Point Counter-Point
BUT - I am convinced you are right - No MacOS on iPad Pro for me, so Surface Pro 8 et al are my baseline.
PS - I’m getting a used Fold Z 3 (with one year warranty) to port my business number out of RingCentral despite HATING the idea of two phones. Would have gone Duo Uno but they do not work on Mint Mobile, and T-Mobile 5g network in Midland is far better than AT&T because of deals with O&G firms out here.
Out of curiosity, why not just go the dual sim/esim route with your iPhone? Unless of course you use that as additional justification to play with a Fold again, which I absolutely agree has it charms.
Unfortunately for me anyway, the charms were overwhelmed by the reality of using it as a phone, especially as a business one.
Hmmmmm; that’s ominous. I have a friend here in Midland who tries/tried to use AT&T and Verizon on his iPhone Pro 13 and said it was wonky - possibly the result of porting out his RingCentral number (he put me on to RingCentral in the first place).
Was it an additional justification for giving the Fold 3 another go - OF COURSE! Besides the lock-in with the family on iPhone, I have often wondered if the stress of the bypass surgery, and staying in close contact with family is what really jumped me from Fold 3 to iPhone 13 Pro.
PS - just more stress testing between Samsung and Apple going into next August decision tree between Fold 5 and 15 Ultra…
PPS - the more I keep being told NO! about MacOS on iPad Pro, the more I get locked into the Surface Pro environment…
I used the Surface Book 2 for about a year, and I found it cumbersome, I like using the screen, but the battery only lasted ~90 minutes, which for someone who at the time was in meeting 8-10 hours a day, old school in conference rooms - it was frustrating. I used it in the mode where I attached the screen to the base to where it was folded over the keyboard, but it was way too heavy to use it away from a desk or table.
I think I switched to the Surface Go and Go 2 as a knee-jerk reaction 
Later, I would move to the Pro X.
Yep, sounds like Apple employees alright.
Perhaps the rest of us just need more courage™️.
Another cautionary note in this space is the Axiotron Modbook — still regret not getting one of the originals (10.6.8 was my favorite MacOS).
I really wish that Wacom would find it in themselves to make a Cintiq Companion which “just worked” for Hackintoshing (though that window is closing) — anyone know how well they run Linux? If adding a Wacom One to my desktop setup doesn’t work out, that’s probably my next machine (assuming they’re still making them then).
Anyone ever wonder why the Wacom based EMR S-Pens are so ridiculously cheap compared to the Surface Slim Pen 2 and Apple Pencil 2?
AND how you can have one, with tablet, for under $250 (recent sale on Tab S6)…
Seems obvious to me that they have a lot less electronics in the pen compared to either the Apple Pencil or the Surface pen and its ilk. In other words the digitizer in the device does all the heavy lifting
You beat me to the punch on my edit above - so how does Samsung market the tablet AND pen for under $250 (Tab S6) - yes, not an iPad nor Surface, and the unlocked version is $350, but still…
EMR is inherently an efficient solution and also I’m sure why its so completely patented as they know the alternative is both more expensive and complex
BTW having everything in the panel is also how they can achieve the low latency they do according to Wacom
Aside from other solutions requiring more electronics in the pen, everyone is out to make a profit.
Also, Samsung:
a) own Wacom shares
b) have a special licensing deal with Wacom
c) are massive compared to Wacom, so get own way
Despite requiring an extra grid the display assembly, I reckon EMR is cheaper to implement in terms of BOM. There’s really not that much to it.
You’re also comparing something on sale to normal prices for other things. And stock clearance sales don’t count either.
Also, Wacom limits the capabilities of their pens for everything other than their own stuff. You get less levels of pressure, less angle of tilt, etc with Samsung versions than with Wacom’s own stuff.
I wish Samsung (or someone) would make a replacement for my Galaxy Book 12 — also a competitor to the Boox Tab Ultra/Kindle Scribe.
I know folks are tired of my laundry list of wants/specifications, so we won’t repeat them.
The recent Amd igpu come quite close to the midrange Nvidia gpu MS tends to put into the Book or Laptop Studio line. I think it is not really worth it to put a seperate gpu in it and instead introduce an Amd Surface Pro (preferably with a bigger screen) and a powercover (like the Dell Venue 11 Pro had with the solid keyboard and extended battery). I want to see MS take more modular approach (bring back the microsd port while we are at it 
).
Yes, this. GB12 was a close as we’ve gotten to full Windows in an iPad(ish) chassis - IMHO, @dstrauss may vary.
Yes, I agree. I still think IF they would incorporate a siloed S-Pen, and something in line with the SB9 ARM processor, even I would make the transition. Until then, the SP8/SP9 Intel design is my anchor…
Samsung is all in with Android on the slates now though. I don’t see them ever going back to putting Windows on anything other than laptops. I like the laptop well enough, but a 360 convertible is nothing like a slate tablet. I’ve resigned myself to making android work if I want a tablet now. OneNote and some windows games are the main thing holding me back from that being okay full time.
I prefer slate too though I have to say the Galaxy x360 has some nice advantages like the microsd card and larger screen choices (though 1.4 kg is stretching it for tablet usage). I never tried one in real life though so I do not know if it is nice to handle as a tablet (the thickness seems ok at ~11mm but some yoga style laptops do not shut properly when rotated 360 degrees).
But the Galaxy Pro 360 (and pretty much all of Samsung’s current Windows offerings, including a 15.6" unit) only has a 1920 x 1080 display — I’d give my interest in Hell to be able to run Windows (or better still Mac OS, and I may be willing to settle for Linux) on a Tab S8 Ultra (2960 x 1848).