Ahead of Microsoft’s October event, which is widely expected to see the launch of the Surface Pro 9, a number of details around the potential specifications have leaked. They suggest that the Surface Pro 9 will come in three distinct flavours with three distinct markets
Surface Pro (Microsoft Press)
As expected, Microsoft will be moving the Surface Pro 9 up to Intel’s 12th generation technology, with one notable exception which I’ll come to.
Curiously, there is a clear differentiation between the consumer versions of the Pro 9 and the professional machines heading to enterprise. The former comes with the i5-1245U or the i7-1265U, while the latter can choose between the i5-1235U or the i7-1255U.
Notably, the two chipsets designed for the enterprise market come with Intel’s vPro technology. This offers Intel’s “business computing platform”, which features a number of IT management tools and increased security through the trusted platform module and Intel Authenticate.
Microsoft has offered consumer and professional options for its Surface range over the last few years. I’d also expect the professional models of the Surface Pro 9 to have a higher spread of configuration opens. Only the professional Surface Pro 8 models shipped with an i3 chipset, and only the professional models supported LTE connectivity.
Let’s not forget there is a third option. Microsoft’s Surface Pro X, launched in 2019, was its first ARM-based Windows machine, using the Qualcomm-derived SQ1. The Pro X was refreshed with an SQ2 option in 202, but nothing since then. Following the regulatory filing with the FCC we’re expecting a presumptively-named SQ3 chipset to power a third Surface Pro 9 model… and if any model is going to come with 5G connectivity, it’s this model.
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Whether this is seen as a consumer or professional machine, or sits apart from the two lines to maintain a similar distance that the Surface Pro X had to the main line. remains to be seen.
What is clear is that the Surface Pro 9 is more than a single machine, it’s a family of machines which are targeting three different markets.
Now read about Microsoft’s experiments to improve the Surface Duo…
