Ahead of Microsoft revealing its next Surface devices at an event in New York Oct. 2, we have the first leaked rundown of Microsoft’s 2-in-1 tablet that’s apparently going to be called the Surface Pro 6 and comes with basically the same design as last year’s model. It’s not a major update by any means, with most of Microsoft’s attention seeming to have been focused on things like improving the internals — the tablet, according to this leak, comes with Intel’s latest eighth-generation processor.
Much of the commentary based on this leak so far has focused on a disappointing absence — the lack of USB-C support. According to a Slashgear report about the leak from Vietnamese site Tinthe.vn, that’s not going to come with the Surface Pro 6 even though Microsoft has already brought that port to the Surface Book 2 and the Surface Go. “It will stick to full-sized USB ports (which is good), a mini Display port, its proprietary Surface connector.”
Meanwhile, Slashgear goes on to lightly criticize the design, which is basically the same as last year’s model while sporting edges that are a bit rounder in keeping with an apparent new design aesthetic out of Microsoft. And other than the choice of Intel processor, there’s no other real change to speak of on the inside or outside. The screen is also the same, a 12.3-inch panel with a 2736×1824 resolution.
“It seems the Surface Pro will be dropping to the same rhythm as Apple’s MacBooks, with each year being more of an incremental upgrade from the previous one,” Slashgear notes. “While it might mean that leaps in innovation are over, it does speak of the line having reached that level of product maturity. Except for the fact that it still isn’t mature enough to have a USB-C port.”
In unrelated Surface news, Consumer Reports also announced today that Microsoft’s Surface laptops are now eligible again for the publication’s “recommended” status in its product rankings. Last year, CR explains, it removed that designation “because of poor predicted reliability in comparison with laptops from other brands.”
Based on results from its latest survey of members, however, CR says “Microsoft’s reliability is now on par” with most other laptop brands, which again allows CR to recommended its products.
Per The Verge: “Consumer Reports originally revoked its recommendations after a survey of 90,000 laptop and tablet owners found that 25 percent Surface users reported having problems by the end of their second year owning the device. Its latest survey concluded that that’s no longer the case (although the recommendation site didn’t disclose the exact numbers for this year’s polling.)”
