Microsoft Surface Pro 4 vs Surface Pro 2017: What's New and What's Not
Naturally, the new Surface Pro, which was just recently announced, comes with better specifications in key areas. However, there were several aspects of the new Surface Pro that were very similar to that of the Surface Pro 4.
Improvements Make the Difference
First, it is important to establish that the key improvements were made possible through the incorporation of the 7th generation Intel processors called Kaby Lakes.
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The new Surface Pro comes in with Intel Core m3, i5 and i7 Kaby Lakes that promise to improve performance by as much as 20 percent, compared to what Skylake chips — found on Surface Pro 4 — can do.
Improved computing performance means better battery life, and this is the case for the new Surface Pro. The 2015-released 2-in-1 tablets, Surface Pro 4, are believed to last up to nine hours. On the other hand, according to Microsoft's claims, the new Surface Pro can last up to 13.5 hours.
While the actual battery life still needs to be tested based on a consumer's daily use, there is a fairly good chance that the new Surface Pro will indeed perform longer than its predecessor.
Another major change that was applied to the new Surface Pro involves the Surface Pen. Unlike with the Surface Pro 4, the stylus will be sold separately for the newer 2-in-1 and that means more cost. However, this can either be good news or bad news, depending on a consumer's perspective.
While users will need to shed off an extra $99 to get the Surface Pen, the stylus is advertised to have undergone some serious overhaul. It is expected to work with more accuracy and pressure sensitivity. The new Surface Pen also comes with the new shading function. Meanwhile, the new Surface Pro is also promised to have better magnets to hold the Surface Pen more efficiently.
With that, pricing is another field where Surface Pro 4 and the new Surface Pro technically differs. While the latter comes in the same introductory price of $799, selling the Surface Pen separately adds cost to it. However, note that the Surface Pro 4 is currently offered at a discounted price of $699.
What are the similarities?
As mentioned, there are a lot of similarities between the Surface Pro 4 and the new Surface Pro.
Their dimensions are almost identical — the Surface Pro 4 is just thinner by 0.05 millimeters. The older 2-in-1 measures 292.10 x 201.42 x 8.45 mm while the new Surface Pro is at 292.10 x 201.42 x 8.5 mm.
The ports found on both products are also exactly the same, and these include a full-size USB 3.0, a microSD card reader, a 3.5 mm headset jack, a Mini DisplayPort, a Cover port, and one for Surface Connect. This means that the new Surface Pro skips the USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port.
Options for storage capacity on both products are almost the same, except the new Surface Pro supports a 1 TB configuration.
Notably, the new Surface Pro does not come with a 4K screen but sports the same 2736 x 1824 display resolution supported by the PixelSense technology found on the Surface Pro 4. However, the newer 2-in-1 offers support for the Surface Dial.
People can now pre-order the new Surface Pro but shipment begins on June 15.
