longer owned a Windows device or any kind, and 2) I can't manage my Google Sites from my iPad. But guess what - it's next to impossible to manage a Google Site from the Surface! So I still have to do that only from school with my teacher laptop. Or just use my MacBook Air.
I feel it's important that you keep your feet firmly planted in both the Apple and MS worlds.
I feel it's important that you keep your feet firmly planted in both the Apple and MS worlds.
Let me disagree on the keyboard... I don't like the surface laptop keyboard at all.
The surface book one is very nice, the surface pro is decent but the surface laptop one has something I really don't like...It's definitely usable but I don't like the feel. It can be subjective but I suggest you test it and not assume it's the same as the SB or SP... I also have a surface clone (HP Elite X2) and the keyboard there is much better than the surface one (I have the surface pro 4 keyboard)
Looks like you already have macs around you, so not sure why you would want a Surface Pro.
1. If you want a lighter laptop, look at the Macbook Air.
2. If you want a Windows machine, get an ultrabook. The Surface Pro, although a nice concept for a demo, is not a great laptop nor tablet. If your purpose is for productivity of typing + Office, just get a laptop.
Not sure the fascination of "forcing" one's self to use any of these products. Just because marketing says something? Take a step back at what do you really use the product for, and get the proper product for it.
If you need Windows, Surface. If operating system doesn't matter, I'd say get the upcoming version of iPad OS will be good enough by far. It looks like a truly unbelievable improvement in usability. I'm actually shocked. I never thought it would happen. And now that Apple has decided to distinguish the iPhone and iPad versions, the sky is the limit for the iPad.
I think it all depends on what one does with a tablet...
If it's just for watching videos, a laptop, especially a convertible one where the keyboard is not necessarily in the way, is a better option because of the screen aspect ratio. In this case an ipad is not even necessary... By the way the speakers on the surface are not amazing, they are more like those in an ipad air 2/3 (maybe it will change with the surface pro 7...)
If it's for things where holding the device is necessary a 2in1 is too heavy, but surface is not ideal either. A mid-sized ipad, or even a mini, is best. The scenario could be reading, web browsing or even using a pen while holding the device. In the past I used the pen with a surface but if your are not at a desk it's rather heavy, so I have moved to the ipad pro 9.7, smaller but much more comfortable to hold.
For the topic starter the main issue is not the tablet but the MBP. A 12in macbook (or the older 11.6 macbook air) or one of the very light 13in laptops from samsung or LG is a better option. 2in1 are a bit heavier but can be found under 3 pounds.
In the end, if you actually think about it, the Surface Pro is not good at anything. It's a poor laptop where the keyboard is optional, takes more desk space than a regular laptop, and heavy top set-up. It's a poor tablet due to its weight, lack of tablet apps. Even for a "Pro" device, it only has a solo USB-A port (no USB-C), and its SD card slot is microSD instead of a full SD. As an entertainment device, its speaker is abysmal vs the quad speaker of any iPad Pros.
The Surface Pro is a designer device, great for demo and show, but not for real life. The form factor was an interesting concept, but now the OEMs already not caring about it. Majority of its owners use it as a laptop.
And yes, I have the Surface Pro, and it is sitting in a drawer.
I think it all comes down to what compromises one is willing to make. I've tried super hard to use iPad for everything, I love the iPad, but still end up going back to Mac or Windows because the functionality I'm looking for is either not there or it requires tedious circling around iOS' limitations. Still, I have this dream of one device for everything I do..
I have the Surface Go, and while it perfectly fits my needs, I have a hard time recommending it for anyone else. Half tablet, half laptop and it excels at neither. There have been display driver issues, the speakers are lousy and the battery only lasts 5-6 hours at best. But I really love my Surface and it does everything I need to do at work and also at home. They're really versatile little machines as long as you have the right peripherals and can accept it for what it is - a compromise.
I have the Surface Go, and while it perfectly fits my needs, I have a hard time recommending it for anyone else. Half tablet, half laptop and it excels at neither. There have been display driver issues, the speakers are lousy and the battery only lasts 5-6 hours at best. But I really love my Surface and it does everything I need to do at work and also at home. They're really versatile little machines as long as you have the right peripherals and can accept it for what it is - a compromise.
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I had the Surface Go for a couple of days and found the display to be extremely slow for me. I understand that this device is meant for people that want the maximum mobility but it was just not for me.
I am the exact contrary. I want each device for a specific need. No dream of one device for everything.
But take into account that I synchronize everything. All my files are synced on all my devices. And I have LTE on several of them, so always connected. And my devices are all very compact and light. My main laptop is under 1.8 pounds (13.3in).
Sometimes I bring one device (ipad pro 9.7 LTE with Create keyboard), sometimes 2 (laptop + ipad mini) still under 3 pounds with both together, sometimes more for long holidays or specific needs (this summer for my holidays I'll bring both the mini 5 LTE with brydge keyboard for on the go and the 12.9 for sheet music plus my laptop).
In addition to having the best device for each thing, there are 2 other advantages, battery life and having a second monitor on the go for productivity (it can be the ipad or sometimes I bring my surface pro 3 as a second monitor).
To me the OS should be seen and not heard allowing the dev’s to design and market apps with the functionality needed by business and consumers. I wish TC could see that.
As for me, I would never recommend a Surface Pro since it does a poor job at being a laptop (didn't opt for the type cover, and connected a bluetooth mouse and keyboard instead) and a tablet. I owned a Surface Pro 2, which I got back in 2013 thinking it would be a good tablet since it has a stylus good for taking notes and the ability to run desktop applications. While it does not replace my Macbook Pro 2012, which I also used during my graduate studies back then, it was okay for taking notes. However, the Surface Pro 2 had drawbacks. While it has good pen functionality, it was heavy, had poor battery life and the lack of tablet optimized apps. Not only that, the operating system took a good chunk of space since I only had the 64 GB model and added a 32GB microSD card for extra storage. Also, using desktop apps with touch is not a very pleasant experience. Sure, the pen helps, but still.
I abandoned the Surface ship a long time ago as my old Surface Pro 2 collect dust. The iPad Pro 9.7 inch fits my needs more and with the new iPadOS enhancements with Apple adding external storage support, desktop browsing, limited mouse support and enhanced multitasking, there is probably no need to ever get another Surface tablet again since it does not do good at either job. Even 2-1 suffer the same flaws with poor tablet functionality simply because the software isn't there. UWP was never really popular and pales in comparison to the vast number of apps optimized for the iPad. It's best to just use the right tools for the job, even if this means using a separate laptop and tablet. If you need to use desktop applications, just use a regular laptop without touch functionality, unless you absolutely need pen support. The middle ground between both devices are never going to provide the best experience that covers both use-cases perfectly.
I abandoned the Surface ship a long time ago as my old Surface Pro 2 collect dust. The iPad Pro 9.7 inch fits my needs more and with the new iPadOS enhancements with Apple adding external storage support, desktop browsing, limited mouse support and enhanced multitasking, there is probably no need to ever get another Surface tablet again since it does not do good at either job. Even 2-1 suffer the same flaws with poor tablet functionality simply because the software isn't there. UWP was never really popular and pales in comparison to the vast number of apps optimized for the iPad. It's best to just use the right tools for the job, even if this means using a separate laptop and tablet. If you need to use desktop applications, just use a regular laptop without touch functionality, unless you absolutely need pen support. The middle ground between both devices are never going to provide the best experience that covers both use-cases perfectly.
There is a big difference between the Surface Pro 2 and the current model. Apart from that I agree that Windows is not really optimized for touch.
I’d argue that the Thinkpad X1C6 is the best laptop in the market. Agree on the iPad though (in my case the 10.5”).
I would choose Surface Book 2 15". The price is quite high but it's 15", convertible, desktop class software, excellent screen. And I don't agree that Windows is not optimized for touch. It works pretty well even on my retro Surface Pro 3.
I personally tried iPad Pro 12.9" and various recent Surface devices. I like Surface Book 2 most of all. And I prefer Surface Pen to Apple Pencil because you can exactly see the size of the brush you're applying to the canvas before clicking.
Lowering price range probably Surface Pro would be the best. MS Office is better optimized for Windows, OneNote has more features, Chrome on Windows supports all desktop class web apps and extensions (unlike Chrome on iPad).
Also Microsoft doesn't hide their hardware problems like Apple does and they listen to users.
I personally tried iPad Pro 12.9" and various recent Surface devices. I like Surface Book 2 most of all. And I prefer Surface Pen to Apple Pencil because you can exactly see the size of the brush you're applying to the canvas before clicking.
Lowering price range probably Surface Pro would be the best. MS Office is better optimized for Windows, OneNote has more features, Chrome on Windows supports all desktop class web apps and extensions (unlike Chrome on iPad).
Also Microsoft doesn't hide their hardware problems like Apple does and they listen to users.
Surface Book 15 is as heavy as the macbook pro 15, which wouldn't solve the weight problem which is the real concern here... And there is no intention to go ipad only here...
I have three iPads (iPP 11, Mini 5, and iPP 10.5 as a backup for beta testing) and a Surface Go. I use the iPP 11 and Mini 5 most of the time. They’re both my “go to” devices for typical web access. However, there are some things that I cannot do with iPads. A really simple, small, rare, but extremely important, task is downloading firmware for trail cameras or uploading log files from the SD cards on trail cameras. I never know when I may have to do that at our camp, so the Go travels to the camp with the two iPads and an Android tablet although I may not use it.
I use my Go for presentations and demonstrations in the statistical software programming class that I teach. I also edited captions on over 25 hours of video using it. The screen is small, but I didn’t have to move my head constantly to see everything on the screen like I would have had to do with a larger screen. I also didn’t have to move my hands off the keyboard because of the built-in trackpad. It was a painful, awful, unpleasant experience (8-10 minutes of editing for every minute of video, might have been simpler to type the transcriptions than it was to edit the machine captions), but it wouldn’t have been any easier on a larger screen or with a mouse.
If you need full Office or need to download or upload files that require file access like you have in Windows but not in iOS, then a Surface is a better choice than an iPad Pro. If you need flexible file handling, the Surface is a better choice, as well. I prefer the form factor of the iPP 11 to that of the Go, but part of that is because the Go’s footprint is larger thanks to the keyboard with trackpad.
I'm a Project Manager. Until MS Project comes out for IpadOS, I'm kind of stuck with Windows in my life (currently MBP/Parallels). Surface is underrated as a tablet and Surface Pen is vastly superior than Ipad/Apple Pencil. That said, app availability and design in Apple is much better than Windows. YMMV.
Not a poweruser yet and certainly cant say what one should or should not use, but for me, at this moment, iPP was better choice over Surface Pro because of apps available for my use. I believe it all boils down to apps and/or workflow. Apps that I use are made specifically for iOS and mostly dont have Windows versions, so it was easy to decide, which device to choose.
Also, W10 is horrible for touch based interaction, Windows Phone 8/8.1 was so much better at this, dont understand why MS didnt actually put an effort into designing usable Windows touch interface overlay for tablets, theres simply no excuse, current Windows touch just doesnt do justice to their Surface hardware, yeah, sure, Windows user interface would be useless without appropriate input from 3rd party apps with said interface support, but its MS, no wonder.
Also, W10 is horrible for touch based interaction, Windows Phone 8/8.1 was so much better at this, dont understand why MS didnt actually put an effort into designing usable Windows touch interface overlay for tablets, theres simply no excuse, current Windows touch just doesnt do justice to their Surface hardware, yeah, sure, Windows user interface would be useless without appropriate input from 3rd party apps with said interface support, but its MS, no wonder.
If you have iPhone and iMAC AT HOME, THE SURFACE PRO 6 IS A BETTER CHOICE.
BUT THE IPADOS MIGHT HAVE A CHANGE!
BUT THE IPADOS MIGHT HAVE A CHANGE!
I don’t think the iPad will start replacing MacBooks for another five years or so. The Surface meanwhile has a full blown desktop OS on it. iPadOS is a great step in the next inevitable direction but it’s not quite there yet.
I own both an 11” Pro and a Surface Go, both great devices I use for different things. I use them both as laptop replacements - I have Apple and Microsoft keyboard covers for both - but neither one is perfect, for me they more complement one another. They’re both awesome in my opinion. If you want something more like a computer with a full OS, get a Surface. If you want a great tablet that can also do some LIMITED laptop functions, get an iPad.
I own both an 11” Pro and a Surface Go, both great devices I use for different things. I use them both as laptop replacements - I have Apple and Microsoft keyboard covers for both - but neither one is perfect, for me they more complement one another. They’re both awesome in my opinion. If you want something more like a computer with a full OS, get a Surface. If you want a great tablet that can also do some LIMITED laptop functions, get an iPad.
My personal opinion if you already have a 9.7 for the house and you just bought an 11 inch and want to edit spreadsheets i'd go for a surface. It's a phenomenal computer and subpar tablet though.