The iPad Pro M4 (13") and Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ are the two best premium tablets you can buy in 2026. Both have OLED displays, both run flagship-tier chips, both include stylus support, both target creators and prosumers. They differ in software (iPadOS vs Android), in stylus included status, and in productivity philosophy.
After two weeks each as primary creative tablet, here's the honest comparison. iPad Pro M4 13", Galaxy Tab S10+, and the head-to-head page.
Display: both excellent, different priorities
iPad Pro M4 13": Tandem OLED (two OLED layers stacked for brightness), 2752×2064 at 264 PPI, 120 Hz ProMotion, 1,000 nits typical / 1,600 nits HDR peak. The Tandem design solves OLED's traditional brightness ceiling — it's as bright as good Mini-LED while preserving per-pixel blacks.
Galaxy Tab S10+ 12.4": Single-layer Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 2800×1752 at 266 PPI, 120 Hz, 600 nits typical / 1,000 nits HDR peak.
Apple wins on brightness. Both win on color accuracy (Delta E < 2 after calibration). For HDR video review and outdoor use, the iPad's Tandem OLED is meaningfully better. For typical indoor use, both look essentially identical.
The size difference (12.9" iPad vs 12.4" Galaxy) is barely noticeable in hand. The Galaxy is slightly easier to hold one-handed; the iPad has slightly more usable screen area for split-screen work.
iPad Pro M4: Apple M4 chip, up to 16GB RAM. Geekbench 6 multi: 14,820, single: 3,810. Crushes any tablet workload — 8K video editing in LumaFusion, 3D modeling in Shapr3D, professional photo work in Lightroom feel desktop-class.
Galaxy Tab S10+: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, up to 12GB RAM. Geekbench 6 multi: 7,210, single: 2,210. Comfortable for everything except the heaviest creative work. 4K video editing in CapCut works fine; 8K is a stretch.
For creative-pro use cases, the iPad's chip is meaningfully faster. For typical content consumption + Office work + light creative, the Galaxy is more than sufficient.
Stylus: who pays?
iPad Pro M4 requires Apple Pencil Pro ($129) — sold separately. The Pencil Pro is excellent: squeeze gestures, barrel-roll for brush angle, haptic feedback, attaches magnetically and charges wirelessly.
Galaxy Tab S10+ includes the S Pen in the box, attaches magnetically and charges when stored. Bluetooth functions (camera shutter, remote presentation) work without separate charging.
The Apple Pencil Pro is better — more sensitive, smoother on the glass, more features. But it's $129 extra. The S Pen is very good — and free. For most users this is a $129 effective discount on the Galaxy.
Software philosophy
iPadOS 18 is the most polished tablet OS. Apps optimized for iPad (Procreate, Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Affinity Suite) deliver professional-class creative workflows that no Android tablet can match. iPadOS handles split-screen, Stage Manager, external display, and file management with growing sophistication.
The criticism: iPadOS still feels "iPad-first" rather than "tablet-first." Multitasking is improving but not as fluid as desktop OSes. File handling is better than 2019 but still less straightforward than Windows/macOS.
Galaxy Tab S10+ runs One UI 6 for Tablets on Android 15. DeX mode turns the tablet into a desktop-style interface with windowed apps when connected to an external monitor (or used in landscape with mouse + keyboard). For productivity workflows the DeX experience is genuinely closer to a laptop than iPadOS.
The criticism: many Android apps still aren't optimized for tablets — they just letterbox or stretch from phone layouts. Creative app ecosystem is dramatically weaker than iPad.
If you do professional creative work: iPad. If you do productivity work with occasional creative use: Galaxy with DeX. If you're mostly consuming content: either works.
Creative app ecosystem
iPad Pro M4: Procreate, Procreate Dreams, Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher, Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom), Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro for iPad, Shapr3D, ZBrush for iPad, and many more — all optimized for iPad with desktop-class feature parity.
Galaxy Tab S10+: Clip Studio Paint EX, Adobe Suite (slightly less feature-complete than iPad versions), Concepts, Infinite Painter, LumaFusion. No native Logic Pro, no native Final Cut equivalent (CapCut + KineMaster are the alternatives — capable but not Final Cut-class).
For digital art, photo editing, video editing, music production: iPad wins decisively.
Accessories
iPad Pro M4 Magic Keyboard with backlit keys and trackpad: $349. Folio cases: $99-179.
Galaxy Tab S10+ Book Cover Keyboard with backlit keys and trackpad: $299. Book Cover (no keyboard): $99.
Both accessory ecosystems are mature and excellent. Apple's Magic Keyboard is slightly more premium-feeling; Samsung's is slightly more affordable.
Connectivity
Both: Thunderbolt/USB-C 4 (iPad: Thunderbolt 4; Galaxy: USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 — Galaxy is slower for external SSDs). Both: WiFi 6E. Both: 5G cellular optional.
iPad has Thunderbolt 4 native support, which matters for connecting Pro Display XDR or driving 6K monitors with full color. Galaxy's USB-C 3.2 is limited to 4K external.
Battery
iPad Pro M4 13": 38.99 Wh battery, 10 hours typical web browsing.
Galaxy Tab S10+: 10,090 mAh (38.9 Wh equivalent), 10-12 hours typical web browsing.
Functional tie. Both charge via 45W USB-C (Samsung) or 20W USB-C (Apple), so Galaxy charges faster from a real charger.
Price reality
iPad Pro M4 13" Wi-Fi 256GB: $1,299. + Magic Keyboard $349 + Pencil Pro $129 = $1,777 fully kitted.
Galaxy Tab S10+ Wi-Fi 256GB: $1,099 (S Pen included). + Book Cover Keyboard $299 = $1,398 fully kitted.
Galaxy saves $379 fully kitted for similar capability except creative software ecosystem and chip performance.
Verdict by buyer type
Get the iPad Pro M4 if: you do professional creative work (illustration, video editing, photo editing, music production), you need the absolute fastest tablet chip, you want Apple Pencil Pro features, you have a Mac/iPhone ecosystem already, or HDR brightness for content review matters.
Get the Galaxy Tab S10+ if: you do productivity work and want DeX desktop-like experience, you want the S Pen included free, you use Android phone, you do mostly content consumption, or you specifically want to save $400-500 fully kitted.
For creative professionals, the iPad is the only real answer. For productivity-and-consumption tablets at the premium tier, the Galaxy is the value pick.