Surface Pro 5 release news is likely coming soon, so we think it may be a bad idea to indulge in the Surface Pro 4 holiday deals that will assuredly emerge throughout Black Friday and beyond. Here are five reasons why Microsoft’s current tablet deserves a pass for now.
1) The Surface Pro 5 Seems Like An Early 2017 Lock: Nobody likes to invest in technology only to have it be replaced by a newer model months later. That being said, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out the obvious signs of a hardware refresh early next year.
We’ve delved into this topic in detail in a previous list, but here’s a summary. Earlier this year, Microsoft delayed its upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update release to early 2017 so it could coincide with the debut of “new Surface devices.” A new Surface Book and the Surface Studio were just unveiled a few weeks ago, but both of those hot items release in 2016. Ergo, those unnamed “new devices” seem like a clear allusion to the Surface Pro 5 at this point. It’s no confirmation, but it’s worth waiting on a purchase to assess the situation first.
2) Battery Life Issues : The Surface Pro 4 released with some pretty obvious battery drain and endurance issues. While some of those shortcomings were resolved in patches, the results still aren’t great today. At a quick glance, users are reporting somewhere between three and five hours of juice. That may be fine for short-burst or plugged-in use, but it still pales in comparison to the 10 hours offered by a few competitive tablets.
Battery life should always be a top priority when choosing a mobile device. If it can potentially improve in something like the Surface Pro 5, why not wait and see? Don’t invest in a product that’s already dogged with problems in that department when you don’t have to.
3) The Kaby Lake CPU : One of the assumed features of a hypothetical Surface Pro 5 is a brand new Kaby Lake CPU. Depending on the configuration used in the finished product, it could offer as much as a 25 percent performance boost with added emphasis on battery efficiency and high-resolution video codecs. The chips are just starting to be included in new gadgets now, and some feel Microsoft deliberately waited on Kaby Lake to release the Surface Pro 5.
If you can get those spec and quality-of-life improvements in a new product, it’s worth waiting to see what the future holds given that the Surface Pro 4 is more than a year old. Should its inevitable successor be on the way, it will absolutely include the latest tech.
4) New Competition May Breed Cool Features : The Surface Pro 4 released just a year ago, but it still came out in a less competitive tablet landscape. While often compared to devices like Apple’s iPad, both products cater to very different crowds. There simply hadn’t been a two-in-one that truly encroached on Microsoft’s throne.
Fast forward to the present and we have cost-efficient and feature-laden alternatives like the Asus Transformer 3 Pro. It’s got configurations with comparable specs for a cheaper price. More importantly, it also outdoes the Surface by offering modern perks like USB-C and a dedicated GPU accessory for those that want it. With all of this new and unique competition, what comes next could be an exciting departure from the established Surface gameplan.
5) Sales Will Still Be There Next Year : While it's nice to deliver cool tech for the holidays, it’s worth pointing out that the deep discounts you see on Black Friday and beyond won’t go away once 2017 begins. If the Surface Pro 4 is something you want even with the Surface Pro 5 release looming, there will still be plenty of deals to fill that need.
After all, Microsoft and other retailers will need to find ways to clear out some of the excess Surface Pro 4 stock. Savings are the primary vehicle to make that happen quickly. Microsoft won’t sell through all of it in 2016, so the same deals will still be there later on.
Are you planning on waiting to buy a Surface Pro 5? Is its currently released predecessor good enough? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section!
