Microsoft Surface Pro 3 vs iPad Air comparison

Microsoft has announced theSurface Pro 3, the latest addition to its Windows tablet line-up. Microsoft has described the Surface Pro 3 as a tablet that can replace your laptop, so it's comparable to both the iPad Airand MacBook Air, but here, we're comparing the Surface Pro 3 tablet to Apple's latest tablet offering.
If anything, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 would be a close rival to a rumoured Apple product, dubbediPad Pro, which is said to be a cross between a laptop and a tablet. But, as they're both tablets, there's no doubt potential customers will be wondering what similarities and differences the Surface Pro 3 and iPad Air have.
It's worth noting that the two tablets are targeted at completely different markets and are designed for very different tasks. As mentioned above, Microsoft is aiming its new Surface Pro 3 at people who want the portability of a tablet but want to be able to carry out tasks that require a machine with power that matches that of a laptop. The iPad Air, on the other hand, is more of a consumer product that, while still capable of running powerful apps, is probably not a complete replacement for a laptop for many users, particularly business users. Here, we'll talk more about their capabilities and help you decide whether you really need the power of a Surface Pro 3 in your tablet.

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 vs iPad Air: Design

Actually, one of the only areas in which the iPad Air and Surface Pro 3 have similarities is the design. They're both tablets, of course, so they both sport touchscreens and don't have an attached keyboard like a laptop does.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 has a bigger screen than the iPad Air's 9.7in display, at 12 inches, again designed to cater for the business user interested in running apps alongside eachother, for example. It has a resolution of 2160x1440, while the iPad Air has a resolution of 2048x1536. That means the iPad Air's Retina display has a higher pixel density (264ppi) than the Surface Pro 3 (216ppi).
The iPad Air is much lighter than the Surface Pro 3, but that's to be expected given that the Surface Pro 3 is bigger overall and has some heavy technology inside it to bring that aforementioned power. Taking a closer look, it's 800g for the Surface Pro 3 compared with 469g for the iPad Air, and 9.1mm in thickness for the Surface Pro 3 compared with 7.5mm for the iPad 

source: http://www.macworld.co.uk/review/ipad/microsoft-surface-pro-3-vs-ipad-air-3520727/