Difference between Microsoft Surface Pro and iPad

Key difference: At the time of its release, the Microsoft Surface was touted as the perfect cross between a tablet and a laptop. It was initially released February 2013. The Microsoft Surface Pro features a 10.6-inch ClearType HD screen with approximately 208 ppi pixel density. The screen is full HD, a feature not readily avilable in most tablets. The device runs Microsoft Windows 8, which the same OS that is being run in various laptops and desktops. The device has Full Windows capability. It can practically run all Windows programs, including games. iPads have the screen size of 9.7 inches with multi-touch display. iPads are intended as devices for a multimedia experience, reading e-books, watching movies, listening to music, playing games, browsing the Internet, or retrieving e-mail. The company is currently on the iPad fourth-generation, also known as just plain iPad or iPad 4.

Today is the world of smartphones and tablets. So, much so that tablets and smartphones are attempting to replace the traditional and bulky desktops and laptops. The Microsoft Surface is a series of tablets that aim to do just that. The advantage that the Surface has over a number of other tablets is that it will run the Microsoft Windows operating system, whereas most other tablets run Android. The iPad runs the iOS which is more similar to the iPhone OS rather than a Mac OS. Hence, at the time of its release, the Microsoft Surface was touted as the perfect cross between a tablet and a laptop. It was initially released February 2013.

The Microsoft Surface Pro features a 10.6-inch ClearType HD screen with approximately 208 ppi pixel density. The screen is full HD, a feature not readily avilable in most tablets. The screen affords the true 16:9 aspect ratio which matches most movies and shows, eliminating the black bars that pop up. The Microsoft Surface Pro also has a 10 point multi-touch.

Microsoft Surface Pro is powered by a Dual-core 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, which is backed by 4 GB of RAM. It also features two cameras, a front-facing and a rear-facing. Both are 720p HD LifeCams with True Color.

The device runs Microsoft Windows 8 Professional, which the same OS that is being run in various laptops and desktops. The device has Full Windows capability. It can practically run all Windows programs, including games.

The device comes in three memory size variants: 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB. However, the actual memory storage available for the user is 23GB for the 64 GB variant and 85GB for  128 GB variant. The actual user memory available for the 256 GB is not currently specified. The size disparency is because of the system backup storage recovery partition, which can be manually deleted by experiences users.

The input devices for the Microsoft Surface Pro includes an on screen keyboard, a physical keyboard that doubles as a cover, as well as a pen stylus. The physical keyboard can be purchased separately or as part of a combo with the device itself. It attaches magnetically and electrically to the base of the tablet.

Physically, the device is quite similar to the Microsoft Surface RT, same look, and same color. However, it is thicker than the RT and has a full USB 3.0 port, in addition to a Micro-HDMI port, microSDXC card slot, Headset jack, Mini DisplayPort and Cover port. Similar to RT, it also has a built in kickstand, which has been critized by some as beinf too difficult to manage. Additionally, Microsoft has also acknowledged issues with the stylus pen. The stylus pen has been reported by some users as randomly not working correctly, especially with older applications that do not have complete pen support. There have also been some reported issues with Wi-Fi and while waking up from standby mode.

Apple originally launched iPad in 2010. Its launch started a new trend for tablets. iPad is a type of tablet PC, which was originally promoted as a cross between an Apple iPhone and iPod Touch with added capabilities of computing. However, it is not meant to be a replacement for desktop personal computers or laptops. iPads have computational properties that can do some tasks as laptops but not all. The company is currently on the iPad fourth-generation, also known as just plain iPad or iPad 4.

iPads have the screen size of 9.7 inches with multi-touch display. iPads are intended as devices for a multimedia experience, reading e-books, watching movies, listening to music, playing games, browsing the Internet, or retrieving e-mail. It has a software structure more like that of a mobile phone. It also has a very simple user interface, which can even be easily operated by children. iPads are available with a memory capacity of 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB.

The iPad is available in models supporting only Wi-Fi, or 3G and Wi-Fi. However, iPad lacks Flash, software that a number of websites use to display content. So, iPad cannot load these pages. This limits the web surfing experience. The fourth-gen iPad is similar to its predecessors, while it still has two minor and one major upgrade on it. The 30-pin connector has been upgraded to a smaller Lightning connector, while the front camera has been upgraded to the HD Status. The major upgrade is the new A6X processor that replaced the A5X processor on the third-gen. The iPad Mini version is a smaller and thinner version of the iPad.

The information for the detailed table about the two devices has been taken from the Microsoft website, Apple website, GSMArena.com and Wikipedia.

 

Microsoft Surface Pro

iPad (4th generation)

Launch Date

February 2013

November 2, 2012

Company

Microsoft

Apple

Size

275 x 173 x 13 mm

241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4 mm (9.50 x 7.31 x 0.37 in)

Display

10.6 inches ClearType HD screen

LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Screen

1920 x 1080 pixels (~208 ppi pixel density) 16M colors

1536 x 2048 pixels, 9.7 inches (~264 ppi pixel density)

Protection

VaporMg casing

Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating

Weight

910 grams

652g (1.44 lb)

662g (1.46 lb) for 3G model

2G Network

N/A

(Wi-Fi + Cellular Model) GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - A1459/ A1460

(Wi-Fi + Cellular Model) CDMA 800 / 1900 / 2100 - A1460

3G Network

N/A

(Wi-Fi + Cellular Model) HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - A1459/ A1460

(Wi-Fi + Cellular Model) CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - A1460

4G Network

N/A

(Wi-Fi + Cellular Model) LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 1700 / 2100 - A1459

(Wi-Fi + Cellular Model) LTE 700 / 850 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 - A1460

GUI

Windows 8 Pro

iUI

CPU speed

Dual-core 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5-3317U

Dual-core 1.4 GHz

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 4000

PowerVR SGX554MP4 (quad-core graphics)

OS

Windows 8 Pro

iOS 6

Chipset

Intel Core i5

Apple A6X

RAM

4GB RAM—Dual Channel Memory

1 GB RAM

SIM Size

N/A

Micro-SIM for 3G model

Internal Memory

64/128/256 GB

16/32/64/128 GB

Expandable Memory

microSDXC card slot

None

Sensors

Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass

Accelerometer, Gyroscope, compass

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi direct, Bluetooth, USB

Wi-Fi + Cellular Model

GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)

LTE (Bands 4 and 17)

Wi-Fi + Cellular Model (MM)

CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz)

GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)

LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)

Data only

All Models

802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz)

Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology

Data

WLAN, Bluetooth, USB

WiFi, USB

GPRS, EDGE, LTE for Wi-Fi + Cellular Model

Speed

-

DC-HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, LTE, 73 Mbps; EV-DO Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps

WLAN

Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)

Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy technology

Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP

USB

Full-size USB 3.0

USB v2.0, special lightening charger

Primary Camera

720p HD LifeCams with True Color

5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus

Secondary Camera

720p HD LifeCams with True Color

Yes, 1.2 MP, 720p@30fps, face detection, FaceTime over Wi-Fi + Cellular

Video

720p @ 30fps

1080p@30fps, video stabilization

Camera Features

Geo-tagging

Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection

Sound Enhancement

Microphone, Stereo speakers

No

Audio supported formats

MP3/ WAV/ eAAC+ player

AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV

Video supported formats

MP4/ DivX/ Xvid/ H.264/ H.263 player

H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640x480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280x720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

Battery Capacity

42 W-h

Built-in 42.5-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

Available Colors

Dark Titanium

Black, White

Messaging

Email, Push Email, IM

iMessage, Email, Push Email, IM

Browser

HTML5

HTML (Safari)

Radio

No

No

GPS

Yes

with A-GPS support and GLONASS

Java

-

None

Additional Features

  • Full-size USB 3.0
  • microSDXC card slot
  • Headset jack
  • Mini DisplayPort
  • Cover port
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Compass
  • Windows Mail and Messaging
  • SkyDrive
  • Internet Explorer 10
  • Bing
  • Xbox Music Video, and Games.
  • iCloud cloud service
  • Twitter and Facebook integration
  • TV-out
  • Maps
  • Audio/video player/editor
  • Organizer
  • Document viewer
  • Image viewer/editor
  • Voice memo
  • Predictive text input
  • VoiceOver screen reader
  • Guided Access
  • Support for playback of closed-captioned content
  • AssistiveTouch interface for adaptive accessories
  • Full-screen zoom magnification
  • Large text
  • Option to invert colours
  • Left/right volume adjustment

Image Courtesy: microsoft.com, pluggedin.co.uk

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