Contents
The comparison between iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8 in 6 aspects:
1. The Designs
iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8 is both tablets with removable keyboards, aluminum bodies, and nearly the same size. In particular, the device from Microsoft has a built-in kickstand on the back, allowing it to adjust the screen amplitude and easily stand firmly on any plane. As for Apple’s iPad, users often need to resort to the support of a separate keyboard to get a similar experience.
However, each line has its own distinctive design language, so the winner in terms of overall design often depends on the perception of each user. Therefore, to compare the appearance of the iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8, this article will only delve into portability. More specifically, the iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8 has nearly similar screen sizes, 12.9 inches, and 13 inches, respectively.
The body of the two series is also proportional to the screen size. iPad Pro is slightly smaller with a height of 28.06 cm and a length of 21.49 cm. Along with that, in an effort to pursue a design as thin and light as possible, Apple also launched the new iPad Pro with an impressive thickness of only approximately 0.64 cm. Another plus point of the iPad Pro is the weight of 682 – 685 grams, suitable for users who have to move a lot, 200 grams lighter than the Pro 8.
Meanwhile, the 2-in-1 tablet from Microsoft loses in this category due to its 28.7 x 20.8 x 0.93 cm body, which is noticeably larger and thicker when placed next to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro M1. However, the advantage of a device with a large screen during multitasking is always undeniable.
2. The Screen
One of the reasons for the difference in width and length between these two tablets is that Microsoft uses a 3:2 ratio, while Apple integrates a 4:3 screen for the iPad Pro. In terms of specifics, the Surface Pro 8 ships with a Pixelsense Flow display with a resolution of 2880 x 1920, a pixel density of 267 PPI, slightly higher than 2732 x 2048, 264 PPI on the Liquid display. The retina of the iPad Pro M1 is 12.9 inches.
However, the device from the Apple house also immediately regained the upper hand when it came to the bezel. The iPad Pro M1 has uniform and consistent borders, creating a more aesthetic feel than the Surface Pro 8 with only the left and right border reduced, although the Pro 8 model has significantly reduced the border, giving more space (about 11%) when compared to Surface Pro 7 with the same body size.
Both of these devices have a brightness of up to 120Hz and allow customization down to 60Hz to save power. Microsoft calls this Dynamic Refresh Rate, while Apple calls this ProMotion technology.
Overall, this is a comparison category where the Surface Pro 8 and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro are evenly matched, with display quality that surpasses many monolithic laptops and exceeds the criteria that users often expect in a laptop. a 2-in-1 device.
3. Performance
Apple is using the M1 chip with 8 CPU cores, 8 GPU cores, and 16 Neural Engine cores, which greatly improves multitasking ability as well as processing speed compared to its predecessors and also takes the advantage when placed on the same level. scale with Surface Pro 8 in many practical tests. Meanwhile, Surface Pro 8 ships with two Intel Gen 11th Tiger Lake 4-core 8-thread processor options including 4.8 GHz i7-1185G7 and 4.2 GHz Core i5-1135G7.
Microsoft allows users to choose SKUs with up to 32GB of RAM, while the iPad Pro is limited to 16 GB. In contrast, the Pro 8 has a maximum SSD of 1TB, while the tablet from Apple is configured up to 2TB.
Comparing performance benchmarks, the iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8 chip that is used to power Macbook and iMac lines won 1707 points in the single-core test and 7212 multi-core test. Meanwhile, Surface Pro 8 was recorded with 1511 single-core points and 5567 multi-core points, completely surpassed by M1. In terms of graphics, Microsoft is using Intel Iris Xe which scored 14413 in the OpenCL benchmark, once again being trailed by the iPad Pro’s 18260.
It can be seen that Apple Silicon is almost changing the game in the field of chip manufacturing, causing many other names from big names like Intel or AMD to be wary and in the race between iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8. Apple is still mastering the race track.
4. Camera
The camera system has always been a strong point of Apple-branded devices and in the battle between the 12.9-inch iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8, the Apple family once again refused to give in.
On the back of the Surface, Pro 8 is a 10MP camera that allows 4K video recording and has autofocus capabilities. Meanwhile, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is superior with a cluster of 2 cameras including 12MP wide-angle and 10MP ultra-wide angle, supporting 5x optical zoom, autofocus, 4K recording at 60 frames per second, 1080p 240 frames/second.
On the front, the position remains the same, Microsoft has a 5MP camera that supports 1080p video and Windows Hello face authentication, while the iPad Pro M1 uses a 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera that supports FaceID, comes with Center feature Stage automatically focuses on users during video calls. Therefore, in this category, iPad Pro is the more optimal choice if users want to invest in photo and video capture features on an iPad.
5. Battery life
The 12.9-inch iPad Pro M1 is announced to have up to 10 hours of battery life surfing websites or watching videos over wifi. Meanwhile, Microsoft advertises Surface Pro 8 with up to 16 hours of battery life using a regular Surface device.
The tests show that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro M1 can operate continuously for about 7 hours, lower than 12 hours and 30 minutes on the Surface Pro 8. These numbers also increase or decrease depending on the scanning frequency, and screen brightness. and the actual volume of applications the user runs.
6. Price
The 12.9-inch iPad Pro M1 costs from $1099 to $2399 depending on configuration and does not include accessories, including 5 wifi SKUs and 5 5G SKUs.
Surface Pro 8 is also listed at the company with the lowest price of $ 1099.99 and up to $ 2599.99 for the highest configuration version running a Core i7 chip, and 1TB memory. Similar to other iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8, the Pro 8’s list price also doesn’t include the pen and keyboard.
Conclusion:
Different from the clear line drawn between iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8 or the stereotype that Windows tablets are only suitable for work and Apple’s iPads are only suitable for entertainment, Surface Pro 8 and this year’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro are having many intersections. One side is stepping out of the comfort zone and trying to improve the touch experience, the other is upgrading the performance and ability to run applications for work.
Therefore, choosing between the two – iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 8 has never been as difficult as this year. If the ecosystem doesn’t help with decision-making, users can choose based on the factors they prioritize. Surface Pro 8 is dominating when it comes to operating systems for work, diverse ports, large screen sizes suitable for multitasking, keyboards with trackpads, sharper screens, and battery life. long. Meanwhile, the iPad Pro M1 is leading in categories including camera quality, overall performance, 5G connectivity, price, and portability.