Microsoft Surface Pro 3 has been on sale since last year, which triggered many speculations that its successor, the Surface Pro 4, is about to be unveiled and hit the market soon enough. However, up until this time, there is no sight of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 in the market.
Sometime in April, there have been reports saying that the Redmondian company will be unveiling the Surface Pro 4 during the Microsoft Build Developers Conference held on April 29 to May 1 at San Francisco, California. But there was nothing about the Surface Pro 4 during the Microsoft event.
Now, the latest speculation is that the upcoming flagship laptop/tablet combo from the company will finally be launched alongside the Windows 10, Microsoft’s latest desktop and mobile operating system, in July.
Instead of the Surface Pro 4, Microsoft launched in May the smaller and more affordable sibling of Surface Pro 3, which is aptly called the Surface 3.
With the emergence of the Surface 3, Microsoft has also offered a free Type Cover keyboard with the Surface Pro 3 worth $168 in the UK market for a limited time, reports Neowin. Consumers just need to buy any model of the Surface Pro 3 with the exception of the entry-level Core 13 64GB variant worth $976.38.
This is the perfect time to buy the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 given the huge price cut and the special add-on feature that come with it. The qualifying model Core i5 128GB version with 4GB RAM is now priced at roughly $1,300 while the high-end variant with Intel Core i7 processor with 512GB storage and 8GB RAM valued now at roughly $2,400.
Because of the rather hefty price for the Surface Pro 3, many consumers have actually regarded it as the most prohibitively expensive laptop/tablet in the market today. And it is likely to be overtaken soon when the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 finally comes out.
Comparing the Surface Pro 4 with the Surface Pro 3
Initial reports indicate that Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is more energy efficient compared to its predecessor, the Surface Pro 3, but the trade off is that it is weaker in performance than the latter.
Accordingly, the Surface Pro 4 has dropped the Haswell Dual-Core i5 and i7 Intel processors in favor of the new Intel Core M Broadwell chip, which is the same processor used by the new Apple MacBook and several other ultra-slim and fan-less laptops.
Despite being new, the Intel Core M Broadwell chip is obviously less powerful when compared to the Haswell Dual-Core i5 or i7 processors, which the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 uses.
However, the positive uptake on the Broadwell processor is that it is more energy efficient than the i5 or i7 chips and is quantified to have a 30% energy efficiency.
High sales expectations
Make no mistake about it. Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 and Surface 3 are not just planning to give the latest Apple iPads and other tablets a run for serious money but are actually looking to beat them in terms of sales this year.
Reports have it that the Redmondian company is looking to ship over four million units of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 laptop/tablet combo and the Surface 3 tablet when both devices officially hit the markets this year.