Is The iPad Pro Really ‘Beating’ The Surface Pro 4?
In news that might shock tech watchers and industry insiders, Fox News claims that the iPad Pro is outpacing the Surface Pro 4 in the marketplace.
“Apple is making quick gains on Microsoft with its iPad Pro, according to a major market research firm…In a report titled ‘Apple Beats Microsoft at Their Own Game,’ IDC says that the iPad Pro has already taken an impressive lead in the market for detachables — tablets that effectively become laptops by connecting a separate, detached keyboard.”
“These two are two market segments and not in the least comparable. The iPad is a tablet that they made a detachable keyboard for and the Surface is a PC that was made so it could be used without a keyboard,” says JustinThyme4u.
“Huge Fan of Apple products (I own an iPhone, Apple Watch, two tablets, MacBook Pro, the newest MacBook, and the Apple TV). But let’s not start comparing the Surface Pro to the iPad Pro. The Surface Pro has a full functioned operating system and the iPad Pro does not,” claims PhilipReingart.
Since results are based on the first quarter of 2016, they are talking about the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, an item that hasn’t necessarily earned the type of reviews Apple is used to. When it first came out, famous tech blogger Walt Mossberg of The Verge said he was sticking with his iPad Air.
“You’d think an iPad guy like me would be over the moon about the iPad Pro, despite its hefty base price of $799 for a Wi-Fi-only model with 32GB of memory, which stretches to $949 with 128GB of memory, and soars past $1,000 with cellular capability. But I’m not,” Mossberg claimed, adding that not only was the device too bulky, but that he only found only a few apps that took advantage of the iPad Pro’s extra screen space.
David Pierce of Wired stressed that the iPad Pro was not a laptop replacement, despite Apple claiming it could be.
“For those of us who still cling to laptops and desktops, the iPad Pro just doesn’t feel like a serious machine for serious work. We need our keyboard shortcuts and our mice, our apps that work just how we like them. We need our accessories. A touch-first interface just doesn’t feel right, and the iPad Pro can’t overthrow our existing workflows and tools.”
“The Surface Pro 3 was a sign that Microsoft’s crazy hybrid tablet experiment might actually have legs. The Surface Pro 4, on the other hand, is the company’s Surface dream made real. Everything Microsoft promised at that surprise Surface unveiling in 2012 is here today with the Pro 4.”
Apple has just released the 9.7-inch version of the iPad Pro, which has received much better reviews than the 12.9-inch version. Still, as others have indicated, it’s hard to believe that the iPad Pro is beating the Surface Pro 4, especially because they are really completely different products.
[Photo by Eric Risberg/AP Images]
