That release date is good news as a report last week suggested the Surface Pro with LTE would be delayed until the spring. While it is essentially the same as the normal Surface Pro with added LTE connectivity, the new device is limited to the Core i5 configuration. This means the Surface Pro with LTE gets 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, or 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. Microsoft says the reason for this is because the Core i5 variant is fanless. The Core i7 Surface Pro configuration is not fanless. Microsoft has placed a Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 modem in the device. While this is capable of Category 16 LTE (1Gbps download speeds), the device is throttled to Category 9 (450Mbps). This is still above and beyond what most people who buy the LTE model will need.
Adaptability across LTE bands is important, so these are what the Surface Pro LTE supports:
Band 2 (1900MHz) Band 3 (1800MHz) Band 4 (AWS) Band 5 (850MHz) Band 7 (2600MHz) Band 8 (900MHz) Band 12 (700MHz) Band 13 (700MHz) Band 17 (700MHz) Band 19 (800MHz) Band 20 (800MHz) Band 26 (850MHz) Band 28 (700MHz) Band 29 (700MHz) Band 30 (2300MHz) Band 38 (2600) Band 39 (1900) Band 40 (2300MHz) Band 41 (2500)
Details
For the first time, Microsoft is embracing band 13. This is the LTE band owned by Verizon, which means the Surface Pro LTE will run on the largest carrier network in the United States. Microsoft was eager to talk up the seamless connectivity of the device, which can switch between networks automatically. At the event today, Microsoft did not reveal how much the new device will cost. Of course, it will be more expensive than the Wi-Fi variant. For reference, the Core i5 8GB RAM Surface Pro costs $1,299 from the Microsoft Store.
