The rumors seem to be spot on - the Surface Pro 4 did arrive October 6.
"Breaking its annual release cycle, Microsoft has waited a full 16 months to replace the hugely popular Surface Pro 3 and is now proclaiming its successor to be a true iPad and MacBook beater," Forbes reported, adding that the newer model's display is bigger and has a better Surface Pen and Type Cover. It is worth noting that the former now has an eraser on its other end.
The newly unveiled product had been preceded by a number of devices that had a similar "tablet-that-can-work-like-a-laptop" design. However, observers continued to look forward to Microsoft's newest version of its hybrid gadget.
"The Surface Pro 4 is now official, and it's thinner, lighter, and more powerful, while also having a larger display than its predecessor," The Verge noted. "Intel's Skylake processors and Microsoft's own Windows 10 are at the heart of the Surface Pro 4."
"There's a fingerprint sensor on the keyboard and Cortana integration inside the new tablet, which fits a 12.3-inch display in the same physical footprint as the older 12-inch device," the news source went on. "The Surface Pro 4 is therefore compatible with existing keyboard accessories, though Microsoft has done a ton to upgrade its keyboard covers this year."
Microsoft notably declared that the Pro 4 is 50% faster than the MacBook Air, although it said that their latest release cannot be compared to other tablets as they're not in the same class.
The Pro 4 has 2736 x 1824 native resolution, with PixelSense tech that "measures how much light is blocked by an object touching the screen to determine whether it is a stylus or finger," Forbes said.
While it is pretty much of the same size as the Pro 3, the new slate is at least 20 grams lighter than its predecessor.
"The port layout and wireless capabilities are identical-you still get one full-size USB 3.0 port, an SD card slot, a Mini DisplayPort, and the port for the Type Cover, as well as Bluetooth 4.0 and 866Mbps 802.11ac," ArsTechnica reviewed. "The one difference you'll spot easily is that the capacitive Windows button is totally gone-you'll need to rely on the onscreen button."
Further, the base model of the Pro 4, priced at $899 with the Surface Pen, has a Skylake Core m3 processor - which is said to be an interesting turnout as using the 15W Core i5 or i7 could have made the Pro 4 fanless and even lighter than it is now.
Additionally, it has 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM. For the same storage and RAM, you need to pay $999 for the Core i5 version. A Core i5 model with 256GB storage and 8GB RAM will cost you $1,299. For the unit with a similar storage capacity but with 16GB of RAM, you'll need to shell out $1,499.
If you just want to get the Pen separately for your existing Surface, you'll have to pay $59.99 for that.
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