iPad Pro news and updates: Microsoft's new Surface Pro 4 ad slams iPad Pro

As Apple tries to pitch its tablet lineup as a hybrid computer with a new keyboard, Microsoft goes on the offensive by releasing a Surface Pro 4 advertisement that highlights iPad Pro's shortcomings.

The commercial features make a mocking comparison between the two devices. In the ad, Siri talks to the other device through Cortana as the former puts up a party after getting a new keyboard. The attack ad is widely viewed as a response to Apple's iPad Pro commercial claiming the tablet to be a full-fledged computer that can be used for work.

As reported by The Verge, Microsoft's comparison ad slams iPad's alleged inferiority to Surface Pro 4 by enumerating a number of features that the iOS tablet doesn't have such as an Intel processor, USB ports, track pad and the full versions of the ubiquitous Office tools.

The advertising war between two of the Silicon Valley's tech giants can be traced many years back. For the past few years, though, both companies seemed to have taken a rest from their perennial word war. One of the most celebrated ad battles between the two was Apple's "I'm a Mac" ad series countered by Microsoft's "I'm a PC" ad campaign, USA Today reported.

This time, however, the rivalry is coming to the fore again amid a global slump in consumer demand for tech gadgets like tablets and PCs. In anticipation of the re-opening of the school season this fall, both companies are introducing price markdowns on their respective tablets.

Meanwhile, some tech observers argued that Apple has a compelling reason to pitch the iPad Pro as a "computer" than a conventional tablet. Given the plunging tablet sales worldwide, the Cupertino-based giant is actually trying to make a case to business users and capture a sizeable share of the enterprise market. Despite Steve Job's disdain for the enterprise sector, Apple's technology revolution not only changed the consumer market but the enterprise market as well.

"Even when there's a set list of devices approved by a workplace, it almost always includes an iPhone, an iPad or at least some iOS-friendly apps...It must also be said that the enterprise market isn't the only that's changed since Jobs vocally dismissed the sector. Apple has, too," wrote Washington Post's Hayley Tsukayama.