Here's our breakdown of how the iPad Air 2 stacks up against the Surface Pro 3.

Pros and Cons of the iPad Air 2: 

The iPad Air 2 is a lightweight tablet that weighs almost half as that of the Surface Pro 3. It is also cheaper. It is also the perfect lightweight tablet computer for on-the-go users as it sports a more powerful primary camera.

That being said, the iPad Air 2 is not as powerful as the Surface Pro 3. The Surface Pro has three CPU configurations with the highest one having a clock speed of 3.3 GHz. Furthermore, the Apple tab has a smaller screen, even though it has a higher pixel density. 

Pros and Cons of the Surface Pro 3:

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is definitely the more powerful tablet. It has a more powerful CPU, more storage and more than double the amount of RAM than what can be found in the iPad Air 2. The Pro 3 also has a larger display and the storage can be expanded up to 128GB.

The Surface Pro 3 is heavier than the iPad Air 2. It may have a larger display but it has slightly lesser pixel density. Furthermore, the Microsoft device costs almost double than the Apple tablet.

Specs: 

The iPad Air 2 features a 9.7-inch display with 1536x2048 pixels at 264ppi. The tablet is available in three storage sizes of 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB with 2GB RAM common among all. It runs on a triple-core 1.5GHz ARM CPU and is powered by iOS 8.1, which could be upgraded to iOS 8.1.1. The tablet has an 8-MP primary camera and a 1.2-MP secondary camera lens. It weighs 437g and 444g for the Wi-Fi and 3G/LTE models respectively.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is a laplet with a 12-inch eDP ClearType HD display. The touchscreen has a resolution of 2160x1440 pixels at 216ppi. It is available in a multitude of CPU-based models - Intel Core i3, i5 and i7. Microsoft has powered it with its Windows 8.1 version. It is available in three storage configurations of 64/128/256/512 GB, with an expansion slot with 128GB capacity. The Surface Pro 3 has 5-MP cameras, one each on the front and the back. It is available in 4GB and 8GB RAM configurations.

Talking Points:

The iPad Air 2 was released in October 2014. It has been critically acclaimed ever since its release, and The Verge has even called the tablet to be the best ever made.  The Air 2 was generally well received and during this holiday season, Best Buy slashed it prices by $50 to give a boost to its sales.

The Surface Pro 3 was unveiled in May 2014 in New York City and was released in June in North America. It was a major upgrade over its predecessor, featuring a larger display yet being lighter by almost 0.22 pounds. The Intel Core i3 and i7 models were released later in August. The laplet was announced to be a promising "luxury laptop."

Prices:

The iPad Air 2 was launched with the introductory price of $499. The Surface Pro 3 was introduced with a price tag between $799 and $1,949 for the different models.

Conclusion:

The iPad Air 2 and the Surface Pro 3 are two class machines in their own segments. The Apple tab caters to a different target audience with its power, light weight and slick looks. The Surface Pro 3 is even more powerful and comes with multiple options, but the Apple device may just have the edge when it comes to pricing.