They were able to do that because their mobile products have actually been the best that money could buy up until a little after the passing of Steve Jobs (who was a perfectionist and would not tolerate flaws of any kind in the UI and usability of the product).
That alone has given Apple enough momentum that they are almost unstoppable at the moment, it all depends on whether they can get past the hiccups that have become more common and Tim Cook can master the perfectionism that left with Jobs. That doesn’t mean their products are no longer ones of quality though, they still have plenty of stuff to like.
0.8kg
2160 x 1440 resolution
12" screen
Has a fan for cooling (not a con)
0.9cm thick _Storage options 64gb, 128gb, 256gb, 512gb
_Desktop level CPU: 1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U or Corei7
_RAM: 8gb
_Ports: USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort, microSDXC
_Pen: Included
_OS: full windows 10
iPad Pro
0.7kg
2732 x 2048 resolution
12.9"
No fan
0.7cm thick _Storage: 32 or 128gb
_Mobile level CPU: A9X
_Ram: 4gb
_Ports: Lightening
_Pen: Not Included ($99, sold separately)
_OS: Mobile
Given this info, the ipad pro is more compatible to the Surface 3 (non pro) than the Pro line as both are using mobile based CPUs…which do not need a fan. That said the Surface Pro has higher end hardware behind it but also at a price point compatible to the ipad “pro”. Looking at the Surface 3 (non pro), you get up to 4gb ram, 128gb ssd, all the same ports as the pro, and a price point of $599 ($499 for lesser variant).
Additionally, there is this:
Surface Pro 4:
(October reveal, what we know)
14 inch display
Intel Core i5 (Skylake)
RAM: up to 16gb
New Stylus
iPad air 2 compared to any tablet with 8 cores and 2-3 times the memory is still faster. Specs mean nothing.
How does iPad pro feel in the hands when working, is it lag free, does it have low latency pen strokes, is the screen color reproduction good and is it calibrated. These are the specs you should think of. UX > Specs.
As I said. I have the Surface pro 2 and it isn’t quite right. It’s fast but the pen isn’t that good. Working with files is a pain because I need a keyboard and mouse to make it work perfect.
And I have a surface pro 1 laying around (first batch), a surface 3 and two cintiqs… one is a 13hd. The surface 2 with the n-trig is certainly not perfect, in fact the surface pro 1 isnt either and that one has a wacom digitizer (doesnt like the borders). The surface 3 tracks well enough but the problem is with the n-trig drivers and general support. Its been a n-trig problem from the get go, if its not wacom there will be some compatibility issues…this goes for apple as well.
These devices (outside of the cintiq) are not supposed to be desktop replacement devices, they offer mobile level convenience but there will always be some issues. This is why at least with the surface line you can attach a wacom tablet to it and get better results if theres a need for the best performance. Its about give and take with these devices, might change in the future but its not there yet. Along with the pen, the RAM is also just as important. The higher resolution one needs to work, especially for 2d, the more ram will be needed. Finally, a full OS is pretty much a requirement for the primary software packages. These details matter when it actually comes to productivity.
In terms of applications, there’s just way more potential to the iPad Pro. Practically nobody is optimizing their applications to work on something like the Surface 3, all the Desktop (aka “legacy”) applications aren’t nice to use, because they’re not meant to be used on a tablet. The touchscreen-optimized Windows Store applications aren’t any better than what’s currently on iOS.
With the iPad Pro, you have major companies ostensibly committing to create more serious applications, which are designed to work on that one device.
I’m not traditionally an apple fan. I’m a graphic designer and work on an imac every day but for personal use I use a pc. I’m really happy apple has made the ipad Pro. It’s great to see that there’s going to be real competition for wacom. If this opens up the market a bit I think it’s fantastic. Cintiques are over priced in my opinion. If apple makes a competing product at the same price point It’ll probably be better in many aspects . They make nice hardware. There screens are extremely nice and it’ll probably be very usable. All that said… I wont buy one
you can get an iPad air 2 with pencil by 53 which I think is the best choice for now (I didn’t try the iPad pro so I cannot comment on it though it look really cool!)
my wacom is gaining dust since I have an iPad it’s much better for drawing because:
a: it’s portable - drawing on the couch, on the bus, in the bathroom and wherever your ideas come to you counts! I find myself drawing in public transportation more than I do at home or in the studio!
b. the ipad requires no maintenance at all and is always ready for work just take it out and start drawing!
c. the apps tend to be better than what you get on the computer especially if you are coming from drawing with a pencil.
d. iPad apps are cheap!
I still use my wacom for sculpting in blender and that’s something you might want to have but any cheap wacom is good for that to be honest
as for the surface I wouldn’t rush to get it because:
a: it’s running windows and I really hate this tablet and desktop on the same os thing they’re trying to do it works like crap on both devices and the apps are not built for any of them they’re just trying to grab to much in one hand.
*but I hate windows in general so i’m biased I even hate it more since I have a mac (*grabbing some popcorn!)
b. the ipad has tons of great apps built just for it - developers need to optimize for just one device and it works!
windows has almost no apps.
I also am thrilled to see the ipad pro and apple pencil not necessarily because I want to buy one, but because I want to see how Wacom and Microsoft will respond.
The Wacom Companion has a lot of promise, bit it’s too big, too heavy, has some questionable design choices (a crappy floppy external kickstand instead of a built-in one, for example) and is too expensive. Maybe now they’ll up their game now that Apple has thrown down the gauntlet.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention the tunnel vision comment is pretty hilarious when you consider that pressure-sensitive styluses have been available for the ipad for years now.
But this new stylus, it’s sure to be good - i mean it’s by Apple, right? Let’s ignore that you have to charge it and focus on something else like weight instead.
Also, for those talking about responsiveness… in the live demo you can see that it suffers the same latency issues as old windows tabletPCs… this is not some crazy product that is innovating the tablet experience…
That rule doesnt apply to those who put their faith into the almighty Apple logo. In laymans terms that means… people will buy it regardless of the quality if its got an apple logo slapped on it.
I think you are missing something here. Wacom’s target audience is the working professional and for that particular niche it actually does quite well. Not only do they use it on the go but once at work or home, they plug it into their desktop computer and its acts like a normal cintiq (extra monitor). That is an extremely relevant feature.
I think the notion of people literally just buying Apple for lifestyle reasons is to suggest that all their products are more or less trash compared to the competition.
It’s basically the opposite version of the naivety that states that everything Apple produces is wonderful and perfect and they can do no wrong. A lot of Apple products still have a lot of quality to it, just that the competition has managed to reach similar levels or in some cases surpass it.
I don’t get why people are still arguing about this. If it fits into your pipeline and it works well and you can afford it then why not use it? If they release photoshop for ipad pro then that for me at least, makes it more attractive though it’s not gonna be as versatile and you’re gonna be stuck with their ecosystem.
For me, the perfect product would be workstation laptop (with quadro and desktop cpu) which can flip into a tablet like lenovo yoga and have its screen work with something like the apple pencil. again that’s just me.
No thats just you doing the usual reading into commentary and coming to some far off conclusion based on a narrative of your own making.
No where did I suggest all their products are and I quote “trash”. Rather what it does suggest is that branding and product affiliation, especially where life style and identity come into play, take a higher priority with apple consumers than any other tech brand out there. Again, Apple knows this and even admitted to creating that environment… “religious, cult, evangelist”…ect I dont have to make that up but just use their own words and thats something I find some of you keep ignoring.
Lets pretend that say Microsoft had a press conference and said they will now sell new hardware…and that their first PC offering will be shaped like a trashcan. Do you think the same people that are buying the trashcan shaped macs would be praising Microsoft’s design choice? Do you honestly think it would get favorable responses instead of mockery? The simple fact that Apple did it made it acceptable in their eyes. Because there is an apple logo on it, suddenly a poor or mock worthy design choice for anyone else is suddenly genius from apple consumers. This kind of gives you a rough idea as to how important the brand mindset matters for Apple… and you know that they know this. The incentive factor to release high build quality products isnt nearly as important to Apple as say Lenovo, Sony, Samsung…ect
I highly recommend you watch the documentary I presented earlier in this thread all the way through. Apple’s strength isnt in the quality of their products, or the joke that is “innovation” because they dont innovate… they create markets and demand, and with marketing the brand is everything. Another name for effective marketing can be “propaganda”, and it works.
