Microsoft Surface Pro 6 announced with a new matte black finish

Microsoft is refreshing its Surface Pro tablet / laptop hybrid today. It’s been almost a year and a half since the Surface Pro was last updated, and today’s refresh sees Microsoft add Intel’s 8th-generation processors and a new black color variant. It’s the first time in at least five years we’ve seen Microsoft use black on the Surface Pro since the original Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2.

The matte black finish covers the entire Surface Pro 6, and you can swap out the keyboard for different colors as usual. Microsoft’s black coloring is not the only new addition here, though. Microsoft’s Surface chief, Panos Panay, says the company has overhauled the inside of the Surface Pro 6 so it has improved cooling. That means the Surface Pro 6 now supports quad-core processors, and Microsoft claims it will be 67 percent faster than the previous model.

This new internal design should also help improve battery life. Microsoft says the Surface Pro 6 will last for 13.5 hours on battery life. While there’s an internal redesign, the outside looks very familiar. It’s still 1.7 pounds, and it has the same 12.3-inch display and up to 16GB of RAM inside.

Unfortunately, the Surface Pro 6 will include the same connectivity and external design as the existing model, which means there are still no USB-C ports. It’s surprising Microsoft still isn’t adopting USB-C in its flagship Surface Pro, especially given the company has introduced this new connector on both the Surface Go and Surface Book 2.

Microsoft says the Surface Pro 6 will start at $899 with an Intel Core i5 processor, and will be available on October 16th.

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