Microsoft is updating its Surface tablet line, introducing a device that drops the numeral branding from the tablet and adds battery life and horsepower.
The Surface Pro, introduced at a media event in China on Tuesday, looks much like the Surface Pro 4 that Microsoft released in October 2015. But inside are updated Intel processors and, Microsoft says, battery life that lasts as much as 50 percent longer than the previous iteration.
The cost of the new device will range from $799 for a version powered by Intel’s Core M processor, to $2,699 for one outfitted with a more powerful seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor and 16 gigabytes of RAM.
Those prices don’t include the Surface’s type cover ($129), essentially a requirement for the tablet to function as a laptop replacement as Microsoft touts in advertisements.
The 12.3-inch touch screen is built for interaction with the Surface Pen.
Microsoft’s Surface line launched with a thud in 2012, but a recent run of polished devices have earned better reviews and made the company’s venture into computer hardware a viable line of business.
Surface devices, including the Surface Studio desktop PC and the Surface Book laptop, brought in more than $4 billion in revenue during the 12 months that ended in March. A new offering, the Surface Laptop, was introduced earlier this month.
The devices have also helped fuel the growth in demand for more-portable laptops, and spurred other computer makers to spice up their offerings in the competitive, and shrinking, market for PCs.
The Surface Pro, available for pre-order Tuesday, is expected to be available June 15 in 27 markets, including the United States, Canada and much of Western Europe.
The device also will launch then in China – a market where Microsoft’s computers have tended to arrive on a delayed basis, if at all. The country has historically been a tough market for Microsoft, with widespread software piracy and state-mandated skepticism of foreign-built software hampering sales of Windows and Office software.
The event to unveil the Surface Pro, held in Shanghai, is intended to signal a push to grab a slice of the country’s fast-growing market for computing devices, said Yusuf Mehdi, who leads marketing for Microsoft’s Windows and Devices unit.
Microsoft is “really entering China in a more significant way with devices,” he said.
In addition to the new Surface Pro, the Surface Studio and Surface Laptop will also be available in China in June.
