You Can't Beat Apple - Surface Pro X vs iPad Pro By Jon Rettinger

Portion this video sponsored by Bitdefender, the new Microsoft Surface Pro X and the Apple iPad Pro are surprisingly similar in a ton of ways, but in others they feel like two devices from completely different X. So, let's start with price with the obvious disclaimer that these don't start at like 1,800 bucks is, but if you want to get the best experience out of them, sort of get them to do everything, they're capable of you're going to have to spend a pretty decent amount of money. The 13-inch Surface Pro X starts at 999 dollars, which is almost exactly the same price as this guy. A 12 point 9-inch iPad Pro, but that's just for the base configuration without any extra storage or any accessories. So on the iPad Pro front, there's obviously an 11 inch which is less expensive on the surface, Pro X I'd it just one size at 13 inches like so what kind of hardware are you getting? What's the build? What's the feel of these devices and for that kind of money you want to be getting something good, and the hardware on both of these is absolutely amazing. Really top-notch I really loved the build quality of the Surface Pro line, and this is different.

It's thinner! It's lighter than you get on the Surface Pro 7 I think this is the future design for all the Microsoft Surface Pro lines. Obviously it's the X you're getting a bit different, but it feels perfect I love. The hinge can pretty much go in any orientation, not locked to 1, 2 or 3 you're. Also getting two USB type-c ports, which is awesome, especially for a surface product. You've got the Microsoft Surface connector, which it's there enables fast charging, but you can also charge if you want the USB type C's and, of course, the Windows hello camera.

So when it comes to displays I think Microsoft, it's absolutely nailed to display on the pro-x. That's the gray Shirt I! Guess it's a surface stapled now of three by two which may sound strange, but it is awesome for productivity, so kind of running things side by side. But it's not. The best aspect. Ratio for, though, is like watching video you're going to get gigantic black bars, so bear it in mind.

It may not bother you. The bezels here are way smaller than you get on the Surface Pro 7 I, like do is, had a higher refresh rate. So on the iPad Pro side, it's like a pretty familiar story. I think this is still peak. Apple, design, I think it's one of the best-looking Apple products out there.

It's got tiny bezels, of course, USB Con an Apple product is a rare bird nice to have it out here as well. It's got the smart connector for the keyboard or some other accessories, theoretically down the road and, of course, space Eddy built-in we talked about it. We use it, but the display is perfect same story with brightness. It's been plenty bright for me, the angles are great, got a 120 Hertz, refresh rate, which is awesome and, of course, both of them know headphone jack. So the hardware on both of these are baller level awesome, but the bigger story where you check to see the differences is when it comes to the software, so different approaches towards each we've got a desktop level.

Os. Here, it's Windows 10 scale down a little. Microsoft Works hand in hand with Qualcomm and great to processor. It's the sq1 chip, but it's ARM based, which is going to present. Some difficulties which we'll talk about on the other side, apples got the 12, X processor running, essentially scaled up version of a phone OS with I panelist apples, clearly been working hard to address the shortcomings of iOS on a larger, desktop is experience.

You've got better files. App, for example, you now have Mouse supports, is obviously keyboard support here, there's improved multitasking and a lot of things you can do for running apps side by side, but obviously you do have some really inherent iOS and iPadOS specific advantages here. If a really rich, app ecosystem, which I think is unmatched across desktop OS other mobile OS- is no one- can touch apple's, app ecosystems, you're getting incredible level performance. So, while the 8 12 X is not the newest processor from Apple, it is still crazy, capable of course, the other stuff. You'd expect face ID and easily all-day battery life.

You can charge a say up to a hundred percent use it all day and still have battery life left at the end of the day. So obviously there are a lot of positives, but the experience has not been absolutely perfect. So I've had face ID issues, meaning it doesn't always unlock. That's not something I experienced on the iPhone or anything I experienced with Windows hello on the Surface Pro 10 side, and while it's nice to have a files' app, it's still not as full-featured as I would like some apps despite advertising. Otherwise, don't give you the full experience so like office and the newly released Photoshop.

It's not the full breadth of what those can do, so you're still getting in a lot of flagship applications, a scaled-down experience, and so then there's the Surface Pro X set on first blush. It looks like it's running full-blown Windows. The desktop experience is for all intents and purposes windows. You start to see some problems when you look deeper and kind of go into the processor. So it's great for sim support cellular connectivity and is infinitely better on battery life.

Anything you would get from the Intel side, but also there are inherent problems with the ARM architecture. The biggest problem with the Surface Pro X is that it can only run 32-bit ass things, don't just work as you'd expect, so the three apps that I generally use the most on my computer's slack, it's one password, and it's Photoshop. So let's take slack. For example, I went to the website and I went to download slack ain't, no problem downloading it. I went to install it.

The installation failed immediately I had to go back and search and find a 32-bit version of the app, but I did eventually find and install, but I couldn't just download the version that everybody else can. One password is a bit of a different story: I was able to go to the website, and I was able to download it, but it wouldn't install, and I went to Google 32-bit one password I got referenced to some strange sites that maybe I don't want to download password managers from there's a version of one password that was in the Microsoft Store. You figure. That's got to be the one. That's going to work when I installed it, and it did installation fine.

The whole thing would hang up while I was trying to input password and unlock the vault. The one thing it's supposed to do it couldn't do so. Then there's Photoshop, you can find a 32-bit version. You can install it, you can run it, but once it's up and open it's so slow. It's almost unusable.

Whatever your top three top five top ten apps you're going to use chances are you're going to have to hunt for a 32-bit version. If one does exist and if you get that app installed, the experience is not going to be what you from a desktop operating system and that's the theme here, the Surface Pro X. So that's obviously the negatives. But there are some real positives to running a full, desktop OS. On a desktop experience.

You get the file management and get the comfort of actual windowed. You get the searching ability of running full Microsoft and, of course, mouse and keyboard support and assuming there's a 32-bit version. Obviously, it'll support, desktop apps or maybe there's less good, iOS version or the web app is not awesome. Also, you've got full Microsoft Office support, so you'd also figure a battery life is going to be awesome and for a computer, this thin, it definitely was. I- was able to get about the advertised eight hours of battery life and again really fit in light, but you benchmark it up against the iPad Pro other laptops.

Even the Surface Pro 7 eight hours, a battery life, the sacrifices that you're making to go the arm route I'm still a bit disappointed. Also navigating this as a tablet is also weird. I had rotation issues and using Windows 10 without a mouse and keyboard still feels clunky and kind of cumbersome of the times, so I. Don't you guys remember. There was a time a year ago, when I tried to get a virus on my computer I'm going to go ahead and go to an in private window.

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You're also going to get a VPN included. You get free, comprehensive, 24/7 support. Furthermore, you've got one really integrated control panel to manage everything, but defenders also running a pretty cool giveaway, so we'll link to it down below. If you want to get your hands on some Bitdefender goodies and also check out kind of one of the best security options going on the Internet, either of these on their own aren't complete, you can't fulfill their potential unless you pick up some accessories so on the surface, Pro Exile bit confusing. This is the signature keyboard which gives you the option to buy something extra.

The Microsoft will sell you as a bundle, but it's hiding I pull this down, got a real sneaky pen, hiding underneath and go ahead and put this back where it was. It's a little strange on the side. It's kind of oval I got used to it really quickly. I actually found that it felt pretty decent in the hand. It was responsive, very little latency I, like that.

The other side is an eraser. It charges wirelessly, then completely hides away. I actually really like that, but it does come with some compromises. You notice that it docks up higher so being able to sort of touch things here down below in the dock. It's almost hard to do so.

You do get a backlight which is nice on Surface Pro X this one as I type I. Don't how they'll subscribe it, but I get kind of a trampoline effect. It doesn't feel as stable and as I'm typing. I can very clearly feel that this is moving, but you do get a trackpad built into a thing that you don't get with the iPad Pro. It's an average keyboard, certainly not the best keyboard.

It does sit flat, so you don't have any of the trampolining. But then you don't get the nice angle that you get for typing. With these Surface Pro X I do like that. Now you can have different angles. You can set up for the iPad, you only get two, but you don't get the almost infinite angles.

With the hinge on the Surface Pro X. There's no trackpad here as well. Apple Pencil now docks magnetically at the top and I wonder. Apple got that idea to have the pen dock magnetically Microsoft been doing that for a while on their surface line, I use a pencil for note-taking I'm, not an artist I like the experience of it I like holding if it's nice to use for navigating the UI when I don't want to use my finger. It also charges incredibly fast on the top of the iPad accessories is kind of a draw here.

If you want a full typing experience to the trackpad, it's a good way to go. This isn't the only option that you can get sort of other keyboards from Microsoft. This just wasn't as good as I've experienced in the past from the Microsoft keyboards built into the surface line this it's flat. The keys are mushy, there's no trackpad, but then again it's its easier to use. So the winner here should be pretty obvious.

I'm. Putting these two side-by-side I'm going with the iPad Pro a lot of the shortcomings can still be addressed with software on the Surface Pro X line that arm-based processors always going to be limited to 32-bit apps. No software can improve a lot of other things, but that's always going to be a shortcoming of that computer. On the iPad side, I get all the creature comforts of Apple and iPadOS and a clear path for improvement on that the accessories are kind of a wash, whichever one you prefer more, but I'm going to work into Apple's ecosystem I'm, going to change a little of how I work to get an experience. That's just going to be smooth for me.

I'm not gonna, have to hunt for apps and question whether or not things are going to function or not. Function and I do want to give Microsoft a lot of credit. They've built hardware that is outstanding, a chassis that I think is second to none, and perhaps the next version of the Surface Pro X, the X 2, will be the tablet experience and the portable laptop experience that can solve all of these issues. But, as things stand right now, it's still the iPad but of course use elephant in the room. Surface Pro 7 probably seems like the perfect option.

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Source : Jon Rettinger