The battle between the tablets from Apple and Microsoft has been lasting for a while and the year 2012 is no exception. Apple announced the launching of their new tablet, iPad 4, just a few days before the official release of the Microsoft Surface Tablet – and they promised a powerful processor and a better Wi-Fi connection. So which one would you choose?
In fact, there are two versions of the Surface tablet – one is the already available model powered by Nvidia Tegra 3 and using Windows RT, and the other one will come out soon and it will be dedicated rather to business people, powered by a friendlier Intel Core i5 processor and using Windows 8 Pro. Note that both Surface tablets are significantly larger and slightly heavier than the iPads.
Surface has a bigger screen with great resolution – 1366×768 for the Windows RT model and 1920×1080 for the Pro one – but iPad does offer a brighter image and better detail, contrast and color, thanks to the Retina display. On the other hand, Surface has some pluses, especially when talking about storage size. The model using Windows RT starts from 32 GB built-in-storage, while the iPad offers you 16 GB. Moreover, Surface gives you the possibility of a microSD card if you want to expand that storage, whereas the iPads do not.
Apple customers were a bit disappointed when they heard that the new iPad has a Lightning connector replacing the traditional 30-pin dock connector used for the previous models. That means that if someone wants to use regular cables, they will have to buy more upgrades, therefore spend more money for Apple. Fortunately, Microsoft Surface has the good old full-size dock, usable with all cables – you can plug in USB devices, cameras and printers.
Both tablets offer you fun and interesting apps and let you connect to millions of songs, books, videos and games. A nice feature available on Surface is the Kickstand, which lets you place your tablet almost vertically so you can use it handsfree- while talking on Skype with your friends, watching movies or maybe checking up some recipes online when you are cooking in the kitchen! If you miss the presence of a keyboard – sometimes necessary at work, school or just more comfortable for you when you have typing to do – the people from Microsoft have come up with a great idea. The Touch Cover can be used as a traditional cover that protects your Surface, but also as a very thin and sensitive keyboard.
In the end, it is a battle of tastes, and the success of iPads or Microsoft tablets will resume based on what customers want. There are differences between all the models, which means that the companies are trying harder and harder to bring something new to the scene and to eventually lead the market. That is a good thing for customers, who will have more powerful and efficient tablets to choose from. But will the fans of a certain company stick with it from now on too, or will they switch to the other one? We’ll have to wait and see.