Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus vs Apple iPad Pro. Which one is better?
Surface Pro 7+ is the Surface for every business portfolio which gives the versatility, connectivity and security that business and educational institutions need to adapt to the changing landscape. Today im gonna do side by side comparison the Pro 7+ and the 12.9 inch ipad pro
The price of the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus starts around $899 while the iPad Pro comes at $999.
Microsoft says that the latest Pro 7+ is their classic, ultra-light 2-in-1 for business is faster than ever and keeps you productive with improved all-day battery life. The Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ comes with the screen size of 12.3” PixelSense™ Display with a 2736 x 1824 (267 PPI), aspect ratio of 3:2 and 10 point multi-touch while the iPad Pro comes with Liquid Retina display 12.9-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology, 2732x2048-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi)
The Display of the iPad Pro consist of:
ProMotion technology
Wide colour display (P3)
True Tone display
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Fully laminated display
Anti-reflective coating
The major upgrades between both this surfaces is in the processor department where the low end Pro 7+ comes with a dual-core 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-1115G4 Processor (Wi-Fi) followed by the Quad-core 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1135G7 Processor (Wi-Fi or LTE) and the highest end comes with the Quad-core 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7 Processor (Wi-Fi) while the ipad comes with the A12Z Bionic chip with 64-bit architecture, Neural Engine, Embedded M12 coprocessor.
If you compare the Highest end i71165G7 with the A12Z, the i7 outpaces it in terms of features where the i7, The 11th Gen i7 has uses multithreading, has MMX, has AVX, has FMA3, has F16C while performance wise, the A12Z is better. It is integrated with LTE, 3nm smaller semiconductor size, it uses big LITTLE technology, it uses HMP and it has TrustZone. The A12Z can can utilize all cores at the same time, or just a single core for low-intensity tasks. This can provide powerful performance or increased battery life respectively.
In the graphics department, the Surface Pro 7+ is equipped with Intel® UHD Graphics for the i3 variant while the i5 and i7 comes with the Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics. For the ipad’s a12z, it has integrated graphics so there’s no need for a separate graphics. While, in the RAM department, the Pro 7+ is equipped with 8GB and 16GB LPDDR4x RAM for Wi-Fi or LTE while for the Wi-Fi only model, it comes with the 32GB LPDDR4x RAM while the iPad Pro apple didn’t actually unveil it, but based on GSM arena it comes with 6Gb ram
For the port selections, pro7+ comes with various type of connections it is equipped with a:
1 x USB-C®
1 x full-size USB-A
3.5mm headphone jack
1 x Surface Connect port
Surface Type Cover port12
MicroSDXC card reader (Wi-Fi)
1 x nano SIM (LTE)
Compatible with Surface Dial off-screen interaction
While the ipad pro comes with:
Speaker
Microphones
Speaker USB‑C
Magnetic connector
For storage options , the Surface Pro 7+ comes with a removable solid-state drive (SSD) with the options starting from 128GB, 256GB (Wi-Fi or LTE), 512GB or 1TB (Wi-Fi). Additionally, Microsoft has included a replaceable M.2 2230 SSD, which is accessible in the same manner as on the Surface X while the ipad pro comes with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
When it comes for cameras in the Surface Pros, the camera is most often use for online or virtual applications. For that purpose of usage, the Surface Pro 7+ comes with 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p full HD video and 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD video with dual far-field Studio Mics, Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) and 1.6W stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos®.
While the ipad pro:
Brighter True Tone flashWide: 12MP
Ultra Wide: 10MP
2x optical zoom; digital zoom up to 5x
Five‑element lens (Wide and Ultra Wide)
4K video 60 fps (Wide); 60 fps (Ultra Wide)
Panorama (up to 63MP)
Sapphire crystal lens cover
Backside illumination sensor
Hybrid IR filter
Autofocus with Focus Pixels (Wide)
Tap to focus with Focus Pixels (Wide)
Wide colour capture for photos and Live Photos
Exposure control
Noise reduction
Smart HDR for photos
Auto image stabilisation
Burst mode
Timer mode
Photo geotagging
Image formats captured: HEIF and JPEG
In the video format the iPad Pro supports:
4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps (Wide); 60 fps (Ultra Wide)
1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
720p HD video recording at 30 fps
Brighter True Tone flash
Slow‑motion video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps (Wide); 240 fps (Ultra Wide)
Time-lapse video with stabilisation
Cinematic video stabilisation (1080p and 720p)
Continuous autofocus video
Noise reduction
Playback zoom
Video geotagging
Video formats captured: HEVC and H.264
The latest Pro 7+ comes with Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) compatible, with Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology. It also comes with LTE Advanced with removable SIM and eSIM support with Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X20 LTE Modem. The ipad Pro 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6; simultaneous dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz); HT80 with MIMO and Bluetooth 5.0 technology
The Surface Pro 7+ comes with the same security features such as the firmware TPM and enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in. Both the Surfaces too comes with the same type of sensors with the ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer.
The ipad pro comes with
Face ID
Enabled by TrueDepth camera for facial recognition
Unlock iPad
Secure personal data within apps
M LiDAR Scanner
Three-axis gyro
Accelerometer
Barometer
Ambient light sensor purchases from the iTunes Store and App Store
For the casing, the Surface comes with the signature unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting. The casings colors are Platinum, Matte Black with physical volume and power button. Ipad comes Silver or Space Grey.
Another major upgrade of the Surface Pro 7+ and the Surface Pro 7 revolves around the the battery life. The Surface Pro 7+ Wi-F model able to withstand up to 15 hours of typical device usage while the LTE Advanced will withstand up to 13.5 hours of typical device usage. Well, this is based on the advertisement by Microsoft. While, the ipad pro 12.9-inch iPad Pro,Built-in 36.71-watt-hour rechargeable lithium‑polymer battery. All models Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi or watching video, Charging via power adapter or USB-C to computer system Wi-Fi + Cellular models, Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using a mobile data network.
Microsoft Surface Pro 7+
PROS
Improved CPU & GPU
Long Battery life
SSD upgrade options
LTE Advanced
CONS
Keyboard sold separately
Surface Pen sold separately
Apple iPad Pro
PROS
Trackpad support is useful, intuitive
Improved onboard microphones
Best implementation of Face ID
Lidar scanner looks promising
Fast A12Z Bionic performance
Brilliant display
Excellent battery life
CONS
Same design
Pricey
IPadOS has a learning curve
Not faster
"Magic" Keyboard is expensive
Some apps not optimized for trackpad
Pen sold separately
Which one is for you ?
If you really need a small and cheap windows computer that just about does the necessary small tasks then you can go for the new Surface Pro 7 Plus . Don’t expect much
While, the iPad Pro, it's extremely expensive, but no other offers the same combination of performance and endurance. It can be a tablet and a laptop depending on your need. If you are not on a budget and if you don't already own a tablet, then the iPad Pro 2020 is the one to get. And now that it can act as a proper laptop replacement.