Microsoft announces the Surface Pro 3

[Arthur]

Some nice improvements compared the previous two models.

 

Source: Microsoft (via Ars Technica, The Verge)

 

Calling it "the tablet that can replace your laptop," Microsoft announced today the Surface Pro 3. At 9.1mm thick, the company claims that it's the thinnest Intel Core-powered system ever made. It now sports a range of Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, instead of the i5 in the Surface Pro 2. It retains the Surface hinge, but it's been re-designed to be a friction hinge that looks able to hold in almost any position, up to 150 degrees.

 

In spite of the thinness, it's faster than the current Surface Pro 2. The screen is a 3:2 ratio 2160x1440 12-inch part, with the highest contrast ratios in the industry.

 

It's still not fanless, but with a newly designed fan that's apparently 30 percent more efficient than any other fan, owners should neither hear the fan nor feel the breeze from the vents around the edge. Battery life is said to be some 15-20 percent better than any other Surface. It's nonetheless light, at about 800 grams.

 

It comes with a new set of Type Cover accessories. This time they'll include a trackpad that's actually good, 68 percent larger than the old one, and with greatly reduced friction. The Type Covers have a new magnetic latching system to make the connection to the screen more rigid, which Microsoft says enhances the stability when using the device on the lap; this has previously been one of the bigger sore points with the Surface.

 

As with previous Surface Pros, the Surface Pro 3 supports pen input. The pen and ink experience has been improved by making the display even thinner, so that the ink appears at the pen tip, with minimal parallax. Clicking the pen, similar to clicking a retractable ballpoint, turns the Surface Pro 3 on and goes instantly to OneNote for immediate writing support. Similarly, clicking the pen within the camera app will take a picture and stick that immediately in OneNote so it can be annotated.

 

Unlike the passive stylus of the previous models, new pen is a complicated thing. It's an aluminium pen with both a AAA battery and a pair of coin cells, and it connects using Bluetooth.

 

Prices start at $799. Pre-orders open on May 21, and retail availability begins on 20 June.

 

 

Click images to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image Links

• www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/imagedetail.aspx?id=5FA77221DA9BBA6F01750DC637AAF13E48066070
  
• www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/imagedetail.aspx?id=F3CD24CBD94C17854A08A68FC701BCA6D58A9B21
  
• www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/imagedetail.aspx?id=33F962E26F58EFF3E2C252B695D1461BBDF8B479
  
• www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/imagedetail.aspx?id=50D65CCFD9B94FDB929F3B0FF44FC1F65988F705
  
• www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/imagedetail.aspx?id=4E1EA884A43CABA7A4C08F9DE37E1D5070D6F301
  

Edited May 20, 2014 by Arthur

[gshaw]

Well well well, an i3 version at long last - maybe Microsoft do listen after all! Is that the end of the line for RT as well?

 

Increasing the screen to 12" does seem a touch on the large size, hard to tell without seeing one but I suspect it might just be a bit too big to be easy to carry around. The original Surface felt not much bigger than a paper notebook which was ideal, this looks more like a laptop than tablet, at first glance anyway.

 

Don't know why but the logo \ Windows button being the portrait position just looks... wrong

Edited May 20, 2014 by gshaw

[localzuk]

Gotta say, that device interests me greatly! Wonder if they offer finance...

[Arthur]

Well well well, an i3 version at long last - maybe Microsoft do listen after all!

It's always worth waiting until v3.0 with Microsoft products.

 

Increasing the screen size 12" does seem a bit on the large size, hard to tell without seeing one but I suspect it might just be too big to be easy to carry around.

I don't think the size or weight will be too much of an issue. It's only 195 grams heavier than a Nexus 10 (and 202 grams lighter than a HP Chromebook 11) and the 3:2 aspect ratio probably helps make it feel smaller than it actually is.

 

 

 

 

The new pen is impressive.

 

Edited May 20, 2014 by Arthur

[gshaw]

The side by side is interesting, now let's hope MS don't rip off the UK with the dollar to pounds price conversion and one may be on my shopping list (up against the Lenovo ThinkPad 10 that's just been announced as well)

[Dos_Box]

WANT!!

[flyinghaggis]

The screen is a 3:2 ratio 2160x1440 12-inch part, with the highest contrast ratios in the industry.

 

I looked at the previous one but the 10" screen at 1920x1080 put me off as it was too small to run natively with windows and font scaling is pretty ropey in Windows 8 as we all know. I'm slightly wary as it I think might end up being useless at native res when you go back to using a desktop app. I'm glad they've gone for a 3:2 ratio though as my personal feeling is that 16:9 is a hopeless aspect for a small tablet.

 

Apart from my concerns about that it sounds like a fantastic tablet though and if they can bring it out priced at £600-700 I think they might finally have a device to tempt people away from their ipads. Will be heading off to see one of these when my local retailers have it in stock.

 

Having said that I'm starting to feel dejavu as every time MS release a Surface Pro tablet I get hyped and tempted to go out and buy one! So far there' always been something that's put me off though ! The first one was the poor battery life. When they fixed that I was frustrated by how unusable 16:9 was on a small 10" 1080p screen especially on the desktop.

 

This time.....we'll see

Edited May 20, 2014 by flyinghaggis

[Arthur]

I'm slightly wary as it I think might end up being useless at native res when you go back to using a desktop app. I'm glad they've gone for a 3:2 ratio though as my personal feeling is that 16:9 is a hopeless aspect for a small tablet.

What if you set the scaling to 200%? Then it would be equivalent to a 1080x720 display.

 

That said, Windows developers really need to get their act together regarding hi-ppi support in their desktop apps.

 

 

^ This sort of thing is unacceptable.

[gshaw]

The i3 model has to be around £400-500 to make any dent in market share imo. Paying £600-700 for the basic spec isn't worth it, for the i5 model maybe but again I guess it comes down to whether MS want market share or just high-end ultrabook customers.

 

Wish the manufacturers would stop ripping us off without keyboards though, they must cost peanuts to make yet being sold as a £100 accessory?!

[Ashm]

I looked at the previous one but the 10" screen at 1920x1080 put me off as it was too small to run natively with windows and font scaling is pretty ropey in Windows 8 as we all know. I'm slightly wary as it I think might end up being useless at native res when you go back to using a desktop app. I'm glad they've gone for a 3:2 ratio though as my personal feeling is that 16:9 is a hopeless aspect for a small tablet.

Yep this is exactly my thoughts too, otherwise it looks great.

[gshaw]

Maybe I'm the odd one out but I like the 16:9 on the RT I use at work. snapping two apps side by side still leaves enough space to do something useful on either but still small enough to be easy to carry around.

[flyinghaggis]

What if you set the scaling to 200%? Then it would be equivalent to a 1080x720 display.

 

I wondered that aswell since you can literally scale 1 pixel to 4 which could in theory mean that you don't need to worry about scaling issues. In practice however when you actually set font scaling in windows to 200% you often find there are loads of things that don't scale cleanly or don't scale at all which would render them unreadable on high DPI 12" display. Microsoft REALLY need to start addressing this as high DPI 'retina' displays are pretty much the norm on tablets and with 4k displays becoming mainstream they'll soon be the norm on larger monitors as well.

Edited May 20, 2014 by flyinghaggis

[matt40k]

WANT!!

 

Was my first thought too, right after how quickly can I clear my credit card

[seawolf]

So, the Surface was supposed to be the "iPad killer" when it came out. Now, the Surface 3 is the "laptop killer"?

 

I'll wait to see how well this goes over with all of the hardware companies out there building Windows laptops. Unless MS intends to become the dominant Windows PC hardware manufacturer, I think they are painting themselves into a corner.

[SYNACK]

WANT!!

 

Agreed

[matt40k]

I'll wait to see how well this goes over with all of the hardware companies out there building Windows laptops. Unless MS intends to become the dominant Windows PC hardware manufacturer, I think they are painting themselves into a corner.

 

Umm, seriously? What's wrong with the software developer building a template device? Are we forgetting about the Google Nexus range? It's no different then a new hardware manufacturer appearing, just means you need to release a better (in some way) device. As for "iPad killer" quotes, what, have you never seen a sales pitch? Apparently if I buy this sports car I'll be beating women off with a stick because it'll turn me into fit underwear super model, got it take it all with a pitch of salt.

[localzuk]

What if you set the scaling to 200%? Then it would be equivalent to a 1080x720 display.

 

That said, Windows developers really need to get their act together regarding hi-ppi support in their desktop apps.

 

I think this comes from the whole "WinForms" based programs - creating Winforms UIs that scale well for high DPI screens is quite a lot of work. As more and more stuff is replaced by WPF based programs it will improve, as DPI resizing is built into it. So long as developers don't cheat and include pre-made windows (such as the Database Connection dialog) in their new programs.

[rich_tech]

The MS Surface is a quality device, I had a play with a staff members RT tablet the other day, it feels decent enough and polished using it, though the lack of outlook and domain connectivity is a killer for that particular one, not a fan of the touch cover either.

 

I always thought that a MS Surface pro in work would make for an excellent mobile admin station when we go full wireless, but price is a massive factor its just too high comparative to Apple/Android based stuff, though it definitely is a high end product I think.

[matt40k]

For me that epic pen that the pro has, has stopped me getting a RT version.

[alan-d]

Pre order prices are here Surface Pro 3 - Microsoft Store United Kingdom Online Store

 

Pricing starts at £639 for the 64GB i3 up to £1339 for the 256GB i7

 

No prices for the covers yet though

[Zoom7000]

£1,649 for the Core i7/512GB

 

For me, I can never justify the costs on these types of devices because it's a one time purchase with no chance of upgrade in the future. Just like the MacBook Pro Retina Display, I'd want one with 16GB RAM and 512GB Flash, because neither are upgradable at a later date. You have to spend the big bucks at the time of purchase and when you see the final cost, you can never bear to part with that amount!

[zag]

Pre order prices are here Surface Pro 3 - Microsoft Store United Kingdom Online Store

 

Pricing starts at £639 for the 64GB i3 up to £1339 for the 256GB i7

 

No prices for the covers yet though

 

At those prices you might as well pay 100 quid more and get a Macbook air.

 

Surface is OK, but I still don't think Microsoft really knows what market its going for.

 

People want a corporate device that works on windows and is easy to carry around, its nearly there but not quite.

[localzuk]

At those prices you might as well pay 100 quid more and get a Macbook air.

 

Why? The Surface Pro 3 is slimmer, lighter and can switch to a tablet form factor...

 

Surface is OK, but I still don't think Microsoft really knows what market its going for.

 

People want a corporate device that works on windows and is easy to carry around, its nearly there but not quite.

 

I'd've said that they're right there with this device.

[gshaw]

£639 for the i3 with no cover... fail

 

So much for the BBC article suggesting a more reasonable £475. It seems Microsoft don't want any real market share with the Surface line, just an expensive luxury product for specialised users, which is a shame really.

 

Looks like Lenovo ThinkPad 10 for me, unless that comes in at a similarly silly price.

[flyinghaggis]

Pre order prices are here Surface Pro 3 - Microsoft Store United Kingdom Online Store

 

There's a pretty serious gap in pricing between the 128Gb and 256Gb i5 models. £849 vs £1109. Somewhat annoying as I reckon the Core i5/256Gb is the model most people would want.

 

They seriously want another £260 for another 128GB!!! I wonder if the 128Gb model only has 4Gb of RAM rather than 8gb?

Edited May 21, 2014 by flyinghaggis