The dust has not settled in the wake of Apple's September 9 event and product comparisons are still the order of the week.
Take the iPad Pro and the Surface Pro 3, for example.
One can't but help comparing the two devices, as both have comparable specs. Apple's latest slate even has an optional stylus - something that the company has never made in the past, considering co-founder Steve Jobs' dislike of such devices.
"Who wants a stylus? You have to get em', put em' away. You lose them. Yuck," he famously declared in 2007 at the launching of the first iPhone, as noted by The Verge. However, the Apple Pencil, as the company calls the $99 device, was not created to function similarly to the styluses that Jobs hated. It did more than that - and it's one of those features that push it into the realm of Surface Pro 3 comparisons.
Aside from the use of a stylus, both tablets have 12-inch displays, with the iPad Pro edging out the competition with a 12.9-inch screen - nearly an inch larger than Microsoft's slate.
Both also are equipped with the latest mobile OS versions and have similar RAM size (4GB). Both also have the same starting prices ($799). iPad Pro, however, wins in the camera stakes with an 8MP iSight shooter. Pro 3's is a 5MP front and rear camera, which may probably be bumped up in the Pro 4.
The Apple tablet's 10-hour battery life trumps Surface Pro 3's 9-hour battery capacity. iPad Pro is also lighter at 1.57 pounds and thinner at .27 inches. Pro 3 weighs 1.76 pounds and is .36 inch thick. The former also has higher resolution and pixel density at 2,742 x 2,048, 265 ppi, while the latter only mustered 216 ppi at 2,160 x 1,440 resolution.
However, Surface Pro 3 edges out with its storage options (up to 512 GB). It can even allow a MicroSD - something that the iPad Pro is obviously incapable of. Also, the Apple Pencil will set consumers back $99, although this is optional. The stylus, however, comes with the Pro 3 free of charge. Considering that the detachable keyboards that can be used with both devices are separate (but optional) purchases, it appears that the Apple slate would cost more.
So, which tablet is the winner?
Here's one conclusion by PC World that pretty much echoes those of a number of other tech reviewers doing a similar comparison:
"For now, the iPad Pro's hardware specs are arguably a tad superior to the Surface Pro 3's. But while Apple may claim to have 'reinvented' the idea of a productivity tablet with the iPad Pro, Surface owners know where Apple found its biggest ideas. We expect Microsoft to one-up Apple yet again with the Surface Pro 4."
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