Hell freezes over: Microsoft praises the iPad Pro

Sep 9, 2015 18:02 GMT  ·  By

If you’re trying to figure out the best way to promote your newly unveiled device, ask Apple because they definitely have an answer that’s as shocking as it is effective.

The Cupertino-based company invited none other than Microsoft Office executive Kirk Koenigsbauer at its live event in San Francisco to demo the new iPad Pro, not only show how the Office productivity suite runs on the device but also to present some of the capabilities of the new Pencil.

Now, we’re not saying that Microsoft made a bad decision by attending Apple’s press event and touting the iPad Pro, but it’s kind of weird to see a Redmond executive offering a live demo of a device that’s now directly competing against a device of their own.

The iPad Pro has become a competitor to the Surface Pro 3, and it even comes with features that are very similar, such as a removable keyboard and a digital pen that makes drawing a piece of cake.

Office on iPad Pro

Koenigsbauer, who said on stage that Microsoft is obsessed with productivity, admitted that the iPad Pro is a huge step forward in this regard, showing that working in Office with an Apple device and the Pencil is quite an easy thing to do.

In case you’re wondering, Office for iPad does come with lots of great productivity features, but it still doesn’t provide the same feature lineup as the desktop suite. It’s a handy way to work on your iPad though with documents, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations.

As far as the iPad Pro is concerned, it comes with a 12.9-inch Retina display, the 3rd-generation 64-bit A9X chip, 4 speakers, an 8-megapixel iSight camera, Wi-Fi support, 3G and Touch ID support, and a battery that Apple says can last for 10 hours.

So now that you’ve praised the iPad Pro, Microsoft, you’d better make sure the Surface Pro 4 is really, really better than that. It’s your turn now.

MS Office at Apple event (5 Images)

MS Office at Apple event
MS Office at Apple eventMS Office at Apple event
+2more