IPAD PRO VS SURFACE PRO 4

Of course these two are amazing products and preference varies from user to user, but at the end of the day, are they really equal when it comes to the long term tech battle? Take the iPad Pro for example – it's obviously the best iPad by Apple till date. It's got all the new bells and whistles when it comes to hardware and the sugarcoated candy that is the iOS 9. Not to mention Apple's new stylus and Smart Keyboard. That sounds an awful lot like a laptop replacement given the large screen, multitasking features and everything.

Now that's all fine and dandy, but when you keep updating a product yet cutting it off just before it reaches the top, things get confusing. The iPad Pro is exactly that. When you pair the 128 GB version with the extra add-ons (Pencil and the Smart Keyboard), its price range crosses that of the Macbook Air. Yet, when you think about it, there's so little you can do on it if you put it alongside a complete laptop.

The iPad wasn't originally made for office use. It was made mostly for entertainment and productivity. But that is where the problem arises. Apple is trying to pass it off as just that this year, whereas for starters, it lacks the desktop-class applications a professional or a power-user needs in his/her workflow.

Look at it from a designer's perspective – the App Store doesn't have Photoshop or Illustrator and the few alternatives that are out there are UX nightmares. Adobe did release some mobile versions of a few of their desktop apps, but they are at best dumbed-down versions of the original ones and targeted for pedestrian users doing minor tasks.

And that is where, the Surface Pro 4 hits it right out of the park. The Surface was a flop when it first came out. Five years later – it's a brilliant product.

The changes that it went through aren't minor upgrades. From software to hardware, each improvement was a leap in the right direction based on user reviews. The Surface Pen isn't just limited to interaction and simple drawing apps. It can be used with complete desktop suites to get work done. Real work.

Microsoft branded Surface as "a tablet that can replace your laptop". Frankly speaking, it does walk the talk. And this is why Apple's recent moves get confusing. The iPad Pro is beautiful for a lot of reasons, but at the end of the day, it doesn't replace your laptop and costs so much more. I don't think it fails as a competitor because it never truly was one for the Surface. It's one of the best tablets out there and it should stick to that. This world deserves a better Macbook Air not a costlier iPad.