Surface Pro: The evolution of Microsoft's hybrid tablet PC

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  • Surface Pro 1-4

    Surface Pro 1-4

    Microsoft's Surface Pro range of Windows tablet/laptop hybrids officially launched in February 2013, following a trailer at the Windows 8 and Surface RT event the previous October.

    The first Surface Pro, originally called 'Surface with Windows 8 Pro', was a premium Core i5-based device costing $899 with 64GB of storage or $999 with 128GB, and you had to pay another $119.99 or $129.99 for a Touch Cover or Type Cover keyboard. This set the tone for the marque: high-quality, high-cost hardware, designed to showcase a new form factor and encourage OEMs to take the idea and run with it.

    The following images examine how the Surface Pro has developed over the years.

    Photo by: ZDNet, Microsoft

    Caption by: Charles McLellan

  • Surface Pro '5' (2017)

    Surface Pro '5' (2017)

    Taking a leaf out of Apple's iPad nomenclature book circa 2012, Microsoft's fifth-generation Surface Pro -- announced on 23 May 2017 -- is marketed as 'the new Surface Pro', although inevitably it's already widely known as the 'Surface Pro 5'. From now on, we'll call it the Surface Pro '5'.

      Read Ed Bott's review of the 2017 Surface Pro

      Photo by: Microsoft

      Caption by: Charles McLellan

    • Surface Pro revenue

      Surface Pro revenue

      Since its launch in 2012, Microsoft has built the Surface brand into a $1bn-plus business. Note that Surface revenue in the above graph includes proceeds from Surface, Surface Pro, and Surface Book (hybrid), Surface Laptop (notebook), Surface Studio (AIO desktop), and Surface Hub (presentation/collaboration screen) devices.

      There have been persistent rumours of a smartphone or phablet format Surface device based on Windows 10 Mobile, but nothing has yet broken cover.

      Read more Surface reviews

        Photo by: ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Vital statistics

        Vital statistics

        Over the years, the Surface Pro has expanded screen real estate and resolution, while getting lighter and slimmer. Compared to its first-generation 10.8-inch predecessor, the 12.3-inch Surface Pro '5' delivers 28.4 percent more pixel density, 126g less weight and shaves 5mm off the thickness.

        The original Surface Pro came with Windows 8 Pro, while subsequent models have run Windows 8.1 Pro (Surface Pro 2 and 3) and Windows 10 Pro (Surface Pro 4 and '5').

        Photo by: ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Intel processor generations

        Intel processor generations

        The original Surface Pro ran on a third-generation (Ivy Bridge) Core i5 processor with a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 17W and required two (fairly noisy) fans to keep cool.

        Since the Surface Pro 2, the maximum TDP has been 15W. The single-fan Surface Pro 3 suffered from overheating and fan noise issues, leading Microsoft to implement a hybrid liquid/fan cooling solution in the Surface Pro 4. The 2017 Surface Pro '5' with 7th-generation (Kaby Lake) Core m3 and Core i5 CPUs is entirely liquid cooled, although the Core i7 configuration requires additional fan cooling.

        Photo by: ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Graphics performance

        Graphics performance

        Performance has, of course, improved over the Surface Pro generations. Shown here are 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited scores for the Core i5 versions of each generation. The CPU/GPU combinations are:

        Model CPU GPU
        Surface Pro

        Core i5-3317U

        HD Graphics 4000
        Surface Pro 2

        Core i5-4200U

        HD Graphics 4400
        Surface Pro 3

        Core i5-4300U

        HD Graphics 4400
        Surface Pro 4

        Core i5-6300U

        HD Graphics 520
        Surface Pro '5'

        Core i5-7300U

        HD Graphics 620

        Photo by: ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • RAM

        RAM

        RAM options have increased from one-size-fits-all 4GB of DDR3 memory in the original Surface Pro to 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB of LPDDR3 in the three most recent models. Microsoft does not design the Surface Pro for upgradability: you've always had to specify the amount of RAM you'll need at purchase time.

        Photo by: ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Storage

        Storage

        Beginning with just 64GB or 128GB (and later, 256GB) of internal SSD storage in the Surface Pro, maximum capacity has grown to 1TB in the most recent model. The Surface Pro 4 and '5' drop the 64GB entry-level option, and also use PCIe NVME SSDs rather than mSATA.

        Photo by: ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Battery

        Battery

        The original Surface Pro was widely criticised for its poor battery life, but Microsoft (and its component suppliers) have steadily improved performance in this critical area.

        The battery life figures for the Surface Pro 3, 4, and '5' are Microsoft's estimates for video playback time with wi-fi on and auto-brightness disabled (on a Core i5/8GB RAM/256GB SSD device); the figures for the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2 are averages from multiple reviews.

        Unless you run demanding workloads with screen brightness turned right up, the latest Surface Pro model should give you all-day (that is, over eight hours) battery life.

        Photo by: ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Repairability

        Repairability

        Ease of access to the chassis and upgradable components are not a feature of the Surface Pro range, to say the least. The highest repairability score from iFixit is 2/10, for the Surface Pro 4 (you can, if you're brave, replace the SSD). All other models get a paltry 1/10.

        Read iFixit's Surface Pro teardowns

        Photo by: iFixit

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Surface Pen

        Surface Pen

        A key adjunct to the Surface Pro is the Surface Pen, which has evolved from a Wacom-made 256-pressure-level stylus in the Surface Pro to a sophisticated N-Trig pen with 4,096 pressure levels, 21ms latency, 9g activation force, tilt support, and three different tips, all of which makes for natural-feeling inking and shading.

        Since the Surface Pro 3, the Pen has included a Bluetooth option where a button click opens OneNote on the tablet. With the Surface Pro 4, the ability to take a screenshot and open Cortana was added to this now-customisable 'magic button'.

        The Surface Pen was bundled with the tablet until the Surface Pro '5', but is now sold separately for £99.99 in the UK or $99.99 in the US.

        Photo by: Microsoft & ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Kickstand evolution

        Kickstand evolution

        Hybrid tablet/laptops with a kickstand design are commonplace nowadays, which is a testament to the influence of the Surface Pro range.

        However, the first iteration was a limited affair, supporting just one, pretty upright (22-degree), angle. Since then, Microsoft's kickstand has developed into a versatile piece of engineering, and now supports multiple positions up to 165 degrees in the Surface Pro '5'. Many users still find the 'lappability' of kickstand designs problematical, however.

        Photo by: Microsoft & ZDNet

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

      • Enter the clones

        Enter the clones

        Although the Surface Pro has turned out to be good business for Microsoft, a major reason for its introduction was to encourage the company's hardware partners to take the form factor and run with it -- which they have done. A recent ZDNet roundup featured examples from Chuwi, Dell, Asus, Samsung, Huawei, Lenovo, and HP, and also noted that "It's hard not to look at the iPad Pro and think it was introduced at least partly because of competitive pressure from the Surface family of devices".

        Caption by: Charles McLellan

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      Graphics performance

      Performance has, of course, improved over the Surface Pro generations. Shown here are 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited scores for the Core i5 versions of each generation. The CPU/GPU combinations are:

      Model CPU GPU
      Surface Pro

      Core i5-3317U

      HD Graphics 4000
      Surface Pro 2

      Core i5-4200U

      HD Graphics 4400
      Surface Pro 3

      Core i5-4300U

      HD Graphics 4400
      Surface Pro 4

      Core i5-6300U

      HD Graphics 520
      Surface Pro '5'

      Core i5-7300U

      HD Graphics 620

      Caption by: Charles McLellan

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