Microsoft Says New Surface Pro is 1.7× Faster Than iPad Pro With 35% More Battery Life

[MacRumors]

Microsoft today introduced the new Surface Pro, choosing that name over Surface Pro 5, at a media event in Shanghai, China.

Microsoft said the new Surface Pro delivers up to 13.5 hours of battery life on a single charge, a 50 percent increase over the Surface Pro 4 and 35 percent more battery life than the iPad Pro's advertised 10 hours.

The notebook-tablet hybrid features Intel's latest Kaby Lake processors, including Core m3, i5, and i7 chips depending on the model. Microsoft says the high-end Surface Pro with a Core i7 processor is 2.5× faster than the Surface Pro 3 and 1.7× faster than the iPad Pro with Apple's own A9X chip.

Surface Pro m3 and i5 models feature a new fanless cooling system, while the i7 model still has a fan with "improved hybrid cooling."

The new Surface Pro has a refined design with cleaner lines and curved edges, a "visually softer" camera, and an improved hinge with a 165º range of motion allows it to be placed in Studio Mode like its Surface Studio desktop.

It's also the lightest Surface Pro ever, starting at 1.7 lbs. By comparison, the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro weigh 0.96 lbs and 1.57 lbs respectively.

The new Surface Pro continues to have a 12.3-inch display with 267 pixels per inch, compared to 264 PPI for both the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Microsoft says its custom PixelSense technology means that colors on the new Surface Pro will be "more vibrant, precise, and impactful than ever before."

Other tech specs include up to a 1TB SSD, up to 16GB RAM, up to Intel Iris Plus 640 graphics, a USB 3.0 port, a microSD card reader, Mini DisplayPort, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The device runs Windows 10 Pro.

The new Surface Pro is accompanied by a new Surface Pen with over 4096 pressure points, only 21 milliseconds of latency, and new tilt functionality. Microsoft says the new Surface Pen is over two times more accurate, with four times more pressure sensitivity, than the original Surface Pen.

There's also new Signature Type Covers, now designed with Alcantara fabric for a "soft, velvety" feel. Microsoft pitches typing on the keyboards as "easier, more, comfortable, more accurate, better sounding, and easier to do without looking" than the 12-inch MacBook and iPad Pro.

The new Surface Pro and Type Covers are available to pre-order today in the United States and select other markets at the Microsoft Store, Microsoft.com, BestBuy.com, and JD.com. The new Surface Pro will ship on June 15 in 25 countries. Surface Pro pricing starts at $799.99 in the United States.

Surface Pro models with LTE Advanced will be available later this year. The new Surface Pen will be available in the coming weeks.

Article Link: Microsoft Says New Surface Pro is 1.7× Faster Than iPad Pro With 35% More Battery Life

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[randomplaydo]

Does it still run Windows? Yeah?

OK, never mind then.

 

[TheTruth101]

And I am really sure it is, the problem is Windows. Try to achieve something like "Target disk more and migration assistant" in Windows...

 

[imicca]

They told the SAME about previous Surface and newest iPad back then.
I highly doubt Windows's optimisation beats Apple's in battery life.

 

[profets]

An Intel Core i7 which requires a fan to keep cool is only 1.7x faster than a 2 year old A9X ARM CPU? Doesn't sound too impressive.

 

[nwcs]

Now that's some competition for the iPad. If I hadn't bought a cheapy Asus for my astrophotography work I'd probably pick this up.

 

[Paul Dawkins]

I miss Microsoft's incompetence under Ballmer.

They just compared an i series CPU with an ARM CPU, i think incompetence is alive and well.

 

[BrettArchibald]

I'm not tempted by this for the sole reason that it has Windows on it.
But what Microsoft is doing right is not just slapping a phone OS onto a tablet and expecting us to fall for it.
Are you paying attention Apple?

 

[mgmusicman94]

Wow, the core i7 laptop grade processor is faster than an in house processor designed specifically for a tablet with a touch interface? You don't say!

 

[KPOM]

So it is mostly a spec bump from the Surface Pro 4. The battery life jump is good, though.

 

[Blackstick]

They say a LOT, but Surface sales numbers don't add up. Speaking as an IT infrastructure manager, we ordered a Surface book pilot of 20 machines on a potential order of 1500, it was canceled due to low customer satisfaction among the pilot group. Ended up going with Dell again.

Surface hardware is stratospherically expensive with respect to anything except Apple, and I look around Starbucks everywhere and see a lot of MacBook Airs, the occasional "9 pound piece of crap Best Buy Windows laptop" and an iPad or Kindle here or there. Not too many people replacing their $600 Asus with a $2000 Surface. They're somewhat hamstrung by OEMs putting the "Windows 10 experience" on machines that cost a quarter-to-half as much as their 1st party stuff.

 

[BulkSlash]

Presumably it's only the m3 that has more than 10 hours of life, the 1.7x faster i7 will probably burn through its battery at twice that rate...

 

[Centris 650]

So they are basing these claims on an iPad that's over a year old? Ok. Let's see what happens when the new iPads are released.

 

[B.K.]

And I am really sure it is, the problem is Windows. Try to achieve something like "Target disk more and migration assistant" in Windows...

In all fairness, try achieving that on your iPad as well...
Win 10 has been a pretty good experience so far, for me.

 

[alwaysbeincontact]

Sure looks nice but I think I'll wait for the new iPad Pro. The last Surface I bought had dead pixels in the screen, and wouldn't boot up, took over an hour to get it running. I'm sure these problems are solved now but I enjoyed the iPad Pro. Let's see what Apple has upcoming for the iPad's.

 

[Wonder Warthog]

It still runs Windows.
It's like saying your muckheap is much higher than my pitcher's mound. It's still **** inside.

 

[mlovergaard]

I like my Surface Pro 4, but not sure if I see enough to upgrade.

 

[JCCL]

They just compared an i series CPU with an ARM CPU, i think incompetence is alive and well.

I think that incompetence was started by Apple, when they stated the iPad Pro was faster than most laptops on the market. Microsoft just fighting back.....

 

[Nimrad]

I can't believe how fast Microsoft suddenly made more interesting hardware than Apple. Too bad it runs Windows.

 

[gnipgnop]

I'm guessing that the "faster" only applies to CPU oriented benchmarks, not GPU.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

That marketing should be good until WWDC in a couple weeks. Then what?

 

[Paul Dawkins]

I think that incompetence was started by Apple, when they stated the iPad Pro was faster than most laptops on the laptop. Microsoft just fighting back.....

And Apple was right since most laptops are cheap and use much lower rating CPUs that even a single ARM CPU performs better, but here we have some numbers and specific fingering.

 

[JCCL]

Does it still run Windows? Yeah?

OK, never mind then.

I would gladly take Windows over a supersized version of my iPhone 7 Plus......Since the iPad was rumored I always hope it would have full Mac OS

 

[jamesrick80]

An Intel Core i7 which requires a fan to keep cool is only 1.7x faster than a 2 year old A9X ARM CPU? Doesn't sound too impressive.

Until you realize that the A9X is greatly overpowered for what can actually be accomplished on a highly crippled Ipad pro......

 

[coolfactor]

Nice hardware. I'm glad the game is still on. Microsoft really has crawled out of the hole.