Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: flagship face-off

The iPad Pro epitomizes the best tablet experience. Its formidable processor, excellent Pencil utility, and a cohesive Apple ecosystem shape that perception, Samsung is vying to change that with its surefooted Galaxy Tab Ultra series. The newly launched Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra makes a case against the 2024 iPad Pro with some pretty compelling specifications.

The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has a colossal, almost-15-inch footprint. It catches up to the iPad Pro with its robust S Pen, a pretty display, a really handy desktop mode, and a similarly lean profile. We highly recommend going through the comparison below to find out which of these flagship tablets is better for your needs.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: specs

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: design

Starting with the design, the 2024 iPad Pro and the new Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra both have slender profiles. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra may especially feel a bit daunting because of its huge footprint, but both tablets are edging into the territory of laptops (or successful laptop replacements), so the large screens make sense.

Despite their sizes, the iPad Pro and the Tab S10 Ultra feel premium, thanks to their finely CNC-ed recycled aluminum shells. Being exceptionally slim, both tablets are possibly fragile (we’re reminded of the iPhone 6’s infamous “bendgate”) compared to some thicker devices, so we advise handling them appropriately, especially while carrying them in a backpack.

One way the Tab S10 Ultra feels more assuring is its water resistance. It comes with an IP68 rating for protection underwater and from dust. The iPad Pro, on the other hand, offers no such assurances.

The Tab S10 Ultra comes in a single size, with a 14.6-inch display, while the iPad Pro is available in variants with 11-inch and 13-inch displays. This makes the Tab S10 Ultra significantly bigger and also about 150 grams heavier than the bigger iPad model. The larger display is useful for watching content or reading, but it could also be detrimental to utility while holding for longer durations. The Tab S10 Ultra is also marginally thicker, measuring 5.4mm versus the larger iPad Pro, which measures 5.1mm. Ironically, the smaller iPad Pro is as thick as the Galaxy Tab.

Finally, while the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra uses the same design as last year, the iPad Pro has a newer, sleeker design, though it still resembles previous generations from behind.

One minor addition to the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is a new space on the back to place the S Pen. The cavity makes it easier to hide away the S Pen when it’s not in use and secures it when the official folio case pads the back.

Though both flagship tablets have premium builds, the Tab S10 Ultra’s IP68 rating adds a sense of assurance that the iPad Pro lacks.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: display

Both the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and the iPad Pro (2024) use crisp and vivid OLED displays. Both panels offer up to 120Hz of variable refresh rate, HDR support, and high brightness.

Physically, the display on the Galaxy Tab S1o Ultra is larger. It also features a wider 16:9 aspect ratio in landscape mode, which enables better viewing while playing games and watching video content thanks to slimmer empty bands on each side of the video. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra also has narrower bezels, but you may only notice the difference from the iPad Pro while using the two side by side. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra comes with a notch up top to house dual front-facing cameras. This interrupts the uniformity of the bezels and may not be to everyone’s taste.

On the other hand, the iPad Pro features a 4:3 aspect ratio that accommodates more content from websites and apps, making it better suited for laptop-like tasks such as web browsing. The iPad Pro isn’t necessarily bad for watching video, but the size of the actual video is smaller than on the Tab S10 Ultra.

Areas where the iPad Pro outperforms the Galaxy Tab include video brightness, color accuracy, and sharpness. While both tablets feature OLED displays, Apple uses two stacked OLED panels, officially called Tandem OLED, for lighting up each of the pixels in the display. Traditional OLED displays only use one.

This allows the iPad Pro’s display to be brighter and have richer colors. Looking at the official numbers, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra offers a peak brightness of 930 nits compared to 1,600 nits on the iPad Pro. This advantage is visible while watching HDR content, and is further enhanced by Dolby Vision on the iPad Pro, which the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra lacks. Instead, it only gets support for HDR10+ like any other Samsung phone or TV. Even though HDR10+ isn’t inferior, it is not as widely adopted as Dolby Vision. As a result, Dolby Vision content scales back to a poorer HDR10 codec, deteriorating the experience on the Tab S10.

Despite being less bright, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra may have an advantage when viewed under bright external light as Samsung adds an anti-reflective coating across all storage variants of the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. Meanwhile, Apple offers its “nano-texture” anti-reflective glass selectively on the 1TB and 2TB storage variants. While Apple’s application is more intricate and differs from a matte screen protector, you would need to pay extra for the feature.

A brighter display with more accurate colors makes the iPad Pro a better choice for those seeking the best display on a tablet.

Winner: iPad Pro 2024

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: performance

Both the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and the iPad Pro are powered by flagship chipsets, but one has a clear advantage over the other. For the Tab S10 Ultra, Samsung steps away from Qualcomm’s chipsets in the previous generation and opts for a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 Plus. The MediaTek chip is uniquely designed and packs only high-performance CPU cores while lacking ones for efficiency cores. This, in principle, allows it to have a better performance than the rest of the competition (limited to Android).

On the other hand, Apple powers the iPad Pro with the M4 silicon, which is, in reality, a chipset meant for laptops such as the MacBook Air and the base MacBook Pro. By default, the laptop-bound chipset places the iPad Pro a level above the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. The M4 chip is either available with a 9-core or a 10-core CPU, based on the variant, and a 10-core GPU. This makes it suitable for demanding tasks like video editing.

Another reason the M4 excels is its 3nm architecture, which results in better performance and higher power efficiency. Meanwhile, the Dimensity 9300+ still uses an older 4nm (which, in reality, is an advanced 5nm) node for manufacturing. The Tab S10 Ultra would have been better off with the newer Dimensity 9400, which is the first Android-bound chip manufactured on a 3nm process.

The M4 chip also outpaces the Dimensity 9300 Plus in terms of AI processing capabilities, with Apple claiming it to be its best chipset for AI performance. The neural engine on the M4 is supposedly capable of processing 38 trillion operations per second (TOPS). The neural processor found on the Dimensity 9300 Plus hits 33 TOPS.

Despite these abilities, however, the iPad Pro still lags the Tab S10 Ultra in terms of AI abilities, primarily due to Apple Intelligence still being unavailable. Meanwhile, Samsung brings Galaxy AI to the Tab, which we will discuss in the dedicated software section.

When it comes to storage, the iPad Pro has variants starting at 256GB and going up to 2TB. The extra storage comes at an additional cost. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra offers storage options only up to 1TB, but features an SD card slot with support up to 1.5TB, which can be a cost-effective way to expand, though it won’t offer the same transfer speeds as the built-in storage.

If a good performance or gaming experience is important to you, the iPad Pro will be a better choice. The only thing limiting the tablet’s abilities is iPadOS, which also makes the hardware feel excessive. While it may seem overkill at present, the M4 chip inside should potentially drive the iPad Pro without any hiccups for several years to come. While Samsung also envisions a long utility for the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, Android devices rarely deliver the same flagship-level performance after a few years of usage.

Another reason the iPad Pro feels like a better laptop replacement is the Thunderbolt 4 port that enables data transfer at up to 40Gbps, along with support for an external display via DisplayPort. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra only gets a USB-C port with USB Gen 3.2 without DisplayPort support.

The iPad Pro takes another win for its beefy hardware and broader storage options.

Winner: iPad Pro 2024

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: battery and charging

While the iPad Pro has an edge in terms of performance, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra rules with a significantly larger battery. The tablet has a fittingly large 11,200mAh battery with 45-watt wired charging.

The 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models come with 8,160mAh and 10,290mAh batteries, respectively. Apple also limits the charging rate to less than 40W via the USB-C port. Despite the slimmer design, Apple dd not actually cut the battery’s capacity from older models, and we found the iPad Pro able to deliver a battery backup in line with the M3 MacBook Air. That means you shouldget roughly 18 to 24 hours of on-and-off usage without heavy gaming.

However, the relatively less bright display, a slightly less potent chipset, and a bigger battery on the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultras translate to a longer battery life. With moderate usage, you can push it to more than one day of battery life, which is commendable. However, the charging, despite its 45W support, can take more than two-and-a-half hours, which can feel disappointing.

Surprisingly, Apple ships the new iPad Pro with a charging adapter in the box. At 20W, it isn’t the fastest, but is a welcome and — quite frankly — astonishing move from the company that led the entire smartphone industry to ditch chargers from their packaging. This may, however, not apply to all regions. Samsung ships the Galaxy Tab S1o Ultra without a charger.

If you are looking for a long battery life out of your premium tablet, neither device will disappoint. But the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra goes the extra mile, thanks to a larger battery and slightly less demanding hardware.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: cameras

Cameras on tablets, especially ones on the rear, have limited practical utility. So, both Apple and Samsung take the opportunity to furnish their respective flagship tablets with cameras that don’t match up to those of  their respective flagship smartphones.

The Tab S10 Ultra has two rear cameras, a 13-megapixel primary and an 8MP ultrawide angle sensor. We don’t expect groundbreaking images from these cameras, but you should be able to take some decent photos.

Meanwhile, the iPad Pro drops the ultrawide camera from the previous generation and sports a single rear camera with a 12MP resolution. The camera is accompanied by a time of flight lidar sensor that can be very useful to creatives who scan real-life objects and create digital replicas for animation, 3D modeling, or replication through 3D printing.

In contrast, the front camera is more significant for its utility in video calls. Both tablets have their front cameras placed in the center of the longer edge, making them more suitable for landscape usage.

The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra houses two 12MP front cameras inside a notch — a standard wide-angle and an ultrawide, the latter of which helps with automatic framing during video calls. The iPad Pro, on the other hand, has a single 12MP camera with a wide 122-degree field of view, backed by a stack of Face ID sensors without the notch. Even without the second sensor, iPad Pro’s Center Stage functionality keeps you in the middle of the frame during calls.

It’s also worth noting the videos on the iPad Pro’s front camera may let in less light due to having a smaller camera aperture compared to the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. Other than video calling, the cameras can also record videos, but the quality is, at best, tolerable. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra lets you record 4K videos from the front camera, while the iPad Pro caps them at 1080p. Meanwhile, both tablets allow 4K video recording at up to 60 frames per second (fps) using the rear cameras.

Both tablets have acceptable picture and video quality, along with similar framing features for video calls.

Winner: Tie

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: software and updates

The difference in software on these tablets can be pivotal to your choice. It’s a straight-up Android versus iOS comparison, and you may already have a preference. However, if you don’t, let us break down the ways in which your experience will differ on both.

The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra runs Samsung’s One UI 6.1 based on Android 14, while iPadOS 18.0.1 is already available for the iPad Pro, with version 18.1 expected very soon.  Besides the differences between iOS and Android, both interfaces have their individual advantages, especially if you plan to use them for work.

The Tab S10 Ultra supports DeX mode, which is triggered when you attach the official Book Cover keyboard folio or do it manually. DeX offers a desktop-like environment with features such as easy window snapping, a persistent taskbar, and support for an unlimited number of simultaneously active apps. This can be projected to a bigger display either using a wire or wirelessly. Even without DeX, you can use three apps side by side on the Samsung tablet.

Meanwhile, the iPad supports Stage Manager, which positions the app in use in the center while previews of other active apps show in small tiles on the side. The experience is somewhat similar to a Mac and is ideal for a setup that includes an external monitor. When not using another screen with the iPad Pro, you can open two apps side by side, along with a third as a floating window.

Next, One UI 6.1 has a slew of AI features that especially put the S Pen to use. Besides Circle to Search and translation features, Galaxy AI also helps you write messages and emails and summarize webpages. Another popular feature is Drawing Assist, whichconverts random scribbles into charming AI-generated art pieces in various styles.

The iPad Pro, on the other hand, is touted to receive Apple Intelligence features that will help with similar tasks, including helping compose messages and emails, summarizing notifications, and most importantly, making Siri significantly smarter. However, these features aren’t available yet —  unless you run iPadOS in beta — so we can’t fully comment on their effectiveness.

Meanwhile, the iPad Pro overpowers the Tab S10 Ultra in terms of availability of apps, especially ones for creatives. Apps such as Procreate and DaVinci Resolve — apart from Apple’s own Garage Band and Final Cut Pro for iPad — are absent from Android. Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps also seem better suited for iPadOS than they are on Android.

Lastly, Samsung promises seven years of software support on the Tab S10 Ultra. While Apple doesn’t make such claims, the iPad and other devices with iOS are typically supported by Apple for five or more years. So, irrespective of which tablet you choose, it will continue to receive active support from the respective brand for years.

Both Apple and Samsung have their respective ecosystem for harmony between products, though the Apple ecosystem is arguably better and works consistently well.

While One UI and iPadOS are rife with features, both feel underwhelming and inadequate considering the hardware up for offer. The better option between the two depends on several factors, including your preferences, your involvement in ecosystems, and the utility of the tablets.

Winner: Tie

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: accessories

Both the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and the iPad have official accessories to expand usability. Starting with their styluses, the S Pen comes bundled with the Galaxy Tab, while an Apple Pencil (USB-C) or Apple Pencil Pro must be bought separately for the iPad Pro.

The extra $79 or $129 (based on whichever you buy) will get you features that the S Pen lacks, including better pressure sensitivity, a squeeze functionality, and support for barrel roll on the Pencil Pro for better brush strokes. The Apple Pencil also gets Find My support to help locate it if you can’t find it.

The S Pen, on the other hand, gets support for air gestures that let you control the Tab S10 Ultra without touching it. It also works as a passive stylus without even charging, though the gestures require the internal battery to be fed. Most importantly, it’s free.

Coming to cases, you can get the official Book Cover keyboard case — with variants with and without trackpad — that lets you use the Tab S10 Ultra like a laptop. The non-trackpad variant costs $200, while one with the trackpad comes at a steep $350. Despite the high prices, we found the experience to be lacking.

Apple’s $299 Magic Keyboard case offers an experience closer to the MacBook, thanks to larger and softer keys and a trackpad with gesture support and haptic feedback, similar to the MacBook’s. The Magic Keyboard also offers a USB-C port for charge and data passthrough, practically adding another port to the iPad Pro. .

The Apple Pencil offers features that are better suited for professional use cases. The Magic Keyboard elevates the experience significantly, though there are various third-party accessories if you wish to spend less for similar functionality.

Winner: iPad Pro 2024

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra starts at $1,200 for a 256GB storage and 12GB of RAM and goes up to $1,500 for 1TB of storage. Samsung does not offer a cellular variant in the U.S. just yet, so Wi-Fi is your only option. Samsung offers the anti-reflective display as standard across all variants.

The iPad Pro (11-inch) starts at $999, but if you want the anti-reflective coating on your screen, you will need to spend at least $1,699 for the 1TB model. Also, 5G connectivity comes at a markup depending on the storage.

The 13-inch variant starts $1,299, with the nano-coated screen variant coming in at least $1,999. Like the smaller one, cellular variants will cost extra.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Apple iPad Pro: Which one should you buy?

Both the iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra are more than mere tablets and are capable of being suitable laptop replacements. Both  also feel severely limited by the interface. So, before choosing the better of the two tablets, you must ask yourself whether you need a tablet with that much vigor. If you need something just for casual Netflix bingeing, checking emails, or doodling, you are better off with a less expensive tablet.

Once you’re convinced about spending over a grand on a tablet, you must weigh your requirements. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra’s large battery gives it an advantage, and so does the larger screen. The free S Pen is definitely a bonus, while the DeX ecosystem enables you to multitask better than on other Android tablets.

The iPad Pro, on the other hand, is better for creatives such as digital illustrators, music producers, video editors, etc. The Magic Keyboard brings the experience closer to using a MacBook, though you won’t be able to run full macOS apps, which is a shame given it practically has a more powerful processor than the current MacBook Air.

The iPad Pro is also available in a more compact form factor, which can be useful if you tend to carry the tablet often instead of letting it rest on a desk. The downside to this, however, is a smaller battery that may not outlast that of the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra.

Lastly, your existing devices may also impact your decision. If you already have an iPhone or Mac or both, the iPad Pro may be better fit into that family of devices. If, on the other hand, you use Android or Windows or both, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra may be better for its harmony with those platforms.

Winning three out of seven sections (Samsung gets two while two others are tied), the iPad Pro emerges as the better choice in a general sense. However, we strongly recommend reviewing our verdict for each section to find the most fitting flagship tablet for your requirements, as one particular element may be more important to you than another.