Alright, the new laptopy tablet vs tablety laptop
The Apple M2 iPad Pro vs Microsoft Surface Pro 9
For general comparison, we’ll go over the raw stats first, and then I’ll give my verdict after
So, let’s go over the raw stats
First, externals
The M2 iPad Pro is Apple’s newly updated, top-tier laptopy tablet with many new features,
starting at a price of $800 for the small version and $1,100 for the larger one
While the Surface Pro 9 is Microsoft’s tablety laptop
with also a variety of features,
starting at a price of $1,000 for the regular model and $1,300 for the 5G one
Both of these devices have accessories that are oftentimes purchased together,
so here are their prices as well
And, each is available for student discount pricing, so very nice
Let’s keep going
For sizing, the iPad Pro has two,
the 11-inch and the 12.9-inch
These both have 120Hz refresh rates, plus MiniLED and very high peak brightness for the top of the line version
On the other hand, the Surface Pro 9 is just 13 inches
Not much variety, but it does have a great looking, 120Hz screen to compete with the iPads
Although, not as high of peak brightness
Next, for connectivity, we have fairly adequate setups
Despite both of these most certainly benefitting from having an upgrade in the port selection,
neither is really great…
But, there is a winner
The iPad Pro only has one USB-C, meaning you’ll definitely need a dongle for accessories
While the Surface Pro 9 has a couple USB-C ports and the Surface Connect Port
With a SIM port for the 5G option as well
But, neither has a headphone jack
So clearly, neither device is amazing here,
but the Surface Pro 9 does take the cake
Now, for cameras, and both of these devices are great
The iPad Pro is nearly overkill with 3 different lenses, a wide, an ultra-wide, and a LIDAR scanner at the rear
Which allows for the iPad to record at 4K and cover a large space
and also be useful for those who use AR tech
And on top of that, it has an ultra-wide at the front, too
While the Surface Pro 9 has two cameras in total, one in the front and one in the rear
With the rear being able to record at 4K and the front at 1080P
So, there’s clearly a winner here, but
both are still enough for most people’s needs
So all in all, for the externals, the iPad Pro has a better display and camera setup
While the Surface Pro 9 has better connectivity and a few neat features
Now, let’s talk about the internals
Starting with the internal specs, the new iPad Pro sports the new M2 Chip,
which is just incredibly speedy and might be too speedy for the tablet,
which might not have enough programs to use it
While the new Surface Pro 9 sports the new 12th Gen Intel Processors
Which are also very speedy as well and can be very useful for a computer
And here and the singlecore performance benchmarks of these device configurations:
And here are the multicore:
As you can see, the M2 iPad Pro is just a bit faster
Additionally, the 5G version of the Surface Pro 9 might come with a moblie-esque ARM-based processor
that might perform differently from the Intel version
It might be worse on the raw performance side, but for the battery life, it might be a little better
We’ll just have to wait and see. Let’s keep going
For storage, both devices start with 128 gigabytes, which is not great
But, they can be configured with more at an increasing price
Or you could just get an external SSD
And, and, and you can also upgrade the Surface Pro 9’s SSD yourself
That’s most-definitely a plus there
And now for battery lives, which is a bit… tough
The previous Surface Pro, the Surface Pro 8, was known for having a pretty disappointing battery life on average
Of about 6 hours
Leaving many users frustrated with it
This year, though, the Surface Pro 9 touts 15.5 hours for the regular option and 19 hours for the 5G model
Which is incredible, but is that the case though? Can’t tell you
We can’t really tell until reviewers test it, so we’ll see
The iPad Pro, on the other hand, for last year, got an average of 10 hours
And this year, Apple also claimed for it to be the same
But remember that neither of these have been extensively test by reviewers, so let’s keep that in mind
For right now, we’ll just stay hopeful that things are good in the battery department,
but we’re not gonna compare the two
Let’s keep going
Additionally, they both have security software
With the iPad Pro sporting FaceID and the Surface Pro using Windows Hello
And finally for the operating systems, the iPad Pro runs iPadOS while the Surface Pro uses Windows,
meaning we have two extremely different devices that will cover different needs
We’ll talk about this more in my verdict
But in summary, the iPad Pro has faster internal specs while the Surface Pro has an upgradable SSD
Let’s get onto my verdict
Now, which is best for you?
Well, like usual, that depends on firstly your needs
Both of these devices are great at what they do, but neither does everything
So then, what are these devices good at? What needs do they satisfy?
Well, this is the list of things I would consider buying the iPad Pro for:
And here are the needs I would consider when buying the Surface Pro 9:
It’s not an extensive list
Just things that I would personally consider
And they can surely overlap, as you can tell by the note taking sections
But because this comparison is between two devices that are very different,
For most people, one is better than the other
The iPad Pro is a laptopy tablet, meaning it takes a few features of a laptop and puts it into a tablet,
such as the ability to open up documents and edit them
while the Surface Pro is a tablety laptop, meaning it combines some features of a tablet with a laptop,
those being the touchscreen and the form factor
The Surface Pro is probably the more “hybrid” of the two, but it’s still a laptop at the end of the day
So because of that, it does have all the features of a computer, which are extensive
But, it doesn’t do everything a tablet can do
While the iPad Pro has all the features of a tablet, plus even more with its great cameras system and screen,
But, not all the features of a laptop, so it can’t really replace the MacBook in your setup
So given these two explanations, as is typical for my comparisons,
I’d say the iPad Pro is a better companion to your setup while the Surface Pro is a better flagship
So if you already have a computer, I suggest you get the M2 iPad Pro
But, if you don’t, then I recommend you get the Surface Pro 9
For those who choose the iPad Pro, it will compliment your setup greatly,
being able to perform all the tasks you delegate to a typical tablet
While on the other hand, for those who choose the Surface Pro,
you will enjoy a great primary device that can run anything a typical computer can
So overall, that was the smackdown between the M2 iPad Pro and Surface Pro 9
I hope this helped, and I hope to see you again soon
My name is Cyrus. It’s spelled like “Cyrus,” pronounced like “See Rooster,” just take out the “ter”
Thank you very much for watching and have a wonderful day!
Peace.