Microsoft launches Surface Pro 3, pitching it as the perfect laptop-tablet hybrid

MICROSOFT hoped its first tablet would kill the iPad. Now it’s hoping its new tablet will kill Apple’s MacBook Air.

Microsoft Surface Pro 3

MICROSOFT hoped to knock Apple’s iPad off its perch when it launched the Surface tablet. Now with the third-generation Surface Pro 3, it hopes to knock off Apple’s MacBook Air.

The Surface Pro 3 launched in New York overnight is being pitched as the new best business buddy, with a 12-inch 2160 x 1440 screen that jumps up from the 10.6-inch screen of the previous Surface tablet.

That new screen size means the Surface Pro 3 has a more conventional 3:2 aspect ratio rather than the distinctive 16:9 ratio of the Surface tablets.

“It’s the tablet that can replace your laptop,” Microsoft said launching the tablet hybrid.

“It is the most powerful, thinnest, and lightest Surface Pro yet. It is a full PC and a brilliant tablet.”

Microsoft has taken a clear change of tack with this version of the Surface after the Surface Pro 2 struggled to make much of an impact in the marketplace, with the most recent IDC figures showing that Surface tablets were just 1.5 per cent of global tablet shipments in the first quarter of this year, down from 1.8 per cent last year.

Microsoft highlighted that the Surface Pro 3 was lighter and 30 per cent thinner than Apple’s MacBook Air and a new hinge between the screen and the kickstand means it can now be propped up on any angle between zero and 150 degrees, which is designed to make it easier to sit on your lap.

Light and easy ... Pants Panay, corporate vice president with Microsoft's Surface division, highlights the lightness of the Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

Microsoft also unveiled new detachable keyboards with a bigger trackpad and a stylus, or pen as Microsoft called it.

One thing missing from the New York launch was a rumoured Surface Mini.

The Surface Pro 3 promises 9-hour battery life. It runs a full version of Windows 8 on an Intel Core i3 chip (with i5 and i7 versions available), is 9.1mm thick and has a micro SD card reader and a USB 3 port.

It will be available in Australia from August 31, with prices starting at $979.