Surface Pro 4 and the New Surface Pro are very similar to one another, but we’re here to weed out every difference in specs, price and other small features. If you're torn between a 2016 and 2017 tablet, we’re here to help.

1) Design: What you’re looking at here is basically a mirror image. The Surface Pro 4 is 292x201x8.4 mm while the New Surface Pro just differs by being 8.5 millimeters tall. At face value, nobody will be able to tell which generation you’re using.

2) Display: In this case both the Surface Pro 4 and New Surface Pro both have a 3:2, 12.3 inch screen with 2736 x 1824 resolution. The New Pro has multi-touch support with an enhanced version of the Surface Pen, but the pen isn’t included in the box this time.

3) CPU: The only truly meaningful upgrade found in the New Surface Pro is its Kaby Lake chipsets spread across m3, i5 and i7 versions. The Surface Pro 4 uses Skylake instead. In general, you’re getting increased battery life, performance improvements of around 20 percent and vastly improved video streaming.

In some recent benchmarks, it’s estimated that the New Surface Pro i5 version will perform at about the same pace as last year’s i7. That’s a handy little rule of thumb if you’d like to save some money. Oh, and the m3 and i5 versions are fanless too, so that means they make no noise. All Surface Pro 4’s have fans.

4) Battery Life: With that Kaby Lake CPU and some clever hardware improvements by Microsoft, the New Surface Pro offers a marked battery life advantage over its predecessor. Microsoft advertises a 50 percent boost totaling a whopping 13.5 hours of battery life. If endurance is what you need, 2017’s variant is clearly your best option.

5) Storage & RAM: The Pro 4 and New Pro are identical. They offer similar classes ranging from 4GB - 16GB RAM and 128GB - 1TB of storage. The product tiers are basically the same, but we assume after launch users will be able to customize the New Surface to fit the specs they need.

6) Connections & Ports: Both the New and Surface Pro 4 have a USB 3.0, microSD, Surface Connect and mini DisplayPort. Neither have USB-C, but Microsoft is releasing a dongle to solve that problem. Where the new Pro differs is that it can optionally feature LTE. Bluetooth is also upgraded from 4.0 to 4.1.

7) Operating System: Both tablets feature Windows 10 Pro, but Microsoft says versions of the New Surface Pro will also be released with Windows 10 S. We see no reason to spring for an S version, but, if you want a fast and supremely secure experience, the option is there for you.

8) Kickstand: It’s a small change, but the New Surface Pro kickstand can fold to a 165-degree angle as opposed to 150. If you’re a creator who wants a tablet to lay nearly flat, that small detail is worth knowing.

9) Price: The cost tiers between Surface Pro 4 and New Surface Pro are essentially the same. However, with the New Surface Pro, there’s no Surface Pen in the box. Both products start at $799 MSRP and do not include the $130 Type Cover. Like we said above, the best way to save money on the new model is to downgrade to an i5 with the expectation that it will perform about as well as 2016’s i7.

Of course as sales for the Surface Pro 4 continue, you can get your hands on last year’s model for as low as $699. Most major outlets are generally offering up to $200 savings on mainstream models. This is a trend that’s been continuing for months, so you won’t need to look hard to find a sale at the time of writing.

The New Surface Pro is available for pre-order now with shipment beginning June 15. The Surface Pro 4 is in stores now.

What do you think of these two tablets? Is the 2016 model a better value for not much change? Is it best to upgrade to Kaby Lake? Tell us in the comments section!

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