When Surface Pro fans were earnestly waiting for the arrival of Surface Pro 5, Microsoft officially unveiled the new Surface Pro 2-in-1 laptop-tablet hybrid with improved specs in May this year. During the launch event of the new device, the Redmond-based company had confirmed that its LTE version will be released later this year. Through the official Windows blog site, the company has confirmed today that the shipments of the Surface Pro with LTE will begin in December. The new device was also showcased at the business-focused Future Decoded 2017 event that is currently going on in London.
Microsoft Surface Pro with LTE is fitted with a Snapdragon X16 modem from Qualcomm that brings support for 20 LTE bands. This ensures that the new variant of Surface Pro will support LTE connectivity across the globe.
The Snapdragon X16 is a Cat. 9 LTE modem that is capable of producing a maximum download speed of 450 Mbps. Since other LTE enabled notebooks from rival brands feature Cat. 6 LTE modem that offer download speeds of 300 Mbps, the LTE enabled Surface Pro is the fast LTE-enabled laptop. There is no information available on the battery performance of the new Surface Pro variant, but the support for LTE connectivity can influence the battery life of the device.
There are two models of Surface Pro with LTE Advanced and both of them are driven by Intel Core i5 processor. The base model that features 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD storage carries a pricing of $1,149. The other model has 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of SSD storage and Intel HD 620 graphics and it is priced at $1,149. At the Future Decoded 2017 event, the company confirmed that the Surface Pro with LTE Advanced modem is a business-centric device and customers will be able to lay their hands on it from 1st December.
The Surface Pro with LTE is not available in Intel Core i7 processor version. The rumor mill claims that the Redmond-based firm may debut it in the near future. This variant is expected to feature 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage.
In the previous month, Microsoft had unveiled the new improved Surface Book 2 laptop in 13.5-inch and 15-inch sizes. The new laptop is powered by 7th generation Intel Kaby Lake and 8th generation Coffee Lake processors and come in multiple RAM and storage options. The 13.5-inch and 15-inch Surface Book 2 have a respective starting price of $1,499 and $2,499. Microsoft will begin the Surface Book 2 pre-orders from 9th November and its shipments will begin on 16th November.
