Apple's iPad Pro becomes more like a Surface, and that's a problem for Microsoft

Surface Pro 7 Source: Daniel Rubino/Windows Central

Back in June 2022, I did a piece on how the more the iPad Pro becomes like the Surface Pro, the bigger the threat it is to Microsoft'south 2-in-1 PC prototype. At the time, I remarked that mouse and cursor support was just the start, only one time iPadOS gets a trackpad, the situation will become more pregnant.

Today, Apple tree announced refreshes to the iPad Pro line, and they're due to send in the coming weeks. The more of import news is what comes in May, which is the new $350 Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. That keyboard brings a new swivel for multi-bending back up and, yes, a trackpad.

Will Magic Keyboard exist as good as the Surface Pro's Type Cover? It's unlikely. Microsoft's keyboard has angled typing, and the Surface Pro's congenital-in kickstand and hinge withal set the bar. Only that doesn't matter much, as Apple'due south is likely proficient enough (and yes, it'south backlit and even works with the last-gen iPad Pro, likewise).

Putting aside how incorrect Apple tree was nearly the two-in-one form factor, which it is now ironically fully embracing, this move by Apple tree is likely to harm sales of the Surface Pro line. Apple's iPad has long bucked the trend of the failing tablet market because it has the best hardware and an OS that people savour.

I'd fence – and many of yous would too – that Windows 10 is still a more "serious" OS congenital for doing "real" work. Simply for many, those lines are blurring. For the last few years there have been many attempts by people trying to brand exercise with just an iPad, and today's announcement volition only brand that easier.

Source: Apple The new Apple iPad Pro with $350 Magic Keyboard.

Apple still has another hurdles to overcome yet. Its iPadOS is nevertheless lacking in many advanced desktop Os features compared to Windows, and its processor is still mostly overkill for what many use the iPad Pro for today. But those are surmountable problems that Apple volition likely solve with time. That'due south not too dissimilar from Microsoft, who is working from the opposite of end of trying to make a desktop Bone more palatable to light-estimator devices like the Surface Pro X.

There's also pricing, and, to no 1'due south surprise, everything Apple is doing is more plush. The 256GB iPad Pro 12.9 ($1,100) with Apple Pencil ($130) and Magic Keyboard ($350) comes to $1,580. The 256GB Surface Pro vii ($1,000) with Surface Pen ($100) and Type Keyboard ($160) is just $1,260 with the current sale price. That favors Microsoft past $320. Although, interestingly, the Surface Pro 10 is $i,570, which gives you lot 4G LTE for but $10 less than Apple without LTE.

The practiced news is while Apple tree is just now catching upward to Microsoft'south 2022 vision of a 2-in-i tablet PC, Microsoft is already on to the next affair: foldable and dual-screen devices.

Every bit I reported in January 2022, Microsoft sees dual-screen and foldable PCs as the side by side era of mobile calculating. That strategy is coming to life this summer with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold and after this year with the Surface Neo with Microsoft's new Windows 10X Bone. Companies like Dell and HP are expected to follow the tendency in 2022 with their own takes on the hardware.

Much similar in 2022, many Apple fans and general tech skeptics will question the value of dual-screen and foldable PCs, but the industry seems prepare on the idea.

All eyes will be on how Microsoft evolves the Surface Pro 8, which could come in late 2022 with some of those Surface Pro Ten design cues. And Surface Neo as the big exciting "next-gen" PC development.

Merely make no mistake, a lot of people will give the new iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard serious consideration the adjacent time they need a laptop, and Microsoft better be ready to respond.

LiDAR for Life

2020 iPad Pro

Apple iPad Pro (2020)

An iPad camera that is now every bit practiced equally an iPhone's.

The 2022 iPad Pro has a faster processor, an advanced camera system, a LiDAR scanner for AR, and support for an actual cursor experience with the Magic Keyboard with Trackpad.

Better and faster than e'er

Microsoft Surface Pro 7

Blazon-C and 10th Gen Intel are game-changers

Microsoft has finally added a loaded-out USB Blazon-C port to the Surface Pro vii. When combined with Intel'due south latest 10th Gen processor and GPU, this year'southward Core i5 blows away last year'southward Core i7 all without a fan. Minor tweaks to the RAM, going to Intel for Wi-Fi 6, and Instant On ability make this Surface Pro vii an absolute joy to apply.

Nosotros may earn a committee for purchases using our links. Larn more than.