Can now be configured with minimal specs if you are so inclined. Microsoft Surface Go 3 with 4G LTE now available for $500 and up - Liliputing
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According to Zac Bowden, WindowsCentral, no Surface Go refresh until spring 2023, but it will likely be ARM based (8:40 mark):
Also, right after that they discuss the future of Surface after Neo…
If MS waits that long to launch the Go4, it had better have the 4th generation 8cx CPU. It would also be nice if the improvements to the Surface 8 find their way down to the lowly Go. 16GB RAM option, with 5G connectivity built in. Dare we hope for 10 hour battery life? The new Pixel controller should be included along with a dock for the Slim Pen (3? by then).
One question I have is whether the 8cx will support Thunderbolt? I haven’t seen that capability on any of the WOA devices announced for 8cx gen 3 power. If it does, we better get it on the Go4.
A bit thinner and, if at all possible, OLED display (I know … not a chance). I’m already saving my pennies. Of course, if the Fold4 comes out this August with a siloed pen, I might be pushing “all in” on that one. Otherwise, I’ll probably be waiting for the next generation of the Samsung Galaxy S22Ultra. Next year looks like some deficit spending is in my future.
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I decided not to post this in its original thread. I just wanted to note my pleasure in hearing that the Go has done well in the Pandemic. Hopefully, that means that MS will do what it can to bring the technology up-to-date when the Go Pro is released next year.
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Go pro? Can we find another name for it? I believe this one’s already taken.
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I’m not so sure. Microsoft is marketing the Go 3 very aggressively in Japan right now. Their Japanese arm usually do that a few months prior to the release of a new model. If they start bundling it with keyboard and pen don’t color me surprised if there is a Go 4 released for the back to school season.
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I suspect that at least some of the ARM Go 4 rumors are due to the also rumored 11” Surface Pro X. If the SPX 11 is a real possibility I won’t be surprised by an Intel Go 4 later this year.
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There’s an interesting and IMHO petty thing. Since Apple was a co creator of thunderbolt along with Intel, allegedly they wont license it to QUALCOMM due to bad blood with all three companies.
According to our ex-surface engineer, the Pro X originally was planned to have TB from the outset as the new docking connector (keeping the surface connector for just the intel and AMD devices.
TLDR Even a big company can get on the wrong side of Apple.
PS: we hear no Go 4 per se of either processor, with a WOA based Pro X ~11 inch still in the works possibly by the end of the year but more likely early 2023
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If QUALCOMM needs the blessing of both Apple and Intel it was never going to happen. And I almost see it as karmic justice considering the way QUALCOMM has treated others when their own IP was involved. There are no innocent parties here.
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Karma is a b**** or so they say…
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I am Karma.
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BTW we should perhaps start referring to the Go 4 5G and/or Pro X 5G as that is the one consistent thing across all rumors is that it(they) will have 5G.
Likely driven by Teams, which works quite well on 5g connections, but struggles a bit with most LTE connections.
And this is 100% due to the very rapid proliferation of mid/C band which is already available on all three carriers in my market as well as a bunch of our customers.
BTW: MMWAVE got all the initial attention both positive and negative initially due to it’s raw speed potential, but all the carrier reps we work with have been saying all along that mid band was going to be the star of the show and bring the most tangible benefits to the most users.
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I am perfectly poised for 5G where I am located. It’s a must have on the next upgrade for my phone and tablet.
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Even out here in the boondocks of West Texas 5g has been a nice addition to my iPhone Pro 13 - enough so that I am seriously thinking of going 5g in the next tablet just to squeeze out a little more performance over tethering.
And you guys ragged me early on, on the old board about "being a cheerleader " for 5g… Though I will admit it did take a bit longer than I anticipated to be widely available. OTOH it totally smokes over how long LTE took to get generally available.
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Well… still no 5G here where I volunteer 4 months of the year. Nor where I winter 5 months of the year. Hit and miss in the inbetween areas. My iPhone is still a mmWave and C-Band virgin, but the few weeks this year in the low band 5G areas were decent.
Wellllllllll - you are further in the boondocks than even me…
I mean, 4G has really been a bit of sweet spot/Goldilocks technology.
Sure, the range and material penetration of it is less than 3G, but there were many services just waiting for the improvements in bandwidth and latency that are much better or even simply possible now because of it. The increase in power required by antennas in devices has been greater and more transmitters required than 3G (hence part of the reason for slower rollout), but that’s been worth the trade-off. Even just loading a webpage is better.
5G on the other hand… Has there really been that much waiting for it? Do most people really need much faster speeds? Do most need the improved latency? And if so, is it really worth the increased power usage and therefore decreased battery life, and somewhat overlooked, increased heat output? Perhaps also a trek to get a connection? I can happily surf the web, watch videos, download the odd thing, and unless it’s at an event, not have any issues or frustrations with 4G.
Now, the increased capacity of cellular networks from it is needed, and the increased bandwidth of 5G is/will be a significant part of that. But I’d say most of that comes from there just now being more frequencies available for mobile networks, and it doesn’t really matter much what frequencies they are, so long as they are free (not as in beer). Also, in terms of geographic spread, unless you live in an urban area, capacity is no longer really an issue already. If you’re planning on using 5G as a main connection (as such people are more likely to), then I can see the appeal there, but you are still not getting as a good a service as landline if you can get one.
So, I dunno. 5G seems like less of a necessity* to the vast majority of people.
*within the context of having our fancy gadgets, because of course we don’t really need any of them.
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That is exactly what I’m hoping for. Cut the landline completely, but if everybody goes that route I fear capacity will becoma a bottle neck.
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