Posted on 10/29/2014 10:46:59 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Apple’s latest and greatest tablet has only just hit the shelves at retails stores nationwide, and although sales of the device have been outstanding — as has come to be the expectation of new Apple products — tech analysts say the iPad has only one competitor across the gamut of devices on the market today.
And the iPad is losing.
Despite being host to a throng of new features and sporting a lighter, thinner build, Apple’s newest technological must-have can’t seem to escape the shadow left by the Surface Pro 3, of all things. It’s not surprising considering the Surface Pro 3 is more laptop than tablet, and therefore has the beefier specs to back it up. But benchmark tests posted by Laptop Mag show the iPad Air 2 has some ground to gain before it can be called “a Surface Pro 3 killer.”
This isn’t to say that it’s not a threat to Apple’s tablet market share. Sales figures of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 indicate there is a strong market of consumers looking for a fuller-functioning hybrid, and it’s been kicking iPads out of businesses since the original Surface Pro. The NFL is even using them on the gridiron to analyze plays and coordinate with coaches.
It’s not exactly an even match, however. The iPad Air 2 carries a price tag starting at $499 whereas the Surface Pro 3 comes in starting at $799, which doesn’t include the nifty Type Cover accessory that’ll add another $130 to the bill. Additionally, the two devices are in two different classes. As mentioned earlier, the Surface Pro 3 is a laptop disguised as a tablet, and the iPad is purely a tablet that isn’t designed to replace anything other than another tablet. Apple is hard at work on an iPad Pro that should fare better against the Surface Pro 3, but that shouldn’t be hitting shelves until sometime in 2015, armed with an upgraded version of the iPhone 6’s A8 processor.
If the iPad Pro benchmarks higher than the Surface Pro 3, it should be noted that it did so against a device launched over a year prior. By that time, however, Microsoft may have released or will be releasing a Surface Pro 4 to tip the scales back into its favor.
What does this mean for Apple?
In short, it means that Apple is now playing catch-up in a field it had essentially built. After the flubs they’ve recently made, like the iPhone 6 launch in which almost every aspect of the phone was pulled from Samsung, and the disastrous idea to force the new U2 album onto every single iCloud user’s music storage whether they wanted it or not, they’ve essentially become the monolithic, unfeeling corporation they were rebelling against in their famous TV spot. They seem to be upgrading rather than innovating, something they used to be able to say about their competition. Their ability to remain ahead of the technology curve has fallen completely flat, and now they’ve got a lot of work to do to gain ground to beat the Surface Pro line.
By the way, that corporation they were rebelling against? It was Microsoft.
Own three laptops and 2 tablets, all used for different purposes between myself and son.
That said, I tried the Surface Pro 3 and I see it can fold in nicely with my current setups. The Surface is a tablet with a keyboard that easily attaches/detaches by a mag strip. And the keyboard is rugged, feels good to the fingers and has tactile touch yet is super thin.
In time, I think laptops go away and get thinner meaning they evolve to what the Surface is today.
So I am looking to change the hardware in the year or years ahead and so far the model form I like is the Surface.
I am still in the deliberation phase. Of course, there is much more to decision making that just form factor. The software and software support are key factors. So far from what I have read about Microsoft is they have a new guy at the top and the innovations and changes are being thoroughly worked out in advance with the user communities. So that should alleviate criticisms from the past.
They say the Surface Pro 3 is a full desktop/laptop replacement. If that be the case then the Surface machines should run Linux. I don’t run Linux but I like to have machines that give me options.
There are a lot of knockoff’s of the Pro.
I have a little Lenovo tablet that runs 8.1. It runs the full version of 8.1 and it will also run the RT version, you can switch back and forth on the fly.
When I first got it the apps were pretty pathetic, they are getting much better. It uses the Atom processor and will run a good ten hours if just reading but if I'm surfing the web or watching movies I'm down to about 7 hours. How much did I pay? $199.00 on sale at a big box electronic store. I have seen similar devices for just over $100.
I bought the Ipad original, it won't update and so many of my apps won't upgrade and nearly any new app requires a newer Ipad to run it on, so , I'm just stuck with an Ipad that doesn't know that it is outdated after just a few years after being born.
I thought the Ipad was cool when it came out except for I-Tunes. I don't need I-tunes or any other software to talk to my Lenovo 2 tablet, it is just easily seen on the network, shares work perfectly either way.
Say what you will about Windows-8.1 but I don't have a problem with it, especially on a tablet.
Can I get one with 12 cores, 6 27” (or bigger) screens, 96GB of RAM, 4 hard drives and 2 optical drives?
No?? Then it’s not even close to a desktop replacement.
“Windows 8 is horrible”
Yes, indeed.
Stopping Surface RT.
Will switch to Intel. Windows 10 coming.
Have you been reading my stuff?
Thanks :^)
Zune, zune, zune.... Zune, zune, zune
Im thinking about fairly new scanners that will not work as soon as microsoft issues a new version of their op system because nobody eill uodate the drivers.
Newish computers stuck on old operating systems - the sucky vista. I ended up with two of them.
There us no windows 9. They are skipping it.
Know why?
Because 7 8 9
I chuckle at this, because when I go to a “mall” about twice a year, there is an Apple store over-run with people and a Microsoft store with cobwebs growing on the two bored-to- tears employees.
Just goes to show that most consumers are not geeks and could care less about benchmark tests.
RE: It’s too expensive though, IMO
Yep, that’s my problem too. The bottom line is — IS IT VALUE FOR MONEY?
Next question, what happens to my Surface Pro 3 when Windows 10 comes out?
bricked?
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Nope.
That’s why I stopped building them 8 years ago.
My 1st big build was a 486DX2-66, With Creative Sound Card and two Matrox 8meg video cards all thst beautiful work was viewed on, at the time, stupendous 21” Color CAD/CAM monitor.
Today’s laptops have plenty of horsepower and I usually just load em with as much memory as they can take.
I’m moving to SSD drives next year and that’ll be plenty fast
Thanks. Actually, the Surface looks pretty decent.
It doesn’t need to beat it. Once Apple sucks you into their orbit, you’re toast, lol. I love those Samsung Tab S screens (the Basic mode has been tested as highly color-accurate) and one day I compared them to my IPad Air. Samsung embarrassed Apple here, clearly.
But there is NO way they can pry me from my iPad! iOS 8 is a buggy mess that Steve Jobs would have had people assassinated for! Yet I’m hooked. They finally got me.
I still use a Windows (7) PC, but iMac with 5k Retina (hello!) is calling.
I had a computer with that chip. Big improvement over my previous one. I remember all the excitement when Intel started to manufacture the Pentium which finally broke the 100 MH barrier. LOL!
Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to compare a MacBook rather than an iPad? Hell, my 4 year old desktop will run rings around either of these devices.
hahahaahaha
No?? Then it’s not even close to a desktop replacement.
I like the way you think about desktops. I'm only using 18GB at present though.
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