Microsoft’s Surface Pro Flex goes toe-to-toe with Apple’s Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, and it does this one thing better

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It’ll cost you a pretty penny.

Surface Pro
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft has just announced a whole host of new devices intended to directly compete with the best MacBooks and best iPads, yet its new Magic Keyboard beater is one of the most interesting new devices. 

At $349.99, the Surface Pro Flex Keyboard is a relatively plain-looking keyboard that is supposed to be connected to the iPad-like Surface Pro, to turn it into a fully-fledged laptop. Like the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, it has haptic feedback in the touchpad. However, it's worth noting that there are multiple iPad Pro Magic Keyboard sizes so you can technically pick one up for cheaper if you have the 11-inch model. The 13-inch variant of each costs $349. 

The Surface Pro Flex itself has a new Copilot key, which is used to activate the device's AI helper, and comes with a whole host of other shortcuts like a mute button and snip key for taking easy screenshots. It also comes in tonnes of colors, to suit different Surface Pros and can be customized with a “Bold keyset option” which highlights letters on the keyboard to make them easier to see. Though these are food functions, it only has one major feature the current Magic Keyboard is lacking. 

Great connectivity

Just like the Magic Keyboard, the Surface Pro Flex attaches to its companion tablet for day-to-day typing, simulating the use of a laptop. However, it has a secret weapon Apple can't match. The Surface Pro Flex can also be detached and used as a standalone keyboard, positioned anywhere on your desk or workspace. With a non-traditional setup, or even for artists and producers, you can use the keyboard off to the side while tapping away at the screen. 

The attach and detach feature could also work better with a mouse and keyboard setup, as you can quickly position the screen further away from you to better hold your peripherals. This is a very nice feature, though it would cost you $1,300 for the most basic version of this setup. 

If you want the Slim Pen with the keyboard and the OLED screen on the Surface Pro, you will need to spend at least $1,950 to get it, though you can get it a little cheaper by preordering. By comparison, you can get the 13-inch iPad Pro with 512Gb of storage, an Apple Pencil Pro, and a Magic Keyboard for that same price. Microsoft is really banking on its new wave of AI-driven machines. Only time will tell if it’s worth all that cash upfront. 

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James Bentley
James Bentley

James is a staff writer and general Jack of all trades at iMore. With news, features, reviews, and guides under his belt, he has always liked Apple for its unique branding and distinctive style. Originally buying a Macbook for music and video production, he has since gone on to join the Apple ecosystem with as many devices as he can fit on his person. 

With a degree in Law and Media and being a little too young to move onto the next step of his law career, James started writing from his bedroom about games, movies, tech, and anything else he could think of. Within months, this turned into a fully-fledged career as a freelance journalist. Before joining iMore, he was a staff writer at Gfinity and saw himself published at sites like TechRadar, NME, and Eurogamer. 

As his extensive portfolio implies, James was predominantly a games journalist before joining iMore and brings with him a unique perspective on Apple itself. When not working, he is trying to catch up with the movies and albums of the year, as well as finally finishing the Yakuza series. If you like Midwest emo music or pretentious indie games that will make you cry, he’ll talk your ear off.

11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • simonmann
    Worth it.
    Reply
  • FFR
    Magic keyboards are defiantly worth it.
    Reply
  • simonmann
    FFR said:
    Yeh i love the weight and bulk it adds to the precision designed and lightweight iPad, and I like how it tips backwards when i tap the screen.
    Reply
  • FFR
    I do love the weight it adds to it, not much bulk though and the iPad floats over the new aluminum keyboard.

    Surface just looks cheap and costs more .
    Reply
  • dirtyvu
    This is the most dishonest comparison I've ever seen. The Surface Pro with OLED, 16GB RAM (twice the RAM of iPad Pro), and 512GB is $1349 on preorder right now (regular will be $1499). The iPad Pro with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage is $1299. To get 16 GB of RAM, you would need to get the 1TB iPad Pro model which is $1899. If you want the Surface Pro to match on RAM and storage, it would be $1529 on preorder or $1699 MSRP.

    You could argue that there's not enough to do on iPad to warrant 16GB and that would be a sound argument.

    You have a lot of options for keyboards and pens. You can use an old keyboard or pen from a previous Surface Pro. You can get the $279 keyboard with slim pen, the $139 keyboard, the $179 keyboard with pen storage, or the new flex keyboard and pen for $449, or the flex keyboard without pen for $349. And you have the old pens and third party pens as well.

    The new magic keyboard for iPad Pro is $349 and it wobbles like crazy (see lots of Youtube videos). And the Pencil is $129. $349 + 129 = $478. Last time I checked, $478 is more than $449.
    Reply
  • FFR
    dirtyvu said:
    This is the most dishonest comparison I've ever seen. The Surface Pro with OLED, 16GB RAM (twice the RAM of iPad Pro), and 512GB is $1349 on preorder right now (regular will be $1499). The iPad Pro with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage is $1299. To get 16 GB of RAM, you would need to get the 1TB iPad Pro model which is $1899. If you want the Surface Pro to match on RAM and storage, it would be $1529 on preorder or $1699 MSRP.

    You could argue that there's not enough to do on iPad to warrant 16GB and that would be a sound argument.

    You have a lot of options for keyboards and pens. You can use an old keyboard or pen from a previous Surface Pro. You can get the $279 keyboard with slim pen, the $139 keyboard, the $179 keyboard with pen storage, or the new flex keyboard and pen for $449, or the flex keyboard without pen for $349. And you have the old pens and third party pens as well.

    The new magic keyboard for iPad Pro is $349 and it wobbles like crazy (see lots of Youtube videos). And the Pencil is $129. $349 + 129 = $478. Last time I checked, $478 is more than $449.

    Actually not dishonest at all, windows requires 16 gb, iPadOs is fine with 8gb or even 6 gb as a base.

    So you agree that Microsoft keyboard and pencil is severely overpriced.
    Reply
  • Ledsteplin
    dirtyvu said:
    This is the most dishonest comparison I've ever seen. The Surface Pro with OLED, 16GB RAM (twice the RAM of iPad Pro), and 512GB is $1349 on preorder right now (regular will be $1499). The iPad Pro with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage is $1299. To get 16 GB of RAM, you would need to get the 1TB iPad Pro model which is $1899. If you want the Surface Pro to match on RAM and storage, it would be $1529 on preorder or $1699 MSRP.

    You could argue that there's not enough to do on iPad to warrant 16GB and that would be a sound argument.

    You have a lot of options for keyboards and pens. You can use an old keyboard or pen from a previous Surface Pro. You can get the $279 keyboard with slim pen, the $139 keyboard, the $179 keyboard with pen storage, or the new flex keyboard and pen for $449, or the flex keyboard without pen for $349. And you have the old pens and third party pens as well.

    The new magic keyboard for iPad Pro is $349 and it wobbles like crazy (see lots of Youtube videos). And the Pencil is $129. $349 + 129 = $478. Last time I checked, $478 is more than $449.

    Historically, Apple products don't need as much RAM as other brands. This has been common knowledge for many years. Apple does more with less.
    Reply
  • dirtyvu
    FFR said:
    Actually not dishonest at all, windows requires 16 gb, iPadOs is fine with 8gb or even 6 gb as a base.

    So you agree that Microsoft keyboard and pencil is severely overpriced.
    how do I agree? you can buy the $139 keyboard, the $279 keyboard/pen, the $179 keyboard, the $349 keyboard, or the $449 keyboard/pen or a whole slew of third party options for pens and keyboards. how is that overpriced compared to $478?

    yes, iPadOS is okay with 8GB because there's not much that uses RAM because there's not that much you can do on an iPad. it's still just an iPad.
    Reply
  • FFR
    dirtyvu said:
    how do I agree? you can buy the $139 keyboard, the $279 keyboard/pen, the $179 keyboard, the $349 keyboard, or the $449 keyboard/pen or a whole slew of third party options for pens and keyboards. how is that overpriced compared to $478?

    yes, iPadOS is okay with 8GB because there's not much that uses RAM because there's not that much you can do on an iPad. it's still just an iPad.

    Sure and you can use any Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad. But Microsoft released the new surface with the new keyboard and it is more expensive than what Apple just launched. Not too hard of a concept to grasp.

    You can do plenty with an iPad, much more than you can do with windows arm. We all remember the last time Microsoft tried to push windows on arm, it was a disaster.

    Reply
  • dirtyvu
    man, you're still living in 2013. tell me when you get back to reality. the new keyboard doesn't replace the other keyboards. It's just another option. Unlike Apple which has support pages to tell which pencil and keyboard works with which device.
    Reply