Surface Pro vs the iPad Pro - Which is better for drawing and illustration?

I decided to wait a couple months before making this video. I wanted to spend more time with the iPad Pro and get used to it so i could give a more even handed comparison.

iPad Pro review:

Surface Pro 4 review:

Astropad review:

iPad Vector App roundup

Procreate for the iPad review:

[danieljuno]

I'm surprised by the thumbs down. This is the fairest through artist review i've seen.

[julial]

I'm a windows user, but the apple devices seems so user friendly and everything simplified. Wish I can just get both devices but

[cristiansallai]

Hy, I own an iPad (air 1) and a Surface pro 4. And the thing is the following:

Surface Pro is a Laptop... in a tablet form
iPad is a ... TABLET!

When I decided in December to get the Surface instead of the iPad I hoped for two things:

1. To get rid of carrying my Laptop on my travels - GOAL ACHIEVED!
2. To get rid of needing my iPad ... miserably FAILED!

So... the surface is NOT a Tablet... and the iPad is not a Laptop!

With the new iPad the only question is if it can replace the "easy work" you need to do so we do not have to cary both devices.

I honestly doubt it... so.. I just think you can not compare the two devices.

The surface is an AWFUL TABLET whilst the iPad Pro (the new one) is a BAD laptop! I think this sums it up!

[thethhour]

Surface Pro + longer battery life + Apple Pencil = Golden.

[DangerPinsX]

This is exactly the kind of review that is helpful to me as an artist. Thank you!

[rochelimit]

I agree with Brad's comment gazillion times. First, I'm a Windows user, office work. But I do comics too. There's something about Apple Pencil that is hyper perfect for me: it doesn't have this crazy button near the pen edge (I keep pressing them like in the bamboo pen because of the way I draw, my hand is kinda scrunched close to the pen edge) and I love how it naturally felt in hand, plus it has this tiltness thing effect that is absent in surface's pen, and the most important thing of all: the super responsiveness of the Apple Pencil, and the super refined line it could create.

Apple Pencil is basically the perfect product that I've been waiting for for DECADES. And iPad Pro automatically the best "paper" for it. Unfortunately synching or moving to other software is kinda difficult, but with Astropad, the next best invention for the Apple-iPad combo, the iPad Pro is simply ZA BEST

The downfall of Surface's pen is that it jitters when you do a careful line. I can't help to think that the pen is not tested on artists if it a jittery product in the first place. Probably Windows decided to have contract signers or office workers to test the pen, I'm serious.

[mfilms]

iPad Pro = sketching, enjoyment
Surface Pro = finished works, productivity

The fact that the reviewer is a long-time Mac user and still chose Surface in the end speaks volumes about Apple's current product line (at least, for illustrators). I definitely see the potential for the iPad Pro to be a great companion tool but not  as an all-in-one production machine.

[KuttyJoe]

I agree with this video 100%. Every single detail. If you could only have one, you'd have to go with the Surface Pro or Surface Book. But the stylus experience is superior on the iPad Pro. The enthusiasm killer on the iPad Pro though is iOS itself. It's responsible for all the trouble you have when trying to move files around. The enthusiasm killer on Windows...is Windows. It's crap that works correctly only sometimes, and when it does, it's never a great experience. It works, but it never feels great. I've used tablet PCs for a long time. I bought first a Note Pro 12, which would be a great device if it had more power and refinement. Then I got the iPad Pro. It's great for drawing. And nothing else. Even web browsing is rather crappy on an iPad because of the severe limitations of iOS.

[danielbatts]

There is a way to make straight lines in Procreate. When you draw your line, don't raise the pen off the surface at the end. Instead, if you move the pen up or down on the screen the end of the line will move in 30 degree increments. Although there aren't shapes like circles and squares in Procreate, you can download a lot of various free shape brushes off the internet. Yeah, it's a bummer that some of these things aren't included by default, but Procreate is an amazing drawing app if you take the time to understand how the features work.

[ar]

I think we can all agree an iPad Pro with Mac OSX would be pretty awesome. I'm looking at the Surface vs. iPad Pro for teaching using OneNote for presentations with a lot of handwriting and on them and pdf markup. The Surface just seems so much more integrated in terms of pick up the pen and write, or just start typing on the keyboard. There always seems to be some process to go through on the iPad. That said, I hate to go back to Windows. Come on Apple. Give me my MacBook crammed into a tablet with pen support.

[depsilon]

lets be honest surface pen is more suited on hand writing and the apple pencil is better at drawing

[marvinparacuelles]

If it lags, it sucks.. It always sucks. If you're an artist then you would understand especially those digital painters.

[ImMendota]

Interesting that most of you reviewers are sketch artists, and really like the iPad pencil. As an painter, Corel Painter and Art Rage being my programs of choice. I find the Surface pen to feel better. As a painter I am not doing many slow thin lines.

[LZentertainments]

You're using Windows wrong, Brad

[dodgerx]

I sold my Wacom cintiQ to buy the ipad Pro 12" and I don't regret it for a second. I love it. I'm actually writing this comment using the ipad pencil and the handwriting recognition keyboard from MyScript. :)

[stevenlk]

This is the best comparison video I've ever seen between these two devices.

[Snotnarok]

I get your points, I know it's subjective in ways but when it comes to dollar to dollar value and utility and expandablity I hand it to the Surface or any of it's clones.

No need for a laptop/desktop, tons of legacy software, no itunes dictating what you can/can't install, expandable through microSD card, video out, USB in, real multitasking, there's a lot more going for it in these ways.

My friend pressured me into doing some art-streaming with him in multi-streaming on picarto. Didn't think my Surface Pro 4 could handle streaming+manga studio+skype+winamp, especially given it'd be over wireless. Well it did and does it every monday.

Another limitation you can't do with the iPP and maybe you're not interested in steaming but it does show the power difference and got me into being more social with my art.

Maybe the limitations help some, keeps you focused on projects (here I am typing a dumb long winded comment vs doing my comic page) and there's less to go wrong I guess. But I just can't recommend the iPP with the above in mind...especially with Apple doing weird shit like erasing people's music/audio files or putting music on their devices.

[Qichar]

I use a small solar bluetooth keyboard, the logitech K760, with my SurfaceBook. I used to have a SurfacePro and of course it works great with that device as well. It's so much better than the crappy keyboard that comes with the Surface line, and it has the added advantage of not having to be attached to the device. For illustration, digital painting and photo editing, I find this to be invaluable.

I also own an iPad pro, and I find that this device has its pros and cons. I love the fact that the Pencil has tilt sensitivity, but this is a little gimmicky in most programs; the precision and degrees of tilt are nowhere near having enough levels to be practical. I love the fact that the iPad pro is friendlier as a grab-and-go kind of tool; I can work in coffee shops and libraries. However, the Surface Pro / Book feels more like a professional tool that I can work on and easily manage from a file perspective, backing up work, uploading to the cloud, etc. I find working with Apple's traditional hand-holding file security to be annoying and it tends to slow down the workflow.

So what ends up happening is that I bring the iPad pro with me to do rough sketches, landscape thumbnails, anything that is related to work in the field. Then I bring it home and finish work or render sketches on my SurfaceBook.

[StephenHogan]

Nice review, but strange to compare the cold boot of the Surface with the wakeup of the iPad. Standby or hibernate would be a much more sensible comparison. I don't turn off my iPad every time I'm done with it lol.

[apfelschorle]

So basically the Surface Pro 5 needs a better pen and more easy but still fun to use drawing apps. And Windows needs a better touch keyboard.