Briefly: As work and study from home remains the standard to get things done, consumers and prosumers plan to receive a new treat from Microsoft, as the Surface Pro 7 has been updated with more robust internas, a removable SSD and optional 4G connection.
On Monday, Microsoft’s Surface family got a new member in the form of the Surface Pro 7+, a model designed specifically for schools and business customers and based on the successful formula of the original Surface Pro 7 from 2017.
The overall design has not changed, as the Redmond giant says it has made a commitment to commercial customers about the continuity of form factor. ‘This means that everything up to the placement of the microphone, magnets, card reader (microSDXC) and ports (a USB-C without Thunderbolt 4, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 and a headphone jack) are the same. However, Microsoft has upgraded the internals with the latest 11th generation Tiger Lake U processors, which Intel introduced last September, with Xe graphics and AI acceleration.
The Surface Pro 7+ is configurable with anything from an Intel Core i3-1115G4 coupled with 8GB of RAM to a Core i7-1165G7 with 32GB of RAM. An even more practical CPU configuration is the Core i5-1135G7, which has optional LTE connectivity and eSIM support for more than 180 countries. It is also worth noting that only the i7 model has a fan, while the other should be perfect if you need to keep a minimum.
The base model starts at 128 GB SSD storage, while the maximum configuration has 1 TB of storage. More importantly, the SSD is removable just like with the ARM-based Surface Pro X. The Surface Pro 7+ should be able to upgrade users as it is an M.2 2230 module. Other notable features include a larger battery that can provide up to 15 hours of use and a 1080p camera on the front that is suitable for dull environments, such as those found at home.
As with Microsoft products designed for business and training, it’s not clear when you’ll be able to grab one yourself, but we do know that prices start at $ 899 for the Core i3 model with 8GB of RAM and 128 GB SSD and $ 1,149 for the Core i5 with LTE models. The top model with a Core i7 processor, 32 GB RAM and 1 TB storage costs $ 2,799. Microsoft plans to ship it to customers in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the EU from January 15.