In those early days, the Surface was looking less like an Xbox-style home run for Microsoft, and more a Zune -like fiasco.īut, as a very refined product, the Surface Pro 4 is not inexpensive. Not the least of which was the choice of operating system: either the much-maligned Windows 8, or the the severely limited (and now deservedly extinct) Windows RT. Any design innovations - the snap-on keyboard, the fold-out kickstand - felt overwhelmed by quirks and compromises. Debuting in 2012, Microsoft's line of tablets were, if not outright mocked, then damned by faint praise at best: an overreach by a software-and-services company into the rough-and-tumble world of computer hardware a Hail Mary response to the megasuccess of Apple's iPad the previous year. Looking at the finely polished Pro 4, it's worth remembering the humble beginnings of the Surface line.
That's a wise move, because at this point, the Surface Pro line is less about pitching the very concept of the tablet PC with a detachable keyboard to wary shoppers, and more about seeing how far it can go in refining the finished product.
The 2015 version of Microsoft's tablet adds the latest Intel processors, a slightly larger screen (perfectly sized at 12.3 inches with a just-right 3:2 aspect ratio), and a handful of hardware and software tweaks, but doesn't radically change the DNA of its predecessor, 2014's excellent Surface Pro 3. Clearly, Microsoft is on something of an innovation turn, and rumors about the next generation Surface Pro continue to smolder - but don't expect that inevitable model until sometime in 2017.Īfter three generations of pitching "a tablet that can replace your laptop" - with mixed success - the formula has finally clicked. Microsoft has also unveiled the $2,999 Surface Studio - a desktop PC for artists and designers in need of high-end horsepower and display - and the $100 Surface Dial accessory, a touch-friendly dial designed to sit beside your keyboard for fine contextual controls in whatever program you're using. In the meantime, Microsoft brought out its first-ever laptop, the competent Surface Book, which it refreshed in October 2016, increasing the power and battery life (and price) of the top-tier model (the $2,399 Surface Book i7). Apple's iPad Pro and Google's Pixel C have lately borrowed envelope-pushing features like the Surface's snap-on keyboard and multitasking chops. In fact, the Surface line has become something of a category trailblazer.
And with the arrival of Windows 10 in July 2015, that which blemished all previous Surface models - an inelegant operating system - was finally replaced by a solid OS that could fulfill the potential of its form factor. Equipped with robust processing power, a perfectly sized display and just-right aspect ratio, and a few critical add-on accessories, the Pro 4 solidified the Surface's position as the gold standard for Windows tablets. After years of development and millions of advertising dollars spent to convince us that a tablet could plausibly replace a laptop, Microsoft finally delivered the goods with the Surface Pro 4.