The next Surface 4 (2016) - early rumors and thoughts!

[Genio88]

I love my Surface 3, but it's clear that unfortunately it's not that fast, the main problem for me is the slow(at least compared to SSD) eMMC and secondly the Atom CPU, these things make it feel it a bit slower in launching application and booting than most of this kind of devices we are used at today. I've considered the upgrade to a Surface Pro 4 to overcome this issue, but the price is really high, and i'm concerned about it's portability, i love to use my Surface 3 as a tablet which turns into a laptop in a second, and with it's 10.6 inch display and its low weight it is perfect to carry around, also its micro USB charging port allows me to use a battery bank to charge it wherever i am.
Thats why i really looking forward for the new Surface 4 to be revealed, that could be the perfect solution for me, they just need to keep it as it i but putting in a real SSD and improving the CPU, a core M would be great but it's expensive, so i'd take what ever as long as it's at least a 20% faster that the actual Atom, but really the most important think is the SSD, that would speed things up for real

 

[metalb00]

My dream spec for the Surface 4 would be:

Core-M processor - ditch the Atom completely or keep it in the base model and higher models use Core-M. The Skylake Core-M CPUs seem to be very impressive.
2x USB-C ports
1x USB 3 port
Full size SD card slot
Improved keyboard and larger trackpad with better feel (much like the improvements that were made to the Surface Pro 4 keyboard/trackpad compared to the Pro 3's).
Magnetic stylus (so it sticks to the side of the screen)
Reduced screen bezel and increased display resolution. Keep the form factor of the device the same size.
Any reduction in weight but battery life maintained or increased is always welcome
Windows Hello looks cool but I haven't been able to try it on a computer yet.
Ditch the 2Gb ram option. 4Gb minimum even on base model.
8Gb ram option, along with storage capacity going up to 256/512Gb.

Basically, Microsoft can you please apply the same improvements you did for the Pro devices, add an extra USB port or two and have a Core-M, 8Gb ram, 256Gb storage configuration. That spec with the stylus would be lovely for editing images on the go. I really like Windows 10 and combined with the above spec it would be my portable computer heaven

usb c is the shape of the usb 3 port

 

[Smithy London]

Your thinking Thunderbolt2 (USB C) - USB 3 is a fast USB 2

 

[jack69453]

Why the low end surface will never have a Core M processor. The below was taken from the Intel site.

Compare+ Intel? Atom™ x7-Z8700 Processor
(2M Cache, up to 2.40 GHz) Launched Q1'15 4 2 W TRAY: $37.00 Intel? HD Graphics
Compare+ Intel? Atom™ x5-Z8500 Processor
(2M Cache, up to 2.24 GHz) Launched Q1'15 4 2 W TRAY: $27.00 Intel? HD Graphics
Compare+ Intel? Atom™ x5-Z8300 Processor
(2M Cache, up to 1.84 GHz) Launched Q2'15 4 2 W TRAY: $21.00 Intel? HD Graphics



Compare+ Intel? Core™ m3-6Y30 Processor
(4M Cache, up to 2.20 GHz) Launched Q3'15 2 4.5 W TRAY: $281.00 Intel? HD Graphics 515
Compare+ Intel? Core™ m5-6Y54 Processor
(4M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz) Launched Q3'15 2 4.5 W TRAY: $281.00 Intel? HD Graphics 515

 

[Imaculum]

The Atom processor will stay in the low end model(s), but it would be great if there was an option for high end Surface 4 with Core M

 

[Jens Ansorg]

The Atom processor will stay in the low end model(s), but it would be great if there was an option for high end Surface 4 with Core M

There's one already,it's called "Pro"

Many of the wishes sound exactly like that: "Give me the Pro but for the lower price"
Sure who wouldn't want this?

I'm using a cheap Teclast X98 since a month and that impressed me in how well it runs W10. But the device itself feels as cheap as it is and now I look forward to my just ordered Surface 3 LTE

The X98 and now the S3 will replace a Nexus 9 LTE and I will not miss a thing but gain quite a few


Surface 4? That can wait ...

 

[jhoff80]

Many of the wishes sound exactly like that: "Give me the Pro but for the lower price"
Sure who wouldn't want this?

Not really. More like "give us more performance in the smaller fanless device". Nobody is expecting to get that for the same price as the current Surface 3.

 

[eagle63]

Not really. More like "give us more performance in the smaller fanless device". Nobody is expecting to get that for the same price as the current Surface 3.

Yep, agreed. For me, the appeal of the Surface 3 (non-pro) isn't the lower cost it's the form factor. I'd pay a little more for the same size device but with more compute power.

 

[Imaculum]

I don't think anyone has said they would expect a Core-M Surface 4 to cost the same as the Atom Surface 3.

I'd pay more for a Core M processor compared to an Atom cpu. Like others, I'm after the form factor (small size) and fanless design but with more power than an Atom cpu can provide.

The Skylake Core-M is proving to be a powerful chip, and packed into the form factor of the Surface 3 would be a wonderful device for me to carry around with all my photo gear (and damn heavy it is too - pro lenses, flashes, batteries and DSLR bodies stack up in weight!) for quick edits on the go. Raw file processing a few images on the go requires more than an Atom cpu but doesn't require an i5/i7. I work in some dusty and some very quiet environments so the fanless design would be a real bonus there too.

For now I've ordered a Cube i7 Stylus (ignore the name, it has a Broadwell Core-M cpu, 4gb ram, 64Gb SSD) to see how I get on with the form factor combined with my workflow.
It cost ?230 so at this price and lack of a viable alternative I thought I'd give it a go. I've coupled it with the stylus and keyboard.

The HP Spectre x2 looks really, really good. I very nearly bought one but then reports that it was let down by the low colour gamut offered by its screen. As a photographer this was a deal breaker for me. laptopmag.com have a good review of it.
The Cube i7 Stylus which I've bought may not have a great screen either but it is a third of the price of the HP. It will do for now until either the HP is updated with a better screen or the Surface 4 fills my needs

Anyway, all this is purely speculation about the Surface 4 specs. One can have a wish list, right?

 

[Telstar1948]

If it had a intel core M processor in it... I am sure I would love it a little more.... but also it would have been way more expensive

I'm seeing a lot of reports on the SP4 m3 having less battery life than the i5! Unless MS did a lot of work on that issue, I'd hate to see the m3 get squeezed into the S3 with less battery life than presently. As you said, though, for my office use and personal use it handles just about everything very well. I really do like my S3!

 

[Sergio_Mattos]

My guess. The 13,5" is only a want

 

[jack69453]

Awesome!! Doing the happy dance.

The new x7 @599 is mine!!

 

[Nikos Lygidakis]

wrong display resolution. surface is 1900x1280. could be fake

 

[Sergio_Mattos]

Hey Nikos, it is my guess only, not trying to state it is a leak or rumor, just my want. And the new sub-brand is my wish, a huge Surface on 13,5" using current Pro or 3 style (device + cover).

 

[Nikos Lygidakis]

Ah I see. Wish you are right then

 

[eagle63]

Wait, so that entire chart you just posted is simply what you're hoping they release? Because I got the impression this was some sort of leaked image from a retailer or something.

 

[Sergio_Mattos]

Yes, it is "hoping".

 

[jack69453]

Intel Goldmont CPU announced!

Intel Unveils New Low-Cost PC Platform: Apollo Lake with 14nm Goldmont Cores

It supports M.2 SATA!

 

[neo158]

Originally posted by Rebeska

Originally Posted by oditius
My phone does most of the work on the road (Samsung Note Edge) But there are times when I need WIndows. And no, the Windows Phone won't work because there is an app I use and they don't have it. And there is nothing I found that does the same.

Just so you know, you can install Android apps on Windows Phone 10.

No, you can't. Early builds of W10M had that capability but now Astoria is dead that feature has been removed.

 

[Steve Adams]

Islandwood is still "alive" for now....so we can only hope that MS gets their you know what together and gets that technology up and running for the devs to get more apps.