Microsoft Surface Pro 3 officially announced - Here's all you need to know

Today, Microsoft unveiled their third generation Surface tablet, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, during a special media event in New York. The Surface Pro 3 is the most powerful Windows tablet to date, easily capable of replacing most laptops and notebooks. 

Firstly you are presented with the solid construction that the Surface tablets are known for, and Microsoft is was not shy about dropping their brand new tablets in front of the event attendees, just to show how versatile the Surface can be. Additionally the device weighs only 800 grams, which makes it over 100 grams lighter than the previous model. Microsoft has even managed to make the tablet extremely thin at 9.1 millimeters. What's really impressive here is that Microsoft has made their newest tablet lighter and thinner, while giving it a larger 12 inch display. Despite being thinner, the Surface offers up to 9 hours of battery life.

Microsoft has upped the screen size to 12 inches on the Surface Pro 3, from the 10.6 inches on the previous model. The Surface Pro 3 has a 3:2 aspect Ratio, which Microsoft claims will give the user a more natural feel. It also gives you 6% more area than that on an 13-inch Macbook Air. The Surface Pro 3 display has a resolution of 2160 by 1440 pixels, which results in a 216 ppi pixel density.

As for its multimedia capabilities, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 comes with two 5MP cameras - one in the front and one in the back - paired with front and back-facing microphones. The snappers can shoot 1080p video at 30 frames per second. Microsoft is also touting the tablet's upgraded front-facing speakers that are now 45% louder. The tablet also features a full-size USB 3.0 port for peripherals, a Mini DisplayPort for projecting to an external display, and a microSD card reader for expandable storage.

Microsoft has further improved on the kickstand of the Surface Pro 3, which features a friction-hinge that allows you to angle your tablet anywhere between zero and 150 degrees.

The larger Surface now comes with a larger click-in keyboard, which is available in five colors. Microsoft will also introduce a docking station for your Surface which will be available in the coming months.

Microsoft wants users to feel as comfortable as using a pen and paper when their use their Surface Pro 3. Because of this, their new tablets comes with a Pen (stylus) which gives you the most natural interaction. You can start writing on your Surface by just clicking the top of your pen and the OneNote app will be on and ready to take your notes. Since OneNote is available across all platforms (iOS, Android and Windows) your notes will instantly be synced to your devices through OneDrive.

The Surface Pro 3 will be powered by the latest 4th generation Intel Core series processors, with the most powerful model running a Core i7 with HD 4400 graphics.. Microsoft has managed to put Intel's most powerful chip into its new tablet and has even managed to keep in fanless, thus making it the thinnest Core i7 device ever. Obviously the most powerful variant comes at a cost, so you could opt for the cheaper models, with the Core i3 or Core i5 processors instead. To keep its cool even under heavy load, the Surface Pro 3 relies on a fanless cooling system and vents placed around its sides. Storage options are available from 64GB to 512GB, with memory configurations offering either 4GB or 8GB of RAM.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 will be available in the following configurations, at the following estimated retail price (USD)

• 4th gen Intel® Core™ i3, 64 GB and 4 GB of RAM - $799
• 4th gen Intel® Core™ i5, 128 GB and 4 GB of RAM - $999
• 4th gen Intel® Core™ i5, 256 GB and 8 GB of RAM - $1,299
• 4th gen Intel® Core™ i7, 256 GB and 8 GB of RAM - $1,549
• 4th gen Intel® Core™ i7, 512 GB and 8 GB of RAM - $1,949

You can pre-order the device starting May 21, at 12:01 am Eastern Time at Microsoftstore.com in most launch markets, and at Microsoft retail stores and Best Buy in the United States on 21 May. It will be available for purchase in stores and through authorized resellers beginning on June 20th in the US and Canada and, by the end of August, in 26 additional markets including Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.