By releasing a new Surface Pro 3 tablet device and adding new hardware options to it, Microsoft is placing in doubt the reported release of its Surface Pro 4 on July 29.
The Surface Pro 3 tablet was introduced more than a year ago and it has garnered positive reviews from both users and IT professionals.
Because of the tablet's market success, rumors of a Surface Pro 4 release together with Windows 10 at the end of this month have been circulating since November.
But the release of a new Surface Pro 3, the sixth of its kind so far, seems to indicate that there will be no release of a Surface Pro 4 anytime soon.
Paul Thurrott of thurrott.com specified the Surface Pro 3 models that have come out from the time it was first released. He said, "Microsoft has offered five Surface Pro 3 models: Intel Core i3, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of solid state storage for $799; Intel Core i5, 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of solid state storage for $999; Intel Core i5, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of solid state storage for $1299; Intel Core i7, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of solid state storage for $1549; and Intel Core i7, 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of solid state storage for $1949."
The recently-released model sits between the upper Core i5 and lower Core i7 models. It will have a Core i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD and will sell for $1299.
Another hardware tweak for the Surface Pro 3 has also been announced. Brian Hall, General Manager for Surface, disclosed on his blog that 4G LTE connectivity would coming to new Surface 3 models. This feature was made available in Japan two weeks ago and will be implemented in the UK and Germany within the week. The US release will be announced in the coming weeks.
