Microsoft launches smaller, cheaper Surface Go to rival the
iPad
Microsoft announced its new Surface Go on Monday evening. Microsoft
announced its own promising competitor, the Surface Go, a lighter, thinner,
less expensive version of the Surface Pro. MICROSOFT CORP is going for the
low-end of the personal computing market with a smaller, cheaper Surface Go
tablet that takes on Apple Inc's cheapest iPads. Microsoft's new Surface Go 2-in-1 tablet is
an affordable, accessible way to jump into the Surface ecosystem. The Surface Go is an intriguing low-cost
detachable for potential Surface buyers who want to launch into Microsoft's
well-made, attractive 2-in-1s on a budget. While the exterior of the Surface Go makes it
look like a baby Surface Pro, Microsoft has changed a lot inside.
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| image Windows Blog |
The Surface Go resembles other models of Microsoft’s
successful Surface tablet range, but has a smaller 10in screen, is 8.3mm thick
and only weighs 522g. But the biggest difference is the price: the Surface Go
starts at £380 in the UK and $399 in the US, which is half the price of the
cheapest Surface Pro tablet, but still $70 more than the 9.7-inch iPad. Microsoft comes along with a cloud focused
tablet in a similar price range, arguably offering the same features. The Surface Go is about the size of a
composition notebook and runs Windows 10 S software. Like every other tablet
out of Redmond, it has a detachable keyboard and supports the Surface Pen. It
also offers a few features aimed at students: Portrait mode renders pages much
like a textbook and landscape mode renders them side-by-side like an open book.
The Surface Go has Microsoft’s
high-resolution PixelSense screen technology, including support for the Surface
Pen stylus, with its full 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and very low
latency. The tablet also has its own version of the detachable keyboard from
the Surface Pro, and the built-in kickstand that supports up to 165-degrees of
angle. A built-in kickstand makes Go more suitable for working or streaming
shows on the go, and the promise of a nine-hour battery means you can do both
on one charge. Like the 9.7-inch iPad, which works with the Apple Pencil, the
Surface Go supports the Surface Pen ($99), a stylus you can use to annotate essays
or mark up presentations. Alcantara, a luxuriously soft material Microsoft used
to line its Surface Laptop, is present here too, on an attachable type cover
($129) that the company says features "laptop-class typing".
Additionally, you can sign in with facial recognition, video
chat with a five megapixel, front-facing HD camera, and, if you're so inclined,
take photos with the eight megapixel rear HD camera. While the Surface Laptop
launched at an education event alongside Windows 10 S, the Surface Go appears
to be targeted far more broadly across education, regular consumers, and even
commercial usage. It’s clearly designed to be a cheaper and more portable
Surface that lowers the barrier of entry for those put off by the price of a
Surface Pro and its more capable specifications. It’s also aiming to be more
than an iPad or a Chromebook. Surface Go also has the ports you need, including
Surface Connect for charging and docking; USB-C 3.1 for data, video, and
charging; a headphone jack; and a MicroSD card reader for storage expansion.
All designed to help you be more productive whether you’re studying in a
library, working on a plane, or sharing your content in a boardroom on a 4K
monitor.
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| image windows Blog |
Surface Go offers a stunning, custom-built high-resolution
PixelSense Display that supports Surface Pen with 4096 levels of pressure
sensitivity, low pen parallax, low latency, and precision for accurate note
taking, drawing and computer-aided design. The custom calibrated 3:2 display is
soft on your eyes while you’re working and vibrantly high-contrast when you
want to watch videos, create art, or edit photos.
In portrait mode, the screen was designed to render the page
to the scale of most school textbooks, and in landscape mode, it can render
pages side by side as if you were holding a paperback book in hand. At the
approximate size of a composition notebook, writing on the screen feels natural
and intuitive.
“Surface Go is small and mighty, giving you the performance
you need to be productive. When we designed this device, we had to ask
ourselves what people want and need from a 10” Surface. The answers seem
obvious – lightweight, productive, and accessible to more people”, Microsoft
said.
What's Difference with iPad
The Surface Go is still more expensive than the cheapest
iPad. Apple’s base model iPad is priced at $329. Apple's iPad has always felt
like a tablet, Microsoft's Surface Pro has been able to more successfully
straddle the line between tablet and laptop.
The latest iPad costs less (prices start at $329), and is slightly
smaller (a 9.7-inch display) and lighter (1.03 pounds). In comparison on the
OS, iPad uses Apple's iOS, the same OS
used by the iPhone. That means a massive library of apps, games, streaming
services, and more. The iPad, uses
Apple's A10 Fusion chip. It's the same system-on-a-chip (SoC) that the iPhone 7
used, and it still offers impressive performance for a tablet. It's a
generation behind the A11 Bionic chip used on the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. The
Surface Go is a prime candidate for Arm-based chips from Qualcomm to provide an
experience much closer to iPad in terms of battery life.
It goes on sale on Aug 2 with Wi-Fi connectivity. Cellular
versions are coming later. Surface Go
will be available for pre-order beginning on July 10 in the following markets,
US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria,
Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Norway,
Sweden, Poland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. In the coming weeks, Surface Go
will be available for pre-order in Japan, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia,
Thailand, Hong Kong, and in China with more markets to follow, wrote on the
Windows blog.
