Have you ever wondered about the differences between the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4? If so, Microsoft’s lead engineer Dave Mitchell has all of the answers for you. In a video published to the Microsoft Mechanics Blog, the lead engineer on the Surface Pro shares the details behind the performance, design enhancements, and available processor configurations for the newest edition to the Surface Pro family.
As seen in the video, the biggest differences between the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 are the internals. The Surface Pro 4 utilizes a new hybrid isothermal cooling system to give the device up to 30% more CPU performance and up to 80% increased graphics performance over the Surface Pro 3. The Core M model is fanless and achieves this silently and passively, and the i5 and i7 utilizes an active fan for max system performance when needed. In both cases, this means that the Surface Pro 4 operates more efficiently and quietly than the Surface Pro 3.
The cooling system on the Surface Pro 4
Configuration wise, all Surface Pro 4 models feature an SSD. Because the Surface Pro 4 uses an SSD, it brings you improved performance over the SATA drives from the last generation Surface Pro 3. The Core M comes with a 128 GB SSD and 4 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the i5 and i7 models have up to 16 GB of RAM and up to a 512 GB or 1 TB SSD.
Examples of configurations for Surface Pro 4
On top of improved performance, the Surface Pro 4 also has an improved larger 12.3-inch pixel sense display. This delivers a 2736 x 1284 Resolution, 267 Pixels Per Inch, and a 1300:1 Contrast Ratio. A pixel sense display also means that the Surface Pro 4 comes with a new 5th generation touch architecture which leverages the GPU to better detect and reject the palm when using the Surface Pen.
Surface Pro 4 Display
The Surface Pro 4 is also better built for Windows 10, and next to the camera on the front of the device is a second infrared camera for Windows 10 Hello Facial recognition. Accessory Wise, the Surface Pro 4 features a new improved 3rd generation Surface Pen. The pen conveniently docks to the side of the device, and has the one click to access Cortana feature. The Type Cover for the Surface Pro 4 is also better over the Surface Pro 3 and features individually separated pro-set keys and a 40% larger glass trackpad.
