The Surface Pro’s OLED display specs show it’s still in the shadow of the iPad Pro
May was a good month for OLED screen fans. With Apple’s new iPad Pro and Microsoft’s upgraded Surface Pro being unveiled at almost the same time, there’s now plenty of choice when it comes to high-end tablets with premium screen technology.
Still a recent comparison display industry expert Ross Young shows some huge differences between the two devices that you might not have been aware of if you had only stuck to the two companies’ marketing materials. It follows an earlier claim from Young that the iPad Pro would come with several industry firsts, and when you look a little closer it becomes clear that on paper the iPad Pro’s display is well ahead of the Surface Pro’s .
What is immediately clear is the advantage of the iPad Pro’s tandem OLED display. The Surface Pro uses a regular OLED panel, meaning it reaches a maximum brightness of 900 nits and a full-screen brightness of 600 nits. The iPad Pro, meanwhile, achieves 1,600 nits and 1,000 nits in these two categories respectively. That’s a huge disparity, no doubt eased by the iPad’s more advanced tandem OLED technology.
The differences don’t stop there. The iPad Pro has a wider refresh rate range (10 Hz to 120 Hz compared to the Surface Pro’s 60 Hz to 120 Hz), offers stronger login protection in the form of Face ID versus a fingerprint reader, is significantly thinner and lighter, and offers a chip with a more efficient and advanced 3nm production process.
Despite all that, it’s still cheaper, starting at $1,299 / £1,299 / $2,199, compared to the $1,499 (about £1,180 / AU$2,250) that Microsoft charges for the OLED version of the Surface Pro.
What is better?
Of course, not everything can be quantified through technical specifications, and a lot comes down to how a device feels to hold and use.
The Surface Pro is a 2-in-1 computer that can be used as a tablet or a laptop, while with Apple you have to pay an extra $299 if you want the keyboard for the iPad Pro. That alone could make Microsoft’s device more attractive to you.
The Surface Pro also leads the way in some important ways. For example, it starts with more storage (512 GB vs. 256 GB), supports Wi-Fi 7 instead of Wi-Fi 6E, offers more CPU cores and possibly more GPU cores (although the latter is uncertain at this point), starts with more memory and offers a higher memory limit.
Still, it’s hard to avoid the fact that the iPad Pro is most likely the better choice if the screen is your main consideration. While there’s a lot to say about the Surface Pro, Apple has the display crown for now.