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Surface Pro 4 Release Date - July 2015

I can't see the surface pro 4 being a big leap forward. You've squished a i7 into a very thin platform and I certainly don't want less performance. If it's the same but with longer battery life etc I'll stick with the 3, it's been doing great since I got mine and would change it unless say the sp4 could do gaming (I mean proper gaming) the only way it could improve would be making the windows key light up, the screen bezel 5mm thinner and stop the kick stand being loose.
 

ptrkhh

Active Member
I can't see the surface pro 4 being a big leap forward. You've squished a i7 into a very thin platform and I certainly don't want less performance. If it's the same but with longer battery life etc I'll stick with the 3, it's been doing great since I got mine and would change it unless say the sp4 could do gaming (I mean proper gaming) the only way it could improve would be making the windows key light up, the screen bezel 5mm thinner and stop the kick stand being loose.
Since the SP4 would very likely feature the same, if not larger, battery capacity, it will certainly have better battery life thanks to the more efficient Broadwell or Skylake chip.
If MS decided to stick with 15W TDP CPU(very likely), it will also perform better when pushed to its limit, once again, thanks to the more efficient chip. In an extreme case, the Pentium 4 from 2003 could only crunch numbers a tenth of an i7 today within the same power consumption and heat. It happens every year, new CPU will perform better with the same power consumption and heat, and in case you didn't know, the SP3 ships with last-year chip. Intel has been working hard with the iGPU, and Skylake would very likely have a tremendously faster iGPU. Broadwell didnt improve the iGPU by much though...

There might be no or very small battery life improvement for full-load scenario though, if they stick with 15W TDP CPU.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Since the SP4 would very likely feature the same, if not larger, battery capacity, it will certainly have better battery life thanks to the more efficient Broadwell or Skylake chip.
If MS decided to stick with 15W TDP CPU(very likely), it will also perform better when pushed to its limit, once again, thanks to the more efficient chip. In an extreme case, the Pentium 4 from 2003 could only crunch numbers a tenth of an i7 today within the same power consumption and heat. It happens every year, new CPU will perform better with the same power consumption and heat, and in case you didn't know, the SP3 ships with last-year chip. Intel has been working hard with the iGPU, and Skylake would very likely have a tremendously faster iGPU. Broadwell didnt improve the iGPU by much though...

There might be no or very small battery life improvement for full-load scenario though, if they stick with 15W TDP CPU.
And that's just the SoC, improvements to other components are equally possible. Lower power or faster (or both lower power and faster) memory, SSD, display. Improved wireless and USB. Improved power management. Smaller components means more space for the incrementally better battery.

I'll take an SP4 with Skylake SoC, better faster lower power SSD, lower power display, USB 3.1 and DisplayPort 1.3, 4k 60hz monitor support, the latest wireless standards. It's not just the SoC that makes a system. If they only change the SoC it would be a disappointment.
 

Umut

New Member
I doubt it will provide better battery life. Windows itself(by waking up disk and cpu very often) and lcd display drains the battery.
Also current core M devices(lenovo yoga3, dell venue etc.) have worse battery life than sp3, because to slim down core M devices, they reduce the battery capacity.
For sp4, I expect performance to be between i3-i5, with full cpu load battery life a little better than the current model.
But internet browsing or low-cpu-load usage will be the same in my opinion, since current cpu's don't consume that much on light use.
They need to fix software-based power consumption problems with windows 10, or core M won't be a solution.
Macbook air is a good example how an OS can handle battery life very well. It has about the same hardware and battery capacity, but lasts 3-4 hours longer than sp3 or many other ultrabooks.
 

kevinlevrone

Active Member
I can't see a surprise here. It will probably be announced about 2 months ahead of the official Windows 10 release, such that it will be ready for the back-to-shool shopping season with Windows 10 installed.
 

ptrkhh

Active Member
Also current core M devices(lenovo yoga3, dell venue etc.) have worse battery life than sp3, because to slim down core M devices, they reduce the battery capacity.
MS has stated that all current SP3 accessories will work with the SP4 or whatever its called. Since the docking station has to fit the tablet perfectly, we can assume that SP4 will feature the exact same dimension as the SP3, not thinner. Its safe to assume that the SP4 will have at least the same capacity as the SP3. I think it will be like SP1 vs SP2, where nothings changed on the outside.
They need to fix software-based power consumption problems with windows 10, or core M won't be a solution.

Macbook air is a good example how an OS can handle battery life very well. It has about the same hardware and battery capacity, but lasts 3-4 hours longer than sp3 or many other ultrabooks.
No, while OS X is not a bad OS, its certainly not as magical as what Apple want you to believe.

Truth is, MacBook Air is just a good example of how a subpar screen with less pixels than a major smartphone uses less power than contemporary screen. As an example, the 3200x1800 model of the XPS 13 lasts about 25% shorter than the cheaper 1920x1080 variant because how power-hungry the screen is. The most expensive MacBook Air has only about 60% of the pixels of the cheapest XPS 13, which lasts 10 hour with ease.
 

Arizona Willie

Active Member
I would be surprised if Microsoft released the SP4 with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 does not appear to be even close to being ready, at least according to the last build I have -- 9926.

It has been a long long time since they released a new build which makes me wonder if they aren't having major problems with it.
In the past they always released new beta's every week or two.
It is unheard of for them to go months without releasing new betas / builds.

If they release W10 the way it is now, it will be a huge flop.

As of now, Dragon Naturally Speaking and Paperport do not work with W10 and I have no plans to spend several hundred dollars to buy new versions. I will stick to Windows 8.1 unless they get these programs that I use daily to work under W10. I've seen posts that they worked in previous versions but not in 9926 which is the only version I've seen.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
I would be surprised if Microsoft released the SP4 with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 does not appear to be even close to being ready, at least according to the last build I have -- 9926.

It has been a long long time since they released a new build which makes me wonder if they aren't having major problems with it.
In the past they always released new beta's every week or two.
It is unheard of for them to go months without releasing new betas / builds.

If they release W10 the way it is now, it will be a huge flop.

As of now, Dragon Naturally Speaking and Paperport do not work with W10 and I have no plans to spend several hundred dollars to buy new versions. I will stick to Windows 8.1 unless they get these programs that I use daily to work under W10. I've seen posts that they worked in previous versions but not in 9926 which is the only version I've seen.
They are already in the mindset of continuous releases. under that... what's done? There is no done... there's always tomorrow or next week, or next month... there are no deadlines. The ship date has already been decided. You will get what you get on that date everything else will follow.
 

mtalinm

Active Member
They might go USB-c to slim it down a bit. Maybe two ports and replace DP as well. Heck, keep the separate power port and then you can laugh at the MacBook's 1 port.

Pretty sure they have committed that keyboards and docks will be futureproofed, so the only dimension I can see changing is thickness.

I just REALLY hope they don't go with the sluggish Core M, if so, I will *not* upgrade (will be the first upgrade I've missed)
 

GoodBytes

Well-Known Member
Removing the USB port or DP port wont' slim down the device. They need to remove the cooling solution. Doing this means the Surface Pro 4 will be drastically slower than the Pro 2 and 3, as it would use, at best the Intel Core M CPU (Near-System on a cheap).

What I expect is Surface Pro 4 continuing with Core U series, maybe replace Mini-DP with Type-C USB as it can carry DP signal through it, due to the design of DP. I also expect the Pro 4 to have improved webcam with auto-focus feature (at least on one of the cameras). A glass panel that reduces reflections, and of course Intel latest CPU (I doubt they'll get their hands on Skylake, as that comes out of the end of year. However, they COULD do what they have done with the Surface Pro 2, and upgrade the CPU as a rev 2 of the Pro 4, but it will depends on the performance of the Skylake. If it is a small bump up, than yes, if it much faster than no, it will the in the Pro 5.

I expect the Surface Pro Mini, to be powered by Core M, and have Type C and Full size USB.
 
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