Microsoft is reportedly working on a smaller Surface Pro and Arm-powered Surface Go 4 - The Verge
Interesting though I think the smaller Pro rumors, are actually Go ones
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Subhead: “We might not see these new smaller Surface tablets until 2024.” 
That matches up with rumors that the Qualcomm Nuvia derived chips are potentially delayed
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I can’t imagine that they will make more than 1 11" ARM tablet. I could see them doing what they have done with the Pro and make an ARM and Intel version.
The speculation that a 7 series ARM chip may be used is dissapointing. This device needs to have the most powerful 8cx chip available. It needs an upgraded keyboard with recharging pen slot. In short, it needs top-of-the-line components. The 120 hz display sounds good.
The delay until 2024 is not that much of a surprise. It’s the reason I decided to buy the Pro X when it was available for under $500. It will take me through the next year or so until Microsoft gets its s**t together.
I could see using a ProGo4 and a Duo 3 as my 2 device solution, if they would get their heads out of their butts and put Windows on the Duo.
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I agree the 7C is the wrong choice here.
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AMEN! My god, they move to ARM and then they play the same underpowered second rate processor game they did with the original Surface Go line - they ARE Micro-rot if they do that…
If Microsoft’s idols at Apple can shoehorn a laptop processor into a tablet, why not copy them at that too? Give them a little free time on ChatGPT that you are so enamored of in exchange for the secret sauce…
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Original source:
All of this makes me think they are using the Surface Go line now as the prop-up for the Surface Pro—make it good but not too good to increase the perceived wow factor in a side-by-side. The negative part is putting a terrible ARM processor into the Go could sour people to WOA and put a huge hole in Microsoft’s WOA efforts, NUVIA notwithstanding in the Pro flagship models.
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Every time I pick up my go, I marvel at how perfect its size is. I miss it but the Pro X is more powerful, has a much longer battery life and has an awesome keyboard. Waiting and hoping for the next Go. Or Go Pro. Or whatever they call it. Truly looking forward to an improved version my old workhorse.
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I feel the same way about my iPad Pro 11, and somehow Apple is able to shorehorn a high performance processor, 5g, 16gb ram, and up to 2tb ssd in that itty bitty volume that weighs 1.03# vs 1.20# for Surface Go…
Hmmmmmmmm…
And yes, I know it’s not running a desktop class OS …yet…but COME ON PANOS you can step up your game on the Go form factor…
I can see it now… Panos waxes lyrical on the stage in six months about how pumped he is and why you should get the 11” Surface Pro 10… and, oh, by the way, here is also the Surface Go 4 but pay no attention to it because the 11” Pro 10 is so much better (and we purposely hamstrung the Go 4 so most of you would feel obliged to buy the 11” Pro 10).
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Surface Go Pro with Nuvia, 120hz refresh, tiny bezels would be potentially a great machine!
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Must have:
-Updated Pixelsense controller.
-Pro-like Keyboard with improved keys and pen charging slot.
-2 USB-C ports.
-OLED display, 32 Gigabyte RAM option and 5G would be nice.
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Thurrott just nailed it on the head (on Windows Weakly):
“The Surface line is like a corner bike shop.”
It was part of a general discussion that Microsoft has completed its transition to a cloud service company, and Richard Campbell opined that the focus of Surface will be to incorporate Windows own NPU silicon on device and segregate revenue - use our LLM on a Surface and it is “X” but if you use another device using our cloud processing power, it is “X+Y”
All three agreed Microsoft is passing Google in the fast lane on ChatGPT/OpenAI…watch for M365 CoPilot as the real successor to Bing search…
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The problem is that the corner shop is full of 30 gear titanium racers and I need a mountain bike.
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It only gets worse - Thurrott finally admitted to what I’ve been railing about WOA for a couple of years now - Microsoft doesn’t care about QC and WOA just so long that the “threat” makes Intel get serious about building more efficient processors.
The day Intel finally turns that corner on the chase of Apple’s M series processors, WOA will wither on the vine…
As long as Intel gets it right and adds efficiency to its power and x86 capabilities, I can live with my long-term relationship with Chipzilla. In fact, if the new 11" Surface Pro predicted last week has 5G and 8 hour battery life, I will probably opt for the Pro version over the WOA.
Oh, did I say replacable SSD before?
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Just shrink the Surface Pro 9 features and options to 11" 3:2 (with 5g and a good type cover with pen storage) and we’re good to go…or is that GO…
The only problem I see is that keyboard…going to be tight…the current bezels of my SP8 are only 1/4" (L/F) and 1/2" (T/P), so that means it will really be a small surface area (pun intended)
If only this were on the horizon for Fall 2023 (no, he hasn’t cancelled is cheapo MBP14 - yet)
The GO keyboard can be a bit challenging but once you get it down, you will find that you can fly on the keys. I find it faster than the Pro size because you have less movement to reach the keys. My only problem with the Go keyboard was the keys themselves. There is no question that the Pro keyboards with the improved mechanical-like keys are far, far, far superior to the mushy keys on the Go. Upgrade the keys and typing will improve.
I do have small hands, so YMMV.
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I was actually thinking in terms of space for the Slim Pencil 2 storage slot. It really has to come through on that because magnet attachment is an absolute no go as far as I’m concerned. When I had my GO2 the keyboard spacing never bothered me because I had full keyboards in the office and home, so it was only a minor inconvenience when out and about. I know trackpads are all the rage, but the little red trackpoint from Lenovo would be a great solution in this context.