NOVEMBER 2019 PCWorld 13bezels and the screen a seamless flow. It also
features two distinctive Apple technologies:
True Tone, which adapts the display’s color
temperature based on ambient light, and
ProMotion, which can adjust the refresh rate
up to 120Hz to be more responsive to touch
or stylus input.
The Surface Pro X uses Microsoft’s
PixelSense display, which also adapts to
lighting, but has a standard 60Hz refresh rate.
Both displays feature a P3 wide-color
gamut, but the iPad is significantly brighter at
600 nits versus the Surface’s 450 nits.
Winner: iPad ProPERFORMANCE AND SPECS
While previous (and current) Surfaces all use
Intel processors, the Surface Pro X is a
different animal. Instead of Intel inside, it
has the SQ1, a custom Snapdragon
8cx-based processor that Microsoft
co-designed with Qualcomm. The 3GHz SQ
has 8 cores and 2 teraflops of graphics
power, and is based on ARM, which could
cause issues with some Windows apps.
Qualcomm has released some preliminary
benchmarks on the Snapdragon 8cx (go.
pcworld.com/sn8c) but the SQ1 variant is
unknown and untested, so we have no clue
how it stacks up to its peers.
The iPad Pro also runs an ARM-based
processor, called the A12 Bionic. It’s a
generation behind the newer A13 in the
iPhone 11, but it’s still plenty capable, with ain a thin, lightweight frame:
Surface Pro X: 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.28 inches
iPad Pro: 9.7 x 7 x. 0.23 inches
While the Surface Pro X technically has
slimmer side bezels, the top and bottom
bezels are wider. The iPad Pro’s bezels, on the
other hand, are uniformly spaced around the
screen, giving the package more balance and
symmetry than the Surface Pro X’s.
The iPad Pro has slightly flatter edges,
while the Surface Pro X’s edges have a bit of a
curve to them.
At 1.4 pounds, the iPad is also a bit lighter
than the 1.7-pound Surface.
Around the back, both sport a single
camera lens (the Surface Pro X’s is centered,
while the iPad Pro’s is in the top left corner).
And of course, the Surface includes its
trademark kickstand that blends into the
bottom half of the tablet when not in use.
Winner: iPad Pro
DISPLAY
Both tablets sport a 3:2 display ratio rather
than 16:9. The Surface Pro X’s 13-inch display
is ever so slightly bigger than the iPad Pro’s
12.9-inch. Resolution-wise, the two displays
are very similar as well:
Surface Pro X: 2880 x 1920, 267ppi
iPad Pro: 2732 x 2048, 264ppi
However, the difference between them is
greater than a few pixels and a tenth of an
inch. For one, the iPad’s display has rounded
corners that match the device and give the