4 ms·

Surface has not been much of a success: http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/28/10858474/microsoft-earnings-report-q2-2016 http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/28/10858474

Surface has not been much of a success: http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/28/10858474/microsoft-earnings-report-q2-2016 http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/28/10858474/microsoft-earning... http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/22/9599674/microsoft-q1-2016-earnings http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/22/9599674/microsoft-q1-2016... Apple fundamentally doesn't believe in a hybrid laptop/tablet "productivity" machine (for good reason, debatably). The iPad Pro is an attempt to bring iOS into the realm of productivity, rather than merging the experiences of iOS and Mac OS X.

derefr 11y ago
Or, to put it another way: the iPad Pro is a device that takes the productivity apps already written for iOS, and enhances them by giving them more of what they need (screen real-estate, fine 2D input control, GPU power, etc.) The Surface series, meanwhile, creates a new platform; new apps (or at least new major versions of apps) have to be written to truly take advantage of it.
- jrockway 11y ago
  Not true, as far as I can tell. I use mine for the usual tasks (ssh, Chrome) and photo editing (Lightroom and Photoshop). Chrome, Lightroom, and Photoshop are the exact same versions I have on my desktop, and work perfectly on the Surface, including understanding touch and the pen. It's great. Nice screen too. The iPad has potential, but Lightroom for the iPad is crap. You can connect an SD card with RAW files on it to the iPad... but Lightroom can't read them. Won't even show you a preview (even though Apple's built-in app can). Not good. The iPad Pro is a way better device on paper than the Surface. But being able to run every Windows program ever is better than being able to maybe get a stripped-down version of the software you're used to. I imagine sales numbers between iPad Pro and Surface Pro 4 are orders of magnitude in favor of the iPad for two reasons. One, the Surface Pro 4 competes with every Windows laptop ever -- there are many cheaper ways to get all your favorite Windows programs "on the go". Two, I bet a lot of people bought the iPad Pro imagining things like Lightroom would be useful, discovered they aren't, and put the iPad in the drawer two weeks after buying it. I loved my iPad for the first two weeks after I bought it. Now I don't know where it is. Dead in a drawer somewhere, no doubt.

derefr 11y ago

Or, to put it another way: the iPad Pro is a device that takes the productivity apps already written for iOS, and enhances them by giving them more of what they need (screen real-estate, fine 2D input control, GPU power, etc.) The Surface series, meanwhile, creates a new platform; new apps (or at least new major versions of apps) have to be written to truly take advantage of it.

jrockway 11y ago
Not true, as far as I can tell. I use mine for the usual tasks (ssh, Chrome) and photo editing (Lightroom and Photoshop). Chrome, Lightroom, and Photoshop are the exact same versions I have on my desktop, and work perfectly on the Surface, including understanding touch and the pen. It's great. Nice screen too. The iPad has potential, but Lightroom for the iPad is crap. You can connect an SD card with RAW files on it to the iPad... but Lightroom can't read them. Won't even show you a preview (even though Apple's built-in app can). Not good. The iPad Pro is a way better device on paper than the Surface. But being able to run every Windows program ever is better than being able to maybe get a stripped-down version of the software you're used to. I imagine sales numbers between iPad Pro and Surface Pro 4 are orders of magnitude in favor of the iPad for two reasons. One, the Surface Pro 4 competes with every Windows laptop ever -- there are many cheaper ways to get all your favorite Windows programs "on the go". Two, I bet a lot of people bought the iPad Pro imagining things like Lightroom would be useful, discovered they aren't, and put the iPad in the drawer two weeks after buying it. I loved my iPad for the first two weeks after I bought it. Now I don't know where it is. Dead in a drawer somewhere, no doubt.