Surface Pro 6 Launches With Upgraded Internals, New Black Color

Microsoft is upgrading its classic Surface device, the Surface Pro, today. After last year’s massive Surface Pro update, Microsoft is unveiling the new Surface Pro 6 today. Unlike last year’s update, this year’s Surface Pro 6 is more of an iterative update.

Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 6 comes with upgraded processors from Intel. The device now boasts Intel’s 8th gen Core processors, which is supposed to introduce performance boosts and improved power usage. You can get up to 4 cores on the new processors, which is the first for any Surface Pro device. The entry-level variant of the device now starts with 8GB RAM, and that’s a huge change for sure. The updated device is apparently 67% more powerful than previous designs while offering the same 13.5 hours of battery life.

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And no, no USB Type-C. Or Thunderbolt.

The major change with this year’s Surface Pro 6, however, is the new color: it’s now available in a new black matte finish. After the classic Surface device, this is the first time Microsoft is bringing back the black colored Surface Pro, which looks absolutely gorgeous in the renders we have seen so far. The type cover is still covered by Alcantara, which I am personally not a fan of, but the black version of the fabric should be prone to any dark spots. The new color for the device means there’s a new black Surface Pen, too, which will be sold separately for $99 as per usual. That also applies to the Surface Mouse and possibly some other Surface accessories.

Starts at $899 — yep, that’s cheaper than before. Shipping October 16th.

https://youtu.be/pAueQoU8TQQ

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Conversation 27 comments

  • digiguy

    Premium Member
    02 October, 2018 - 4:32 pm

    <p>The enthusiast community is going to destroy them with criticism for not adding USB C…. For me it's more important whether it's fanless or not (surface pro 5 I5 was)</p>

  • zorb56

    Premium Member
    02 October, 2018 - 4:41 pm

    <p>I said I wouldn't go with it if it didn't have USB-C but I might have to eat my words if the price is right for one of the higher-end models. I really miss my SP3 (charger recently bit the dust).</p>

  • MikeCerm

    02 October, 2018 - 4:46 pm

    <p>Microsoft was heavily criticized for not adding USB-C *last year*, so the fact they're going another year and still not adding USB-C is kind of criminal… Especially since the Surface Go launched a few months ago with a USB-C port.</p>

    • TEAMSWITCHER

      02 October, 2018 - 5:05 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#337681">In reply to MikeCerm:</a></em></blockquote><p>I forgot about that! Now I'm really confused … Why on Earth? Support is provided by the Intel Chipset. Maybe they want to sell lots of those fat USB Type-C dongles.</p>

  • TEAMSWITCHER

    02 October, 2018 - 4:53 pm

    <p>"Redmond … We have a problem."</p><p><br></p><p>Nixing Thunderbolt 3 … makes these devices less enticing to professionals.</p><p>Nixing USB Type-C … makes these devices completely irrelevant.</p>

    • digiguy

      Premium Member
      02 October, 2018 - 5:19 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#337684">In reply to TEAMSWITCHER:</a></em></blockquote><p>Most normal people and businesses couldn't care less about USB C (they do care about USB A though…)</p>

    • locust infested orchard inc

      02 October, 2018 - 5:42 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#337684">In reply to TEAMSWITCHER:</a></em></blockquote><p>Too right they have a problem. The solution must be evoked by launching something up where the sun don't shine.</p>

  • JeffKirvin

    Premium Member
    02 October, 2018 - 4:54 pm

    <p>Is the LTE variant also getting upgraded?</p>

  • mattbg

    Premium Member
    02 October, 2018 - 4:57 pm

    <p>No USB-C is disappointing on paper, but to be honest I have no need for it.</p><p><br></p><p>It’s nice to be future-proofed but I don’t have a time machine to jump forward far enough to when this will matter to me. Anything I have that uses USB-C on the business end has a regular USB plug on the other end.</p>

    • Breaker119

      Premium Member
      02 October, 2018 - 5:11 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#337687"><em>In reply to mattbg:</em></a><em> </em></blockquote><blockquote>Ding ding ding – there it is. I don't have a need for it either nor have I ever seen any C peripherals out in the wild. I get the desire to have it for sure, but Surface Pro is for normies and business folk. They want to stick a thumb drive in…or a mouse in. You know what I don't have dozens of laying around? USB C thumb drives.</blockquote><p><br></p>

    • digiguy

      Premium Member
      02 October, 2018 - 5:18 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#337687">In reply to mattbg:</a></em></blockquote><p>I have been saying this for a while. USB C is good only for charging, but to be honest the surface connect is even better and you can even get powerbanks with surfaceconnect, so it's not a big deal. USB A is far more important, I am not buying any laptop that has no usb A, cause I know I am going to forget the adapter and will be stuck when I have to plug a usb thunb drive… As for thunderbolt 3, it's overrated. I have it on my hp and will probably never use it… as most people…</p>

      • simont

        Premium Member
        02 October, 2018 - 7:55 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#337710">In reply to digiguy:</a></em></blockquote><p>There is a powerbank with surfaceconnect??? What brand and is it on Amazon?</p>

      • IanYates82

        Premium Member
        03 October, 2018 - 5:18 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#337710">In reply to digiguy:</a></em></blockquote><p>Keep usb A for sure. But in my mind the smart thing would be to ditch display port and make it usb c / thunderbolt instead. Everyone's a winner then </p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        03 October, 2018 - 5:45 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#337710">In reply to digiguy:</a></em></blockquote><p>USB-C is faster than the Surface Connector and Thunderbolt is orders of magnitude faster.</p><p>For a company with a diverse range of hardware, USB-C or Thunderbolt makes a lot of sense, you just need one dock available, not one for each manufacturer, and possibly range of laptop.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      03 October, 2018 - 5:42 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#337687">In reply to mattbg:</a></em></blockquote><p>We are currently moving to Thunderbolt docks, because Dell, HP and Lenovo all seem to be moving that way, from proprietary docking slots. Our employees can choose make and model, which meant, until this year, that we had at least 4 different docking station types kicking around and travelling to external offices, you never knew if there was going to be a compatible dock you could use.</p><p>With the move to USB-C, the employees can still choose what they want, but we don't have to worry about what sort of dock is sitting on the desk, we just make sure there are USB-C or Thunderbolt docks available.</p><p>In fact, that is the only bone of conetention at the moment, most Lenovos ThinkPads use Thunderbolt, but the L-series only has USB-C.</p>

  • MityK

    Premium Member
    02 October, 2018 - 5:13 pm

    <p>No USB-C or Thunderbolt may be OK if you change device every year. </p><p>With our companion's policy to replace every 3 years – no USB-C mean not to buy. </p><p>Microsoft – see you in 2 years when it'll be time for me to replace my laptop.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      03 October, 2018 - 5:37 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#337708">In reply to MityK:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yep, we are moving from proprietary docking stations to standardised Thunderbolt and USB-C docks. Our IT conference room is slowly filling up with old docking stations.</p>

  • sonichedgehog360

    02 October, 2018 - 5:35 pm

    <p>Any word if there will still be Iris Pro Graphics in the i7 model? If not, the i7 model just became utterly forgettable for the slight performance bump you get from the CPU side.</p>

  • bluvg

    02 October, 2018 - 5:38 pm

    <p>"last year’s massive Surface Pro update"</p><p><br></p><p>Massive? Really?</p>

  • locust infested orchard inc

    02 October, 2018 - 5:38 pm

    <p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/tag/surface-pro&quot; target="_blank" style="font-size: 0.875em; color: rgb(0, 110, 206); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>Quote by Mehedi Hassan, "<em>And no, no USB Type-C. Or Thunderbolt.</em>"</strong></a></p><p><br></p><p>Absolutely scandalous.</p>

  • RobertJasiek

    02 October, 2018 - 5:43 pm

    <p>Surface Pro continues to have these problems why I do not buy it: mirroring glare display, unreplaceable battery / astronomic repair price for battery replacement. Is it silent?</p>

    • mestiphal

      03 October, 2018 - 9:42 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#337737">In reply to RobertJasiek:</a></em></blockquote><p>you're not supposed to replace the battery of your $1500 device after two years to extend the life of it, you're supposed to dish out another $1500 for the new version</p>

  • locust infested orchard inc

    02 October, 2018 - 6:38 pm

    <p>I'm not in the least impressed with this iteration of the Surface Pro.</p><p><br></p><p>However, from what I currently understand, Intel are really tweaking 14nm to the max with their recently launched Whiskey Lake-U CPUs, which are present in the <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Surface Pro 6 (whilst TSMC/Samsung are enjoying the limelight for their somewhat loose definition of their 10nm/7nn silicon technology).</span></p><p><br></p><p>The speed increases and increased battery life are all attributable to Intel, having been given a massive kick by AMD and ARM.</p><p><br></p><p>On the other hand, the only thing attributable to Microsoft is the colour black. Way to go MSFT – hope your excuse for this lousy update is the dedicated man-power, working day and night, to get the Surface Foldable™ / Surface Go Pro / Windows Core OS / Andromeda released next year.</p>

  • Daishi

    Premium Member
    02 October, 2018 - 6:43 pm

    <p>Beyond “8th Gen” is there any word on exactly what CPUs they are using? Because I suspect that we are looking at Kaby Lake R rather than Whiskey Lake chips.</p>

  • marbo100

    02 October, 2018 - 10:42 pm

    <p>Does anyone ever ask Microsoft at these events about the LTE variant? Do we always have to wait for the second round before the "Press" actually asks questions we want the answer to?</p>

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