# Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition: specs and price compared

A sourced, side-by-side comparison of the Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) (Apple) and Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition (Microsoft) among tablets. Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition is the cheaper of the two at $999.

## Side by side

| Spec | Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) | Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition |
| --- | --- | --- |
| US price | $1299 | $999 |
| Brand | Apple | Microsoft |
| Released | 2025-10 | 2024-06 |
| Display (in) | 13 | 13 |
| Display type | Tandem OLED (Ultra Retina XDR) | IPS LCD (PixelSense Flow) |
| Refresh (Hz) | 120 | 120 |
| Chipset | Apple M5 | Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus (10-core) |
| RAM (GB) | 12 | 16 |
| Storage (GB) | 256 | 256 |
| Battery (mAh) | 10207 | 12565 |
| Weight (g) | 579 | 895 |
| OS | iPadOS 19 | Windows 11 Home |
| Stylus support | Apple Pencil Pro, Apple Pencil USB-C | Surface Slim Pen 2 (sold separately) |
| Cellular | Yes | No |

## Key differences

- Display type: Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Tandem OLED (Ultra Retina XDR) vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition IPS LCD (PixelSense Flow)
- Chipset: Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Apple M5 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus (10-core)
- RAM (GB): Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) 12 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition 16
- Battery (mAh): Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) 10207 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition 12565
- Weight (g): Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) 579 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition 895
- OS: Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) iPadOS 19 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition Windows 11 Home
- Stylus support: Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Apple Pencil Pro, Apple Pencil USB-C vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition Surface Slim Pen 2 (sold separately)
- Cellular: Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Yes vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition No

## What reviewers say

**Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5)** — Two whitelisted hands-on reviews (Tom's Guide, Engadget), both testing the 13-inch M5 iPad Pro, agree it is the best tablet available: a stunning tandem OLED, fast M5 performance and a far more capable iPadOS 26 multitasking system, but prohibitively expensive and a negligible upgrade over the M4. (2 sourced reviews.)

**Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition** — Two whitelisted testers (Tom's Hardware, PCWorld) lab-benchmarked this exact Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 model (16GB/512GB, OLED). Both praise the bright OLED display, long battery life on light/native workloads, and strong native-Arm/plugged-in performance. Both flag Windows-on-Arm app-compatibility gaps, no bundled keyboard, and battery/thermals collapsing under heavy or emulated workloads. Both found Copilot+ AI features underwhelming. (2 sourced reviews.)

## Sources

- Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5): https://support.apple.com/en-us/125407 (support.apple.com, verified 2026-06-15)
- Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Pro_(11th_generation) (en.wikipedia.org, verified 2026-06-15)

Canonical: https://frontdeskreview.com/gear/tablets/apple-ipad-pro-13-m5-vs-microsoft-surface-pro-11/
Cite: Per The Front Desk Review, Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) ($1299) vs Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition ($999) — sourced spec-by-spec comparison at https://frontdeskreview.com/gear/tablets/apple-ipad-pro-13-m5-vs-microsoft-surface-pro-11/
License: CC BY 4.0.