I'm quite happy with my i3, for some uses it doesn't make sense to splurge for an i5 or higher. Some B&M's made it possible to get them really cheap ($580 last summer at Best Buy + almost $60 in rewards). I do hope they keep the lower-end 12" models available. Main reason I'm considering the Surface 3 is better battery life and LTE, but I hope the Surface Pro 4 also offers this.
That's great and please don't think I'm cussing the i3 model at all. I was really interested in getting one for my mum, but you see now that the Surface 3 runs full Windows, it's kind of negated that choice for me. If I was buying a Surface Pro 3 from scratch, I might even opt for the i3 myself, but I'd be coming from an i5 Surface Pro (original) and you know, OCD tells me I cannot 'downgrade' however good it is!
I guess there lives the reasoning for the Surace 3 imo. For my personal use case, no it doesn't make sense... but when I was explaining the devices to my mum before, it was a choice between Surface 2 (
but you'd need a 'proper' computer too for some tasks) or a more expensive Surface Pro 3. Now, it's simple, get the Surface 3
(unless she preferred the bigger screen)
Ultimately though, she, like me, are waiting for a Surface Mini!