If you’re still wondering, here is the poof that Surface with Windows 8 Pro battery will only last just over 4 hours. A Reddit user (BryanTheCrow) had a chance to demo the new Surface Pro and took an interesting picture of the tablet that clearly shows the power options set to “Windows Demo” power plan, which also displays only 4 hours and 6 minutes remaining on 97% of charge.
To take the screenshot you see below the Reddit user did the following: “At the MS store I unplugged a fully charged pro and started opening lots of apps, and several tabs of heavy websites, videos, etc. After about 5 min I took the screenshot. So, chances are you’ll get at least 4 hours. More if your usage is less CPU intensive.”
The user also describes the tablet as “thicker, and heavier, but not bad”. […] “slightly warm, certainly not hot. Perfectly comfy in the hand. I couldn’t feel air blowing anywhere.” […] “The magnetic power attachment was slightly stronger than the RT but still frustrating to line up right.” […] “It’s so fast! As a tablet, this is extremely noticeable. Everything is instant and smooth.”
Back in 2012, Microsoft admitted that Surface Pro will have a shorter battery life than its brother Surface RT based on ARM architecture. Now we are just a few days away from Microsoft launching the awaited Pro version of Surface and up to this point we already know that this new tablet runs on a 1.7GHz 3rd Gen Intel Core i5-3317U Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000. Even though, Intel already announced its low-power (7 watts) Ivy processors, which allows thinner, lighter and better battery life.
The answer to the question why? Microsoft is using the now old 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processor is not clear, but a wild guess would be that Intel might not have ready the new chip just in time to build the tablet.
The new Surface is set to go on sale February 9th and it will be available at the Microsoft Store, Best Buy and Staples. You will be able to choose between a 64GB (23GB usable storage) version for $899 and 128GB (87GB usable storage) version for $999.
Source Reddit and header image from courtesy of Microsoft
