can't wait to buy surface pro 4

[GreyFox7]

Yeah, I'd suspect that it would require some change, but revising the system board and updating the firmware should be doable without significantly impacting the schedule of the bigger bump for the next generation. The biggest impact of the pin compatibility is that the chip will fit in the same physical space so the redesign of the board should be trivial.

It just doesn't make sense that Microsoft would release 3 revisions in 18 months and then nothing for over a year. If they ran into problems with the next generation or Intel was late with Skylake it could tank the entire project.

Like being way late on Broadwell hasn't done any damage. in essence the SP3 should have been Core-M on the low end instead of i3 and Broadwell i5/i7 at the high end and not the same i5 CPU as SP2.

I currently don't expect Intel to ship Skylake in time for a product release this year. This bubble will pass, albeit painfully, everyone in the Intel pipeline has got the same issues. I don't think ARM will put enough pressure on Intel to force them to dump Broadwell and jump to Skylake sooner rather than later.

 

[bvone21]

Sure we do. Question is: Is thinner, faster, higher resolution and improved specs enough to warrant a SP4 purchase for current SP3 users or even for Microsoft to manufacture considering Skylake isn't that far off? For me, the answer is no.

I'm thinking that if MS is less worried about "faster" and instead engineers the use of broadwell to really squeeze more battery life (and improve thermals) then I will make the jump. The SP3 will still have good re-sale value. We won't really know until it's released...

I don't think MS will wait on Skylake...they'll need a champion device to release for Windows 10 and won't be able to wait.

If you already have an SP3, then skipping SP4 for a Skylake model will probably be what a lot of folks do.

I want a faster, higher resolution, and longer-lasting tablet than the SP3, but at the same time, I truly hate the idiotic Full HD 16:9 screen on a tablet that the OEMs seem to love so much. If I had to choose, I still would prefer the SP3 over anything those OEMs offer.

I agree, the aspect ratio of the SP3 really grows on you. It does make 16:9 seem silly...I wonder if that will ever really change across other manufactuers.

 

[ptrkhh]

I bought an iPad Air 2 recently as there was sufficient temptation to make me sell my iPad Air I had bought one year before. It wasn't just performance improvements but the touch ID, and an improved screen that did it.

The SP3 is already highly optimised. I'm seriously wondering what Microsoft will do to tempt owners of the SP3 to upgrade.

Well, an improved screen and perhaps some kind of a weird sensor. It doesnt seem to be hard to impress you.

I think MS should follow the Dell XPS 13 and try to fit a bigger screen into the same dimensions for the SP4.

Agree, although that would interfere with the magnet strip that the Type Cover is supposed to latch

I kind of agree and have been basically thinking on the same lines, but Broadwell is a pin-for-pin drop in for Haswell which could potentially mean the update is trivial and keeps the device interesting to new buyers over the summer and fall period until a Skylake version could be ready. I kind of have a hard time imagining Microsoft letting the SP go more than a year without an update.

Well, to be fair, the SP3 is still thinner than other Core i Broadwell tablets and still faster than other Core M Broadwell tablets.
Consider this, the SP3 has been around for half a year, and the buzz is still running. People are still talking about it. People are complaining about it. People are praising it. Its not the Surface Pro that we used to know.

Id expect significant firmware revisions as well with better power management.

I couldn't think of anything thats more power-conscious than the SP3. After all, when did the last time you hear about a tablet that goes only 4 hours in Connected Standby for the sake of battery life?

 

[GreyFox7]

I couldn't think of anything thats more power-conscious than the SP3.

Except an SP4 built using an even better Intel Power Management infrastructure built into the next generation chips.

 

[megatronium]

Finally the Surface Pro 4!

 

[job]

I can wait for the surface pro 6!!!

 

[InspectHerGadget]

Well, an improved screen and perhaps some kind of a weird sensor. It doesnt seem to be hard to impress you.

Well, that was one of the main improvements for me but way faster graphics and CPU, lighter and thinner, better camera had an allure too!

It is a brilliant tablet which is what it is designed to be rather than trying to be a desktop as well like the SP3 which is too cumbersome as a tablet.