Microsoft's New Surface Pro Revealed In Leaked Photos

A batch of photos of Microsoft’s new Surface Pro tablet has leaked online. The device is believed to be a refresh of the Surface Pro 4, and it’s expected to be unveiled on May 23 during Microsoft’s press event in Shanghai, China.

The photos of the new Surface Pro was shared online by VentureBeat writer and notorious leaker Evan Blass. He says that the device will be a refresh of the Surface Pro 4, but it will simply be called as the Surface Pro when Microsoft officially announces the device next week.

The naming of the new device might cause some confusion considering that the original Windows 8 Pro machine from 2013 carries the same name. It’s likely that Microsoft will market it as “The New Surface Pro” or the “2017 Surface Pro.” Microsoft seems to be following Apple’s footsteps in terms of naming its refreshed tablets. Apple recently released a new version of its 9.7-inch tablet simply called iPad.

The new Surface Pro looks very identical to the Pro 4. It still comes with the same 3.5mm headphone jack, Mini DisplayPort and a USB Type-A port, according to Neowin. Like the recently announced Surface Laptop, the new Surface Pro won’t have any USB-C ports.

Microsoft has already expressed that it is not interested yet in including USB-C ports for its Surface products. The company believes that the technology isn’t ready yet for the mainstream because of its lack of maturity with power/cable issues and broad lack of market adoption.

Since this new device will be a refresh of the Pro 4, the upgrades will found internally. It’s been previously reported that Microsoft was planning to add Intel’s seventh-generation Kaby Lake processors for the refresh of the Surface Pro 4, so users should expect better performance.

Unfortunately, no other information about the new Surface Pro’s internal specifications have been leaked yet. With the addition of Kaby Lake processors, it seems likely that Microsoft will have different configurations options available of the new Surface Pro.

What appears to be new additions to this device are its accessories. The device is now accompanied by Microsoft’s new Surface Arc Mouse, the same one that was unveiled alongside the Surface Laptop. The new Surface Pro will also have new Pen and Type Cover color options that will be similar but not identical to the Surface Laptop’s color palette.

The Alcantara fabric Type Covers were previously exclusive to the signature edition of the Surface Pro Keyboard. Now it will be the default Type Cover for the new Surface Pro tablet.

The Surface Pro 4 was first released back in October 2015. A refresh is certainly needed now, but many are still wondering about the Surface Pro 5. Microsoft’s Surface chief Panos Panay recently said that “there’s no such thing as the Surface Pro 5.”

The executive also said that Microsoft wants to deliver meaningful and “experiential change that makes a huge difference in product line,” and not just slapping on the latest processor. Panay might be hinting that the Surface Pro 5 will bring something vastly different, and that it won’t be arriving anytime soon.