Our First Look at the New Microsoft Surface Pen and Wireless Charger

Microsoft’s big Surface event is happening tomorrow, and a lot of the products were already leaked last night. The leak gave us a closer look at the new Surface Pro 7, the ARM-powered Surface Pro, and the Surface Laptop 3. And if you looked closely on the leaked renders, you’d notice the ARM-powered Surface device had an interesting look for the Surface Pen. The new ARM-powered Surface is reportedly called Surface Campus.

Microsoft’s actually working on a new design for the Surface Pen that will come with the ARM-powered Surface Pro. We aren’t quite sure exactly what will change in terms of functionality, but according to our sources, the new Pen will be able to wirelessly charge. Microsoft will have a dedicated wireless charger for the new Surface Pen that you’ll be able to charge the pen with (hopefully via Type-C). You can see the new Surface Pen design on the image above, which has more of a flat look than the current Surface Pen. The wireless charger also recently passed FCC.

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You will also be able to dock the new Surface Pen into the Type Cover of the ARM-powered Surface device. The Type Cover will be able to close with the Pen inside it, though we aren’t exactly sure if it will be able to wirelessly charge it. I mean, that would be the sensible functionality here, but we will just have to wait and see. Apple lets users charge their Apple Pencil by attaching it to the iPad Pro — so hopefully, Microsoft is going for a similar functionality here.

We are almost around a day away from Microsoft’s Surface event where the company will officially reveal these new products, so we will get all the official details really soon. We will be covering it live from New York tomorrow, so stay tuned for more Surface goodness.

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Conversation 12 comments

  • MikeGalos

    01 October, 2019 - 8:46 am

    <p>Seeing how rarely a battery needs to be replaced in a current Surface pen using a AAAA (yes, quad-A) battery this is more likely a solution in search of a problem if that's all the benefit. Hopefully there are more reasons than just wireless charging in the new pen. Right now, the battery seems to have so long a lifespan that you might change it once or twice in the life of the actual computer and that's with a battery that doesn't have charging memory issues and that you can buy for literally a couple of dollars on Amazon.</p>

    • Daekar

      01 October, 2019 - 9:56 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#473087">In reply to MikeGalos:</a></em></blockquote><p>My wife's Surface Pen finally needed a new battery the other day. She's used a Surface for years now, going back to the Pro3, and has never needed to change the battery. Got a few of them for less than $5, but we'll never need them all…the Surface will be dead and obsolete by then.</p>

    • rmlounsbury

      Premium Member
      01 October, 2019 - 10:54 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#473087">In reply to MikeGalos:</a></em></blockquote><p>Indeed, the Surface Pen I got with a Surface Pro 3 back when that device first launched was still functioning with the original AAAA battery I put in it. I was really quite surprised. Granted, I don't use the pen heavily in anyway but that is pretty incredible regardless. </p>

    • skipper

      01 October, 2019 - 6:37 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#473087">In reply to MikeGalos:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Your right the battery in the current pen lasts a long time, but perhaps the new pen will have extra functionality to drain power. Mouse functions or presentation pointer, maybe??</p>

      • wp7mango

        01 October, 2019 - 11:58 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#473638">In reply to Skipper:</a></em></blockquote><p>The current pen already functions as a mouse. </p>

  • rmlounsbury

    Premium Member
    01 October, 2019 - 10:56 am

    <p>So the new pen and wireless charging cubby type cover is only for the ARM Surface Pro? That seems odd that it would be limited to just the ARM version of the device. Unless the regular Intel Surface devices aren't power efficient enough to give the Surface Pro enough battery for all day use and charge the pen. </p>

  • SvenJ

    01 October, 2019 - 12:46 pm

    <p>Actually, <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Apple makes users charge their Apple Pencil by attaching it to the iPad Pro. There is no other option. I haven't seen a third party charging dock or something. </span></p>

  • earlster

    Premium Member
    01 October, 2019 - 2:55 pm

    <p>Am I the only one who thinks the pen dock in the hinge looks weird? Will this prevent the keyboard from tilting up? If so, it's poor design. </p>

  • tbtalbot

    Premium Member
    01 October, 2019 - 4:30 pm

    <p>Why chargeable? I liket the current surface pens. The disposable batteries last a very long time.</p>

  • geoff

    02 October, 2019 - 2:37 am

    <p>It reminds me a lot of the pen I got with my Huawei Matebook tablet. </p><p>(which is excellent, by the way. The built quality is extremely good, and the tablet is very thin. The pen and keyboard were included in the box, too.)</p><p><br></p><p>That pen is USB chargeable, but not wireless chargeable.</p><p>It's also a laser pointer for presentations, which is a cool trick.</p><p><br></p><p>Oh yeah: That Windows 10 tablet with USB-C was purchased way back in 2016. Three long years ago.</p>

  • flying_maverick

    Premium Member
    02 October, 2019 - 12:56 pm

    <p>So will this new pen work with other Surface devices? Will the Surface Pro X keyboard work with regular Pro?</p>

  • drawnbydonn

    02 October, 2019 - 2:58 pm

    <p>As an illustrator, the main reason I have not bought into Surface is the poor responsive of the pen. Therefore I am intrigued to know if this has been improved.</p><p><br></p><p>The Apple Pencil’s pressure sensitivity is not stated, but it feels similar to the Wacom stylus that I use with the Cintiq on the desktop.</p><p><br></p><p>If they still have not improved the responsiveness of the Surface Pen, that’s a dealbreaker for me, and for many other artists.</p><p><br></p><p>It actually has more to do with the IAF (Initial Activation Force) than with the levels of pressure sensitivity.</p>

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