Although not yet sure of the release dates, rumored to be battling head this October are Microsoft and Apple, releasing Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 and Apple's MacBook Air 2016 respectively, as per a report from Yibada.
Surface Pro 4 will feature Intel's Broadwell or Skylake processor while MacBook Air 2016 will boast OS X El Capitan. Surface Pro 4 will also have a facial recognition camera called Windows Hello, which uses layers of 3D camera to authenticate a user's face, Design & Trend reports. This kind of technology can only be found in high-end products, and according to the report, applying this feature to the Surface Pro 4 will make it "mainstream."
As per Yibada, Surface Pro 4 will have a 12-inch screen display with a 2K pixel resolution, stylus, USB Type-C port, keyboard accessory, Type Cover 3 and docking station. The Surface Pro 4 will come with Windows 10, which has been launched last July 29, according to Tech Radar. Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is expected to be better than Surface Pro 3, believing to be turning out as "something special."
Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 was designed to battle against Apple's MacBook Air with the tagline, "The tablet that can replace your laptop." Although the high-end Surface Pro 3 came with an Intel Core i7 with 256 and 512 GB of storage, the device did not go well enough in terms of battery life and Type Covers.
Late last year, it was also rumored that the release of the Surface Pro lineup already costed Microsoft a $2 billion loss as reported by WCCF Tech, with Surface Pro 3's returns clamoring to reach one million in unit sales.
A DigiTimes report also states that there are rumors that Microsoft is planning to terminate the Microsoft Surface Pro lineup because of the weak sales. This rumor comes along with the problems facing Microsoft Windows phones, which are also reported to be lagging, and Xbox One, which seemed to be losing from Sony's PlayStation 4.
However, according to Yibada, this year, Microsoft's plan of continuing its Surface Pro lineup has been confirmed with the Surface Pro 4 coming up.
Microsoft had weak sales when Surface Pro 3 came out, but with these promising features that may attract and encourage consumers to buy the 2-in-1 laptop and tablet, Microsoft might have a big deal for victory when it comes to battling Apple head on.
