Microsoft Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2 Unveiled

Microsoft just unveiled the update to the Surface Pro and the Surface RT tablets.  They are now called Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2, respectively and they run Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1.

Surface Pro 2

Now featuring a 10.6-inch full 1080P ClearType HD display with 1920×1080 resolution, the Surface Pro 2 has 50 percent more color accuracy, 20 percent bump in speed, improvement better graphics performance and an improved speaker setup.  It also now lasts longer, with a battery life that’s 75 longer.  The Surface Pro2 runs on a Haswell processor so it is said to be quieter.

The Surface Pro 2 has a lot of ports.  It has three USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, one mini DisplayPort, an Ethernet port, audio in/out and a charging port.  The Surface Pro 2 has a new kickstand which now bends in two stages.  Microsoft claims the Surface Pro 2 is a full PC setup and it can in fact be docked for an external display output of up to a 3,840×2,160 resolution.

The new Surface Pro 2 can also be paired with new accessories, also recently announced.  Microsoft revealed the Power Cover which in fact extends the battery life by 2.5 times.  There is also the Type Cover 2 which is an improved version of the one used in the original Surface Pro.  Type Cover 2 is now 1mm thinner and it is backlit.

Surface Pro 2 comes in configurations like 64GB of storage and 4GB RAM, 128GB of storage and 4GB RAM, 256GB of storage with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage with 8GB of RAM.

Surface 2

The Surface 2, the update to the Surface RT, is now thinner and lighter.   It comes in black and white colors and ports a 2 angle kickstand similar to the Surface Pro 2.  It also has a 10.6-inch full 1080P ClearType HD display with 1920×1080 resolution and is said to be 3 to 4 times faster since it has 72 cores on their GPU, up from 12 on the previous model.  Despite the bump in speed, it has an improved battery life.  It runs on an Nvidia Tegra 4 processor and has a new 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 3.5-megapixel front-facing camera.  The Surface 2’s front camera has been improved with a sensor that makes it possible for it to adjust to changing lighting conditions.

The Surface 2 runs Windows RT 8.1, a rather limited OS compared to the full fledged Windows 8.1.

Pricing and Availability

The Microsoft Surface 2 is priced at $449 while the Surface Pro 2 is priced at $899.  It is immediately available for pre-order but delivery will start on October 22.