Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and more, launch date will be October 6th

[Guest]

The main focus for Microsoft's hardware event will be the two new Lumia handsets and the Surface Pro 4. A Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL have been rumored for months, and specifications and images for both handsets have already leaked. All that's really left is to see what these handsets look like away from press renders and how they fit into Microsoft's new Windows 10 Mobile ecosystem. -The Verge

 

Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 won't be a drastic change from the Pro 3 as the company has promised to keep the charging mechanism and overall form factor similar for businesses that have invested in accessories like the docking station. That doesn't mean Microsoft won't make big changes, though. The software giant can increase display size and resolution, while making the Surface Pro 4 thinner and lighter. Rumors have suggested Microsoft is planning Windows Hello support for the Surface Pro 4, but it's unlikely the company will fit an Intel RealSense camera into the thin device. Instead, a fingerprint scanner on an updated and refined Surface keyboard sounds more likely. -The Verge

 

While credible specs for the phones have leaked, both the Surface Pro 4 and the Band 2 are big unknowns. A Skylake processor is, at this point, an inevitability, and the basic form factor isn't going to change—Microsoft has said that Surface Pro 3 accessories will remain compatible with future devices—but beyond that, it's an unknown.

-ArsTechnica

https://www.theverge.com/2015/9/14/9322809/microsoft-surface-pro-4-lumia-950-october-6th-event

http://www.windowscentral.com/surface-pro-4-and-new-windows-10-mobile-phones-may-be-revealed-microsofts-oct-6-nyc-event

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/09/microsofts-big-hardware-event-is-on-october-6th-in-new-york/

 

I'm really hoping for this launch to catch some attention given the new competition between the Surface Pro and the iPad Pro

The phones won't necessarily grab my attention, but I'm willing to see what Windows 10 brings.

Edited September 14, 2015 by GoodBytes
Cleaned up

[SirSquid]

Please let the pro four have thunderbolt on it I beg you Microsoft.

[Misanthrope]

Plot twist: it will be a 7 inch device without a keyboard or stylus: a better tablet than Apple's.

[Peepnbrick]

MS should make it cheaper this year. That would really make people consider the Surface over the iPad Pro and counter the big uproar about the Apple Event.

[guyosi]

Plot twist: it will be a 7 inch device without a keyboard or stylus: a better tablet than Apple's.

 the question here is will it be better than googles? being better than apple isnt hard.

[Misanthrope]

 the question here is will it be better than googles? being better than apple isnt hard.

 

Well no it isn't hard, the objective should be being more profitable, not necessarily better since they've proven "better" or "worst" means nothing if you're getting rich in the process.

[GoodBytes]

I expect the Pro 4 to have the improved pen digitizer that the Surface 3 has or possibly better. Improved cameras, 3D camera for Windows Hello.

As well as, of course Skylake CPU, and more RAM on all models. And a USB Type-C connector added the full size USB 3.0 type A (maybe USB 3.1).

Possibly also a Surface Pro 4 Mini, which will be running fanless, with a Core M CPU, and smaller size. Those are my guess.

Touchpad is expected by me to be improved, and overall product improvements due to teh increase of experience by Microsoft in manufacturing computers. But that last part won't be covered by the event.

[Davehaslanded]

I'm seriously considering a Surface pro 4 as i don't own a laptop and my iPad simply doesn't allow me to do the things i want too (I've seen a lot of photographers using lightroom and photoshop on the surface 3)

I'd love a fanless design & better battery life, but not at the expense of too much performance. So basically, a decent CPU that compromises between those things. Also really want to see a full sized SD card reader instead of mini SD.

 

As for resolution and size, i'm happy with it as is.

[Psykomantis00]

Apple shows of their new tablet with a keyboard attachment and microsoft has to go and copy them. How original. 

[Nowak]

Apple shows of their new tablet with a keyboard attachment and microsoft has to go and copy them. How original.

Well, of course. Everyone knows Apple invented the big-screened tablet.

[Alurit]

Please let the pro four have thunderbolt on it I beg you Microsoft.

if they were to add usb type c thunderbolt and skylake processor for something like 850-900 for the i5 (that pro 3 i5 128gb is 800 on amazon) man that would be some serious portable professional gear, and (maybe better digitizer in screen?)

[Doobeedoo]

I can't wait to see when Surface will come with dedicated GPU in future. Would be awesome to have it for acceleration and all. One day, when tech gets more advance so heat and battery life aren't issue I also see their top tier Surface to expensive as far as storage/memory and yeah ok no dedicated GPU maybe one day. Still curious to see this one though.

As far as their smartphone(s) I'm curious to see it as flagship cause W10 phone looks awesome.

[GoodBytes]

I can't wait to see when Surface will come with dedicated GPU in future. Would be awesome to have it for acceleration and all. One day, when tech gets more advance so heat and battery life aren't issue I also see their top tier Surface to expensive as far as storage/memory and yeah ok no dedicated GPU maybe one day. Still curious to see this one though.

Yes. And if you don't mind a bit faster than Intel integrated graphics, then yes, we have the technology already. There is just no market for GPU makers to make it. (What I mean is for example, Nvidia GPU in the Tegra X1.. it's there, we have it, but Nvidia is not selling it dedicated, only integrated with the CPU).

I don't mind seeing a Surface Pro 4 model, doing a return back to the thickness of the SP1/SP2, with a low-end Nvidia/AMD GPU which should be miles better than Intel offering, keep power consumption relativity the same, so battery life should be the same. While I know many here will complain on how its not a 980M, and suck at gaming, it will be better than Intel, in terms of drivers quality, game support, and provide genuine full DirectX, OpenGL, DirectComputer, OpenCL support (and in the case of Nvidia CUDA). I would get it even if it costs as much as the highest end model of SP3.

I have the SP2, and it is an a amazing device, but the Intel integrated graphics ruins the device for me. Just bugs after bugs, and issues after issues.

As far as their smartphone(s) I'm curious to see it as flagship cause W10 phone looks awesome.

Based on leaks it looks like a normal med-high range phone, with an average look. Assuming the rumors/leaks are correct, then it is a very safe phone from Microsoft, designed to please most, with little to no risk.

[zanduh]

All I want out of the new SP4 is 16GB of RAM, a skylake cpu, and a better digitizer. 

 

Really excited to see how W10 phones stack up and their use of Continuum. What's the bet that they reveal half way through the presentation that everything on the screen was coming from one of their new phones? Just like how at their HoloLens presentation one of the monitors was secretly the Surface Hub

[Sauron]

a better tablet than Apple's.

 

not much effort would be required for that frankly

 

Personally I'd like the current surface lineup to be a bit cheaper - but I do understand why it isn't. Maybe gen 4 will change though.

[Toddwjp]

i hope for a higher baseline storage size, 128gb should be standard

[The Benjamins]

Please let the pro four have thunderbolt on it I beg you Microsoft.

 

The best would be a few Thunderbolt 3 using the USB type c connector. so you get USB 3.0/3.1 type C and thunderbolt.

[RexinOridle]

Please put a proper gpu and stulys in it, for prosumers.

[GoodBytes]

Any idea what the battery life would be? The SP3 had decent battery life - around 4 hours of heavy usage. Not terrible, but could be better.

Skylate CPU is more power efficient, but the GPU consumes more power. So it will depends on what you do with the system.

[FPS with a Wacom Tablet]

Nah, I'd still be wanting to beg for a Cintiq Companion, simply because I've gotten used to Wacom's digitizer stuff for a while now.

[TroubleKlef]

Hopefully Microsoft can make it into a product that people will use rather than want to use. So many spec nerds claiming it's the second coming.

[Commander Llama]

If I get one I'll be using it as a student (notes, reading texts, etc) and light programming. Anything truly heavy duty or long term, the desktop will be much superior anyway. But SP3 is a beastly little portable and Broadwell/Skylake won't change that, in fact should only improve it.

 

Wouldn't mind seeing a 16GB RAM option, then I could run a decent VM on it and split my time between Windows and Linux on the go.

 

One scaling upward of SDD spaces is needed. Start at 128GB and go to 1TB. The 64GB SP3 was hilarious, it shipped with almost no space after updates.

 

Second USB would be cool but not absolutely necessary. A new Power Cover might be cool. For pretty much me only regular SD slot would be cool because I have a spare 64GB SD just collecting dust. Though 128GB microSDs are dropping in price fast so I'd probably get one of those if my model was middling in space.

 

Overall I'm hoping it's got at least one extra hour of battery life over the SP3. It needs to get through a university double or triple lecture without a charge.

 

Also I hope it's not buggy as all hell what with Windows 10 being really new.

[GoodBytes]

Also I hope it's not buggy as all hell what with Windows 10 being really new.

Ah man Win10 on the Surface is a mess. Including the Surface 3. On the Surface 3 (non-Pro), the touch screen randomly will take any taps as right-clicks. On the SP2, if you use the full touch screen keyboard layout (the one with the F keys, full arrow keys, delete key, etc), the Shift key of teh touch screen keyboard will get stuck on "on" state. You need to switch to another keyboard layout for the rest of your computer session until you reboot the system. All systems has reduced battery life, and well more issues.

Intel JUST released new Intel integrated graphics drivers over Intel website... I am installing them on my SP2 to see of there are any improvements

[Commander Llama]

Ah man Win10 on the Surface is a mess. Including the Surface 3. On the Surface 3 (non-Pro), the touch screen randomly will take any taps as right-clicks. On the SP2, if you use the full touch screen keyboard layout (the one with the F keys, full arrow keys, delete key, etc), the Shift key of teh touch screen keyboard will get stuck on "on" state. You need to switch to another keyboard layout for the rest of your computer session until you reboot the system. All systems has reduced battery life, and well more issues.

Intel JUST released new Intel integrated graphics drivers over Intel website... I am installing them on my SP2 to see of there are any improvements

 

Yeah, so here I am just kind of hoping the SP4 was built ground up on Windows 10 and comes out better.

 

But it's unfortunately telling and sad that first-party hardware gets shitty this fast. Your SP2 isn't even two years old yet and it sounds like a shitbrick. Sad and definitely won't build much of a reputation for Microsoft hardware.

[RagnarokDel]

Please let the pro four have thunderbolt on it I beg you Microsoft.

wasnt usb type-c 3.1 already confirmed?