Microsoft Surface Pro 4 announced

Microsoft at its Windows 10 Devices event has officially announced the Surface Pro 4. It is now available for pre-order, starting from $899 and will go on sale from October 26.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 sports a 12.3-inch (2736 x 1824 pixel) PixelGlass display that has 1024 different pressure sensitivity levels. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 which is only 0.4mm thick. The PixelGlass display is optimized for both touch and pen input.

It comes with a choice of Intel's 6th gen Core processors from Core M3 to Core i5 and Core i7 which are powered by Intel HD Graphics 515, Intel HD Graphics 520 and Intel Iris Graphics accordingly. Microsoft says that the Surface Pro 4 is 50 percent faster than Apple's MacBook Air and 30 percent faster than the Surface pro 3. 

It comes with up to 16GB RAM (4GB, 8GB or 16GB) and up to 1TB SSD storage (128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB SSD options). There is  a full-size USB 3.0, microSD card reader, 3.5mm headset jack, Mini DisplayPort, Type Cover port, Surface Connect and fingerprint scanner. Also on board is a 8-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front facing camera and a hybrid cooling system.The Surface Pro 4 will offer up to 9 hours of battery life. All this is wrapped up in a body that's just 8.4mm thick. 

Microsoft also outed the Surface pen which comes with a full year of battery life. It comes with a tail eraser with stickiness and friction. The pen includes 1024 levels of pressure and magnetically latches to the side of the tablet. Double clicking on the Surface Pen button will launch the OneNote app and users can hold down to activate Cortana in Windows 10. It comes in five colors and will support interchangeable pen tips to emulate the feel of a pencil, ballpoint and more. It costs $60 and is now available for pre-order. 

There is also a new Type Cover which comes with more spacious keys on the keyboard. It also a glass trackpad which is 40 percent larger than the previous cover. The new Type Cover also has fingerprint sensor, allowing it to work with Windows Hello biometric login feature on Windows 10. Microsoft claims the new Type Cover to be lighter, thinner and sturdier. It works with Surface Pro 4 as well as Surface Pro 3. It is priced $130.

Microsoft also announced a new Surface Pro docking station which is compatible with Surface Pro 3 and Pro 4. It features four USB 3.0 ports, two DisplayPorts (supporting up to 4K resolution monitors and Full Ethernet Port. It is priced at $200 and is up for pre-orders.