There's a new iPad on sale today.
Though the date has arrived without nearly as much anticipation as other versions of the tablet have seen, Feb. 5 may very well end up being an important day for Apple. It's going to find out if it needs to worry about Microsoft.
The 128GB iPad goes on sale just four days ahead of the new Surface Pro. While the Surface Pro is generally aimed more at businesses and professionals who need to run more advanced software than Apple's tablet offers, Microsoft finds itself gunning for many of the same customers in the market for an iPad.
Part of the reason for that is simple. The iPad is unquestionably the most popular tablet in the market, even for businesses. Some companies have even opted to essentially replace PCs or laptops with Apple's machine. Almost everyone interested in a tablet is going to take a look at the iPad. But the fact that many work environments have learned to accommodate the iPad's features (or lack thereof) means Microsoft has its work cut out for it. It needs to convince enterprises that legacy software is still relevant.
Everyone knows the iPad doesn't run Word. Or Excel. Or any Office program. Nor does it run full-featured design programs like Photoshop. The Surface Pro does all of this, and for those certain people who refuse to jump onto the Cloud, it even has a USB drive. As Microsoft wants you to think, it's basically a laptop in tablet form, which sounds like a great device for businesses.
The main question is: Does it really matter anymore? Will business users accustomed to iPad care to go back to Windows and Office? Darrell Etherington at TechCrunch sums up the situation nicely:
"The Surface Pro is a device that could potentially hold a lot of appeal for users who are stuck on legacy systems in workplaces where there's little flexibility for switching to entirely new platforms, but for the crowd already eager for hardware innovation, the iPad will remain an attractive option. And with the introduction of iPads with much improved storage capacity, at prices that, while expensive, still come in under their Surface Pro equivalents, with double the battery life and a lot more actual usable space."
Still, the 128GB iPad is expensive. Starting at $799 for the WiFi version and hitting $929 for a cellular-enabled slate, we'll have to wait and see if the extra storage space is enough to keep Apple on top of the heap.
