When Microsoft announced back in March that it would be coming out with a new tablet device, many fans thought that the company was referring to the successor to the highly-regarded and successful Surface Pro 3. However, what the Redmond-based tech giant did was to instead dial back the current Pro a bit, combining high-spec quality with middle-spec price range, and came out with the Surface 3. 

The current Surface 3 is a leaf taken off the book of the Surface Pro lineup, packed with productivity and performance features that made the lineup the choice for people who are always working and on the go such as business people and other mobile workers.

Now that there are rumblings of an impending iPad Pro in the horizon, how will Microsoft's current Surface 3 fare when the larger Apple tablet is launched? 

Although the iPad Pro is still not confirmed as an upcoming Apple product, the clues left behind by Apple's recently-concluded Worldwide Developers Conference this year points to a new Apple tablet that focuses more on productivity and performance, two facets that launched Microsoft's Surface Pro series into the spotlight. 

According to Apple, the new mobile platform coming out in the future, the iOS 9, will come with performance and productivity tweaks that hint at a product that might be able to compete with the Surface 3. The new iOS will bring new features such as the Split Screen mode for true, real-time multitasking; Touch ID for personalized security; and the Force Touch technology, which would make interface and navigation easier and more convenient for the user.

In addition, it seems that the next Apple tablet will come in a larger size than the current iPad. According to developers who have taken a peek inside a preview build of iOS 9, one of the keyboard designs points to a larger-scaled screen, which supports the rumors that the iPad Pro will come with a 12.9-inch display. If this is true, then the larger display and wider-scaled iPad coupled with multitasking modes will definitely make the upcoming Apple product a sound business investment for Apple fans.