Today, Microsoft announces Surface Go: the most portable and affordable Surface product yet.
Many of us play different roles throughout the day, moving from work or school to home and everywhere in between. Our team designs every Surface to adapt to that dynamic lifestyle, to strike a balance between performance and versatility, form and function. Our products don’t do just one thing because people don’t do just one thing.
We pioneered categories like the 2:1 to provide the mobility of a tablet with the performance of a laptop, inspiring new ways of creating. As you pursue your passions, connect with friends and family, and work with your team, the products you’re able to take on the go with you are the ones that can keep up with the huge range of things you want to accomplish. This is true whether you’re a parent and a product-maker like me or a student and amateur photographer like my daughter.
That’s the idea behind the design of Surface Go – our smallest, lightest, and most affordable Surface yet. 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. I’m pumped to introduce you to Surface Go, because it’s all those things, and so much more.
Our smallest, lightest, and most affordable Surface yet
The power and connectivity in a device this small gives you the style and productivity Surface is known for in a more convenient package. At just 1.15 pounds and 8.3 mm thin, Surface Go packs portable performance into a 10” device. Starting at $399 MSRP, it represents a new entry point for the Surface family, while keeping the premium qualities that have come to define it.
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.
Since my two youngest daughters have started using Surface Go, I see them watching movies, reading, and drawing on it every day. It’s the perfect device for them. And for me, whether I’m at home, in the office, or on a plane, putting my Surface Pen on the screen and letting my thoughts flow is a necessary step in my creative process. It’s how I work. It’s so easy to carry Surface Go with me so I can capture those moments, instantly.
Comforts of a laptop, convenience of a 10” tablet
Surface Go is small and mighty, giving you the performance you need to be productive. A device powered by the 7th Generation Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y, in a fanless design, offering up to nine hours of battery. Our team worked closely with Intel to optimize power, performance, and battery for the most critical tasks people perform every day.
Being able to run Office apps on this device with its portability is one of the things that was critical to the experience we had in mind when we designed Surface Go – the productivity of having the apps you use for work and school with the flexibility to relax and read or watch a show on Netflix or Hulu.
Our new Surface Go Signature Type Cover is custom-made for Surface Go integrating design features that give the user the best typing experience possible, with ergonomic key pitch and exceptional key travel. It also has high precision tuning and Windows Precision Trackpad that supports five-point multi-finger gestures, and you can connect the new Surface Mobile Mouse to work the way that you want.
A built-in kickstand with full friction hinge that extends to 165 degrees helps you stay in your flow from tablet to studio mode, and a Windows Hello camera allows for familiar, quick, and secure sign-in using face recognition.
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.
Where do you want to Go?
Surface Go with Wi-Fi will be available for pre-order tomorrow, July 10 in select countries*, with products beginning to hit shelves on August 2. We’re also happy to share that an LTE model will be arriving later this year.
For a family at home or on the move, an expert on the front line of a business interacting with customers, or a school that wants to provide its students with the most versatile tools for learning, this device offers a premium experience with incredible value.
Wherever the day takes you, and whatever unique tasks await you along the way, Surface Go moves with you.
*Availability:
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.
** To learn more join us on our Facebook page at 6AM PT on July 10.
Source: Meet Surface Go, starting at $399 MSRP, it's the smallest and most affordable Surface yet - Microsoft Devices Blog
Just checked the top-of-the-line model online.....CAD3099.00 + tax + accessories, that's $350-off the usual price.
Ouch, even with the discount
I think I'll stick with my iPad Pro as my alternate way of getting online.
That's the first time I've priced the Surface range of tablets.
Today we are excited to launch Surface Go, our brand new 10-inch ultra-light device, which gives you a highly portable form factor for mobile experiences at a lower price point. Importantly, for mobile workers and students, the good news is that great value does not come at a compromise. The Surface Go team crafted the device to be versatile enough to function as a tablet or laptop. Combined with Windows 10 Pro, it’s powerful enough for Firstline Workers and students to run full desktop applications.
As Surface engineer, Cindy Martinez, explains on today’s episode of Microsoft Mechanics, ensuring that we could fit everything needed into this vastly reduced form factor, while maintaining the modern, iconic, Surface design, was our top engineering challenge.
Compact mobility
The first thing you’ll notice when you see the Surface Go, is it looks like a Surface Pro just much smaller. Its weight starts at just 18.4 ounces. At the back of the device you’ll see a number of familiar features such as the 8MP Camera. The full friction kickstand is capable of lowering to 165º to give you an optimal angle for writing and drawing. A microSD card slot nested behind the kickstand, allows you to add additional mobile storage.
An interesting feature added to support mobile use, is the Surface Go’s near field sensor, this can be used to read RFID tags to track inventory or even to launch specific applications for an appliance-like experience.
Further, the LTE Advanced option, available later this year, will come with a SIM tray for 4G LTE connectivity using a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X16 LTE Modem. This is the same modem found in the full-sized Surface Pro with LTE Advanced.
At the front of the device, Surface Go comes equipped with a 5MP front facing camera for video conferencing, and an infrared camera for facial recognition with Windows Hello.
The screen is a compact 10”, 3 by 2 optically-bonded Pixel Sense™ display. It has 217 PPI and the optical bonding gives you a full 180 degree viewing angle.
Each screen is individually color-calibrated at the factory for color accuracy and supports the same 10-point touch as on other Surface devices. Used with the Surface Pen you get a full inking experience, and tilt support for shading.
Power and performance
We chose to stay with an Intel architecture for predictable performance whether you're using modern apps or full desktop software.
Surface Go comes with an Intel® Pentium® Gold Processor 4415Y with Intel HD 615 GPU and is available in several memory and storage configurations, supporting up to 8 GB of RAM and up to a 128 GB NVMe SSD.
Intelligent charging means that you can fully charge Surface Go from 0 to 100% capacity, in just 2 hours, and you can get up to 9 hours of use, based on normal video playback.
Device portability also extends how we help you charge Surface Go. The Surface Connect charger is smaller too, at just 5 ounces it’s about half the size of a regular Surface charger and if you prefer can the USB-C port to charge the device.
Further, as you use Surface Go, it’s noticeably fanless. The device disperses heat using passive cooling which not only helps reduce weight and size of the device but also reduces noise levels. The absence of air vents by design, also makes it easier to use Surface Go in high particulate environments like factory floors or mines.
Ports and Peripherals
Surface Go comes with an array of ports including a headphone jack, Surface Connect for charging and connecting to Surface Dock, as well as a full functioning USB-C port that supports power, video and data. Surface Go can also be used with Surface Dock.
Accompanying the Surface Go is an ultra-compact optional Type Cover. Here the challenge was to engineer a smaller yet comfortable, premium quality typing experience.
Adjustments were made to the pitch between keys, while ensuring a vertical travel of 1mm. Despite being smaller, the Type Cover comprises a mechanical, backlit keyset.
This in combination with the Alcantara fabric, makes the Type Cover comfortable to use despite its smaller size compared to the Surface Pro Type Cover.
And to add to comfort, while everything else on the Type Cover was carefully remodeled, we made the trackpad slightly bigger allowing precise movements as well as multi-touch gestures.
Durability on the go
We expect Surface Go to be used outside of an office environment. For example, in schools, in healthcare and in the field.
Like all Surface devices, we've put Surface Go through a battery of stringent use case tests. We’ve also worked with top accessory manufacturers worldwide to produce ruggedized cases and screen protectors, including some to MIL standard specs, available soon.
To learn more about the design of Surface Go, watch today's Microsoft Mechanics episode with engineer Cindy Martinez. Please also visit our Surface Go website and keep current on the design and management of Surface devices, by checking out our Microsoft Mechanics playlist.
Source: Behind the design: Meet the new Surface Go Surface
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Runs Windows 10 - S Mode.
Microsoft's version of a Chromebook.
Windows 10 in S mode works exclusively with apps from the Microsoft Store within Windows and accessories that are compatible with Windows 10 in S mode. A one-way switch out of S mode is available.
You can switch out of S mode easily at any time through the Microsoft Store within Windows. There is no charge for switching the mode. The switch is one-way; if you make the switch, you won't be able to go back to S mode.
Not clear if switching results in Windows 10 Pro or Home or 32-bit or 64-bit.
I suspect S Mode is doomed from the start. No one will want a $400 tablet that is this limited.
From a hardware standpoint, only, the cpu seems like a step up from the Atom Z-series.
Intel® Pentium® Gold Processor 4415Y
Disposable, non repairable, premium price, sound like another company we know? I guess that's the price you pay for slim and light weight? It does look good. Soldered in SSD and non replaceable battery is a down side IMHO. Data recovery when it won't boot up anymore after a Windows updateBIOSfirmware update is going to be a PITA.
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