Microsoft Surface Takes Tablet Crown From Apple In JD Power Customer Satisfaction Survey

The Surface line of tablets scored 855 points on a 1,000-point scale, narrowly beating out Apple’s iPad family of tablets (849 points). Microsoft dominated pretty much across the board, taking top honors with its variety of preinstalled apps, manufacturer-backed accessories, internet connectivity options and the amount of internal storage available to users. Not surprisingly, Surface owners also used accessories like keyboards and mice at a far greater rate than the industry average. You can definitely owe those advantages to the extreme versatility of the Windows 10 operating system and the app/hardware ecosystem.

Microsoft also blew past the competition in areas that are traditionally dominated by Apple: styling and design. In this category, the Surface tablets won praise for their attractive styling, quality of materials used, overall device size, and screen size (among other things).

J.D. Power’s results also showed that Surface owners put a high priority on productivity, something that has been a sore point with iPads, even after the introduction of the iPad Pro. And for those that considers themselves to be early adopters of technology, tablets users overwhelmingly choose Surface over the iPad and other tablets.

“The Microsoft Surface platform has expanded what tablets can do, and it sets the bar for customer satisfaction,” said Jeff Conklin, VP of Service Industries for J.D. Power. “These tablet devices are just as capable as many laptops, yet they can still function as standard tablets. This versatility is central to their appeal and success.”

Microsoft is expected to announce both the Surface Book 2 and the Surface Pro 5 sometime this year. Both will likely be evolutionary designs with Kaby Lake power.