Rumors of a new, cheaper Surface tablet have been around for almost two months, and now, the Surface Go is finally here. Aimed at the educational market and starting at $399, it"s the 10-inch tablet that we"ve been expecting.
Microsoft says that it"s embracing a sort of hybrid market with the Surface Go, or as the company puts it, it"s "embracing the word AND". Like most modern devices, it shoots for being good at work and play. The Surface Go weighs in at just 1.15 pounds with its 10-inch PixelSense (1800x1200) display, meaning that it"s very portable, and of course, you can snap on a keyboard to get some work done.
One thing that wasn"t true about the leaks is that the base model does not come with a Pentium Silver processor, or a Pentium Gold 4410Y for that matter. The only CPU option for the Surface Go is a Pentium Gold 4415Y. That"s a 6W dual-core (hyperthreaded) chip that"s built on the 14nm Kaby Lake architecture, and it should be clocked at 1.6GHz.
The body is made of magnesium, as are all portable Surface devices except for the Laptop. That means that there won"t be any fancy colors; it will only be in platinum. However, it"s the first Surface device to not include a USB Type-A port. All you"ll get is USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C, Surface Connect, a micro-SD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
There"s also going to be a model with 4G LTE; however, that won"t be available until later on this year, similar to what the company did with the Surface Pro last year. For some reason, Microsoft just can"t get out of the gate with a 4G LTE variant on day one.
You"ll be able to get it with 4GB or 8GB of 1866MHz LPDDR3 RAM, along with 64GB eMMC, or 128GB SSD. It has an IR camera on the front for Windows Hello, and stereo speakers for Dolby Audio Premium.
But that"s not all, because a new Surface form factor means new accessories, including the Surface Go Signature Type Cover. There"s the regular black one that"s made of polyurethane, and then of course, there are the Alcantara ones that come in Burgundy, Platinum, and Cobalt Blue. The black one will cost $99, while the Alcantara Type Covers will be $129.
And then there"s the Surface Mobile Mouse, which also comes in Platinum, Burgundy, and Cobalt Blue. The Bluetooth mouse promises a compact and portable design, and it only costs $34.99.
Starting at $399, you can pre-order the Surface Go today in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Taiwan, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Malaysia, and Thailand. It will be available in the U.S. and Canada on August 2, and Microsoft didn"t specify when it will be available in the other markets.
If you"re in Japan, you can order it starting on July 11, in Singapore and Korea on August 2, and in China on August 8. In September, the tablet will be available for pre-order in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain on September 12, and in India on October 2.
Pricing in the U.S. is $399 for 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, or $549 for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. For commercial customers, it"s $50 more. Consumers will receive the device with Windows 10 Home in S mode, while commercial customers will have the option for Windows 10 Pro.