Are There Really Still No Good Alternatives to the iPad?

Apple launched the iPad in 2010, and while there are plenty of other tablets around, there's still nothing quite like it. But that doesn't mean there aren't better alternatives for many people.

The iPad is a big iPhone, which is both its strength and its weakness. It's easy to use, it's almost impossible to screw up (unlike a Mac or a PC), and it has access to millions of iPhone and iPad apps from the App Store. But it is also limited. While the iPad has gotten ever more capable over the years, it's still hamstrung by its origins as an oversized phone. But despite this, or maybe because of it, the iPad is still the best tablet out there, and if you're already inside Apple's world, it's the only one worth considering.

"The iPad lives up to all expectations I could ever have for an Apple device and helps me smoothly complete projects for work or leisure. With it being so thin, it’s a brilliant tool to have in my camera bag for editing on the go, and it’s never let me down—I have no reason to search or choose a different tablet and can see myself always being ‘loyal’ to the brand," professional photographer and iPad lover Odi Caspi told Lifewire via email.

Tablet

The iPad's main rival is the Android tablet, and that's because they're so cheap. Android tablets are what you buy to watch YouTube while you're cooking or to keep your kids quiet. There are more expensive options, but none of them is as responsive as the iPad, and none of them have the depth of software support. Many Android tablet apps are still literally Android phone apps blown up to work on a bigger screen.

For an example of how far ahead the iPad is compared to its rivals, let's look at Wirecutter's Best Android Tablet recommendations. Wirecutter is The New York Times' review section and gives pretty good advice. Authors Roderick Scott and Ryan Whitwam describe the iPad as having "better apps, longer battery life, long-term update support, and a reliable ecosystem" than Android options. And remember, this is in a review specifically to recommend an Android tablet.

The iPad really is a marvel. It lasts forever, has excellent battery life, and mostly It Just Works™. And that's just the iPad in isolation. If you use an iPhone or a Mac, too, then you really get the best experience. Thanks to Apple's cross-platform integration, the iPad can share its clipboard with your other devices, become a pen-controlled extra monitor for the Mac, run iPhone apps, and lots more.

But what about alternative alternatives?

2-in-1

The iPad is not a good computer—not if you want to run any software you like instead of being restricted to Apple-approved apps. You can snap a hardware keyboard onto it, but even then, it won't act like a laptop. If you want that, then your best option is probably a Microsoft PC.

Wait, what?

Microsoft's Surface Pro tablets look a lot like iPads, and like the iPad Pro and iPad Air, you can use it with a stylus and with its own snap-on keyboard. The difference is, the Surface lineup runs actual Windows. And because Windows already runs on many, many touch-screen PC laptops, it's just fine with touch control. It's as if Apple made a bizarro-world iPad that ran macOS.

No, it's not as slick as the iPad, but that's fine because the iPad exists, and you can buy one if you want it. What the Surface Pro is, is a genuine alternative to the iPad experience. You can use it in tablet mode, but when you need a laptop, you're already holding it. You don't need to sync your data via iCloud because it's already on the device.

The one huge advantage the iPad has enjoyed up until now is Apple Silicon, which gives it desktop-computer power, with all-day battery life. But the Surface just caught up. The new Copilot+ version, out last week, runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon system-on-a-chip, which is ARM-based, just like Apple Silicon. This should be the final part of the puzzle.

The latest Surfaces are also incredibly repairable, with an 8/10 repairability rating from iFixit. You can even swap out the M.2 SSD storage by opening a little hatch under the kickstand; no disassembly is required.

"The answer lies in the simplicity of iOS. It isn't about power or sophistication. When people pick an iPad for a task, they are more often than not deciding that they do not need the power and complexity of a laptop. Where surface wins are situations where people do need a full laptop experience but want it in a smaller package," Tony Fernandes, CEO and CAIO of UserExperience.AI at UEGroup, told Lifewire via email.

And if you don't like Windows? Well, that's another advantage of a PC over an iPad because you can just install a different operating system on it. Linux already runs really well on previous Surfaces, including multi-touch and pen support, and it won't be long before the same goes for the new ARM-based surface.

Finally, the competition seems to be catching up to the iPad, which should—hopefully—spur Apple on to improve its own tablet.