Editor's Note (Oct. 30, 2018): Apple released a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a slimmer design, a bezel-less display and more powerful internals. We will update this face-off once we review the new tablet. The new Microsoft Surface Pro 6 has arrived, with updated internals and a sleek black color variant. The new model offers improved performance and longer battery life compared to its predecessor, but it faces tough competition from the 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro, which we gave a 4.5-star rating and an Editor's Choice award for its excellent performance, gorgeous display and long battery life. If you're in the market for a premium tablet, these two devices should be at the top of your list. However, if we had to choose one, we'd go with the Surface Pro 6 for its faster performance, more comfortable keyboard and a wider range of ports when compared to the iPad. Note: Apple is rumored to release a refreshed iPad Pro this fall. We will update this face-off when we learn more. Surface Pro 6 vs. iPad Pro: Specs Compared Microsoft Surface Pro 6 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro Price $899-$2,299 $799-$1,149 Display 12.3 inches, 2736 x 1824 pixels 12.9 inches, 2732 x 2048 pixels CPU 8th Gen Intel Core i5, i7 A10X Fusion RAM 8GB, 16GB 4GB Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 64GB Ports USB 3.0, headphone, Mini DisplayPort, Surface Connect Headphone, Lighting Colors Platinum, Black Space Gray, Gold, Silver Size 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.3 inches 12 x 8.7 x 0.2 inches Weight 1.7 pounds 1.5 pounds Design These two metal slabs look identical to their predecessors, with one exception: The new Surface Pro 6 is now available in matte black, a finish that longtime Apple users will drool over. We found that the dark finish made the laptop look even thinner than it is, and the grippy surface resisted fingerprints. Everything else about the Surface Pro 6's design is familiar, down to the 165-degree rotating kickstand, the power button and the volume rocker. The kickstand lets you place the Surface Pro 6 in three different orientations: tablet, laptop and studio. Also available in silver, the Surface Pro 6 snaps into Microsoft's Type Cover keyboards, which are available in burgundy, blue, platinum and black. The iPad hasn't changed much over the years, either. The machined-aluminum and glass rectangle no longer has a flash below the rear camera, and the top reception bar isn't black anymore. Otherwise, it's the same tablet we've seen year after year — a slim, sleek sheet of metal with rounded corners and an Apple logo centered on the rear. Apple also lets you choose from three colors: space gray, gold and silver. Buy on Best Buy Comparing the designs of these two slates boils down to form versus function. While both devices are extremely portable, the iPad Pro (0.27 inches thick, 1.5 pounds) is thinner and lighter than the Surface Pro 6 (0.33 inches thick, 1.7 pounds). However, the Surface Pro 6 has the more practical design thanks to its rear kickstand and a wider range of ports (more on that below). Winner: Surface Pro 6. Ports It comes as no surprise that the iPad Pro and Surface Pro 6 are short on ports. And while the Surface Pro 6 has the better selection, there remains one infuriating omission: USB-C. Sadly, Microsoft kept with the Mini DisplayPort and Surface Connect port to go along with a single USB 3.0 port, a microSD card reader and a headphone jack. The iPad Pro has only enough space for a headphone jack on the top, a proprietary Smart Connector on the left side and a Lightning connector on the bottom. Winner: Surface Pro 6. Keyboard and Pen The iPad Pro and Surface Pro 6 can both be used as traditional laptops when combined with their respective keyboard accessories. We prefer the Type Cover over the Apple Smart Keyboard because Microsoft's keyboard has a touchpad and 1.3 millimeters of key travel. Clad in colored fabric, the Type Cover is so comfortable that we dubbed it the "the best detachable keyboard on the market." The Signature version, with Alcantara fabric, costs $159.99, and the standard, black edition goes for $139.99. The iPad Pro equivalent to the Type Cover is the $169 Apple Smart Keyboard. Unlike the Microsoft keyboard, it does not feature a touchpad, and the shallow keys travel a measly 0.5mm. On the bright side, the folio-style fabric keyboard keeps the iPad Pro balanced, even when you use the tablet on your lap. Microsoft and Apple offer some of the best pens on the market to use with their touch-screen displays. The $99 Apple Pencil writes like a dream on the iPad Pro's ProMotion display, with just a 20-millisecond latency. That's a tad better than the Surface Pen's 21-ms latency, but you probably won't notice the difference. MORE: Surface Laptop 2 Hands-on: MacBook-Killing Keyboard, 85 Percent Faster Unfortunately, a keyboard and pen aren't included in the price of the iPad Pro or Surface Pro. Winner: Surface Pro 6. Display The iPad Pro has a slightly larger display, at 12.9 inches, compared to the Surface Pro 6 and its 12.3-inch screen. This is not a huge difference, but every tenth of an inch counts at this size. Both displays are packed with pixels, but the 2736 x 1824-pixel panel on the Surface Pro 6 is a hair shaper, with a ppi of 267. But don't worry iOS fans, the iPad Pro's 2224 x 1668-resolution, 264-ppi display also produces crisp images. Unfortunately, both displays are flanked by large bezels. Like its predecessor, the Surface Pro 6's display is more colorful than the vibrant panel on the iPad Pro. Our colorimeter found that the Surface Pro's display covers 136 percent of the sRGB color gamut, just beating out the iPad Pro's panel, which covers 122 percent of the sRGB spectrum. However, the iPad Pro wins when it comes to maximum display brightness, although that was expected considering it reached a blinding 555 nits. While well shy of that mark, the Surface Pro 6 hit a respectable 408 nits of display brightness. Winner: Draw. Performance The Surface Pro 6 and iPad Pro are some of the best performing tablets on the market, but Microsoft has a slight edge in this round. The Surface Pro 6 scored 13,761 on the Geekbench 4 overall performance test, outperforming the iPad Pro's score of 9,414. The same goes for graphics performance, where the UHD Graphics 620-equipped Surface Pro 6 scored a 73,697 on the 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited benchmark, beating the very good 54,198 results achieved by the iPad Pro. Winner: Surface Pro 6. Battery Life Battery life is significantly improved on the Surface Pro 6 when compared to its predecessor, but it still can't compare to the everlasting iPad Pro. The Surface Pro 6 stayed powered for 9 hours and 20 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of display brightness. That's almost two hours longer than the 2017 Surface Pro (7:30), but still well short of the epic 12 hours and 9-minute endurance of the iPad Pro. Winner: iPad Pro. Value The Surface Pro 6 starts at $899 while the base iPad Pro goes for $799. Both tablets soar in price when configured with upgraded specs. The base model of the Surface Pro 6 comes with a Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM a 128GB SSD. For comparison, the least expensive 12.9-inch iPad is powered by the A10X chip and only has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. MORE: Best Apple Laptops Apple charges much less than Microsoft for upgraded storage. It costs an additional $150 to boost the iPad's storage from 64Gb to 256GB, whereas increasing the Surface Pro's SSD from 128GB to 256GB costs an extra $300. The maxed-out iPad Pro comes with 512GB of storage and goes for $1,149 while the Surface Pro 6 with a Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD costs $1,899. Microsoft sells a top-of-the-line model with a 1TB SSD for $2,299, but it's only available in the platinum color scheme. Winner: iPad Pro. Overall Winner: Surface Pro 6<doc-sep>Microsoft recently unveiled its new Surface Pro 6 device, set to launch later this month. The tablet, which can function in “tablet, studio, or laptop” modes, packs an 8th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and up to 16GB of RAM. It runs Windows 10 and also features Intel UHD graphics – all for a starting price of $899. At this price point, and the fact that it has the word “Pro” in its name, means it is competing against the Apple iPad Pro – a tablet aimed at professionals just like the Surface Pro 6. While the iPad runs the mobile version of Apple’s operating system – iOS 12 – and features great cameras and LTE support, the device is marketed as a laptop-replacement. In fact, Apple says the iPad Pro is more powerful than most PC laptops and its A10X Fusion 64-bit processor handles demanding tasks like 3D modelling and 4K video editing. Marketing terms aside, both devices are sold as high-end, powerful tablets that can function as laptops thanks to keyboard attachments. Pro vs Pro In terms of screens, the Surface Pro 6 features a 12.3-inch touch display with a resolution of 2,736 x 1,824, slightly smaller than the largest iPad Pro – with a 12.9-inch display. The iPad packs much less RAM, however, 4GB vs the 8GB or 16GB available in the Surface Pro. The Surface Pro also wins the storage race, with up to a 1TB SSD available, while the iPad Pro only goes up to 512GB. Both tablets are roughly the same size – the Surface Pro is a bit bigger and heavier – and both support Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Apple’s Lightning port is the main connector for the iPad Pro, while Microsoft has opted for a USB 3.0 port – notably not USB-C. Arguably the most defining difference, though, is the operating systems – iOS 12 versus Windows 10. The ecosystem a user works in and the apps they require will therefore play a large part in determining which device will work best for them. It must also be noted that Microsoft will not officially sell the Surface Pro 6 in South Africa, while Apple has official support in the country and can offer local guarantees on its devices. The table below compares the specifications of the tablet PCs. Apple does not disclose its RAM figures, and the iPad’s allotment is based on a third-party report.<doc-sep>Surface Pro 6, $899, available on October 16th. The Microsoft Surface Pro 6 comes in a new, sleek matte black finish — but isn't much different from last year's model. Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider The Surface Pro 6 was the headliner. This is the latest iteration of Microsoft's flagship line of laptop/tablet hybrids. In terms of design, it's not much different from the current-generation Surface Pro, currently on store shelves. The Surface Pro 6 does, however, sport a modern quad-core Intel processor, which Microsoft says makes it 1.5 times faster than its predecessor. In terms of aesthetics, you can get the Surface Pro 6 in a new, sleek matte black finish — though that option only comes with certain higher-end models, which will run you more than the $899 starting price. In our hands-on time with the Surface Pro 6, we found that Microsoft didn't mess much with its own winning formula. However, it's worth noting the somewhat puzzling absence of a USB-C port, which the tech-savvy might find disappointing. Oh, and the matte black finish looks extremely good in real life.<doc-sep>
Microsoft is refreshing its Surface Pro tablet / laptop hybrid today. It’s been almost a year and a half since the Surface Pro was last updated, and today’s refresh sees Microsoft add Intel’s 8th Gen processors and a new black color variant. It’s the first time in at least five years that we’ve seen Microsoft use black on the Surface Pro since the original Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2. Related A first look at the new Surface Pro 6 in matte black The matte black finish covers the entire Surface Pro 6, and you can swap out the keyboard for different colors as usual. Microsoft’s black coloring is not the only new addition here, though. Microsoft’s Surface chief, Panos Panay, says the company has overhauled the inside of the Surface Pro 6 so it has improved cooling. That means the Surface Pro 6 now supports quad-core processors, and Microsoft claims it will be 67 percent faster than the previous model. More battery life and internal changes This new internal design should also help improve battery life. Microsoft says the Surface Pro 6 will last for 13.5 hours on battery life. While there’s an internal redesign, the outside looks very familiar. It’s still 1.7 pounds, and it has the same 12.3-inch display and up to 16GB of RAM inside. Unfortunately, the Surface Pro 6 will include the same connectivity and external design as the existing model, which means there are still no USB-C ports. It’s surprising Microsoft still isn’t adopting USB-C in its flagship Surface Pro, especially given the company has introduced this new connector on both the Surface Go and Surface Book 2. Microsoft says the Surface Pro 6 will start at $899 with an Intel Core i5 processor, and it will be available on October 16th.