Surface Go 4: Microsoft to offer minor refresh this autumn with Intel Processor N200 and no ARM option

Windows Central has offered up new details about a successor to the Surface Go 3, which turns two years old next month. Earlier this year, the website claimed to have obtained information about a prototype called 'Tanta', which Microsoft was said to be developing with ARM and Intel variants. As we discussed at the time, the former was rumoured to be based on the Snapdragon 7c, a two-year-old chipset that is also two generations old.

Allegedly, Microsoft has since revised plans for the Surface Go 4, with a greater focus placed on business and educational markets. According to Windows Central, there is a belief within the company that neither segment is 'ready to adopt Windows on ARM fully', although its strategy of releasing x86 and ARM versions of the Surface Pro 9 suggests that this applies to the consumer market too. With that in mind, the next Surface Go may serve as an equivalent to the Surface Pro 7+, which could result in the device launching as the Surface Go 3+ and not the Surface Go 4.

In other words, Microsoft may not sell the next Surface Go directly to consumers; typically, Microsoft sells business models to anyone on its website, though. Apparently, ARM variants are a casualty of this refocusing exercise and have been shelved for now. Instead, Microsoft will offer the next Surface Go with the Intel Processor N200, a quad-core processor from the Alder Lake-N series. Theoretically, the Processor N200 should prove a worthy upgrade over the Core i3-10100Y that is not only more powerful but is also more efficient.

The next Surface Go should be easy to maintain and repair too, albeit with the same design and ports as its predecessor. Hence, the Surface Go 3+ or Surface Go 4 will sport a 10.5-inch IPS display with a 1,920 x 1,280-pixel resolution in a 3:2 aspect ratio. 4 GB and 8 GB of RAM options will return, which Microsoft will combine with 64 GB or 128 GB of storage. Likewise, the convertible will feature a 3.5 mm jack, a MicroSD card slot, a Surface Connect port and a USB Type-C port. Pricing has not leaked yet, but the next Surface Go is expected to arrive in the autumn with at least the Surface Pro 10, Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Surface Laptop Go 3.

Purchase the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 on Amazon