The Apple rumor mill is on fire and the latest reports suggest we might see a 9.7-inch iPad Pro launched sometime around mid-to-late March.

Initially it was thought Apple would launch the iPad Air 3, a straightforward upgrade to last year’s iPad Air 2, but it appears the Cupertino tech giant believes its customers want a smaller version of its 12.9-inch 2-in-1 iPad Pro.

The rumored 9.7-inch iPad Pro is said to feature a Smart Connector for a smaller version of the Smart Keyboard designed for the iPad Pro as well as the same updated Multi‑Touch subsystem to support Apple Pencil.

When Apple launched its 12.9-inch iPad Pro in September, it went head-to-head with the Windows 10 powered Surface Pro 4 from Microsoft. How will the smaller iPad Pro compare to the Surface Pro 4, and what other specifications will it inherit from the original iPad Pro?

Rumored 9.7-inch iPad Pro vs. Surface Pro 4: Tech specs

Design

Expect Apple’s trademark design but with four stereo speakers and a Smart Connector port to connect a new, smaller Smart Keyboard (same as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro).

Display

A smaller iPad Pro obviously means a smaller screen — just 9.7-inches in this case. Putting aside screen resolution and other display performance metrics for the moment, power users looking for a tablet that can also double as a laptop are likely to be drawn toward a larger, near-laptop- size display. In that case the 12.9-inch iPad Pro or 12.3-inch Surface Pro 4 make more sense.

If you think you’ll spend more time in tablet mode and only now and again use the laptop mode, a smaller, more portable 9.7-inch display makes more sense.

Under the hood, the baby iPad Pro will get big brother’s updated Multi‑Touch subsystem to support Apple Pencil.

Processor, memory and storage

According to the rumors, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro will be powered by the same third-generation A9X chip with built-in M9 motion coprocessor found on the larger iPad Pro that offers up to 80 percent better performance than the A8X from the iPad Air 2 .

In addition, the smaller iPad Pro will also have 4GB of RAM, up from 2GB of RAM in last year’s iPad Air 2, with storage options to include 32GB and 128GB.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 offers by far the most flexibility when it comes to processors, memory and storage capacity and the top of the range model can be had with a 6th generation Intel Core i7 chip, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, but it will cost you.

If you care to dive into the highly technical comparisons, Apple’s A9X/M9 combo performs well against Intel’s Core m3 and i5 chips, and it’s likely the configuration most Surface Pro 4 buyers will pick (even if it is only purely based on cost, rather than all-out performance).

Operating system

The hardest choice to make is perhaps whether you can live with a mobile operating system (iOS) and productivity apps adapted for it or if you prefer a full-fledged desktop operating system (Windows 10) and full versions of your favorite office apps such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and others.

Price, accessories and availability

There is no word on pricing, but expect the entry-level 9.7-inch iPad Pro to cost a little more than a midrange iPad Air 2 — somewhere around the $600 – $700 range.

As for the accessories, the same Apple Pencil ($99) will be compatible and Apple will launch a smaller, optional Smart Keyboard to turn the baby iPad Pro into a laptop.

Apple’s big reveal is set to take place either on March 15th or March 21, depending on which rumors you pay attention to.

Screenshot: SiliconANGLE via Apple