Home » Devices » Surface Pro 1 vs. Surface Pro 4 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Surface Pro 1 vs. Surface Pro 4 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface Pro 1 and Surface Pro 4 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest November 15, 2023

Surface Pro 1 vs. Surface Pro 4

The 2012 Surface Pro 1 features the 17W 3rd Generation Intel Ivy Bridge dual-core Intel Core i5-3317U with the boost speed up to 2.60 GHz. While the 2015 Surface Pro 4 features the 4.5W 6th Generation Intel Skylake dual-core Intel Core m3-6Y30 up to dual-core Intel Core i7-6650U with the boost speed up to 3.40 GHz.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 10.6″ Surface Pro 1 (2012) and the 12.3″ Surface Pro 4 (2015), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Pro 1 vs. Surface Pro 4: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Pro 1 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Pro 4 See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	Windows 8 Pro You can do everything as you've ever done on your PC. Laptop class performance Powered by 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB, and up to 128GB of SSD storage. Touch & Inking It supports 10-point multitouch and Surface Pen with 1,024 pressure sensitivity. Kickstand It comes with an integrated kickstand easy to switch between tablet and laptop mode. Detachable Touch & Type Cover Be more productive with a full-size keyboard doubling as a protective screen cover. More Magnet charging connector, Full-size USB 3.0 port, Bluetooth 4.0, HD front and rear camera.	New Design It’s now thinner (8.4mm), lighter (766g), the smaller bezel on the same footprint. Better display New bigger and better 12.3” PixelSense display with Microsoft G5 chipset. Better performance It’s now 30% faster than Surface Pro 3 with the range of 6th Gen Intel processors. Better Inking It now supports Surface Pen with 1,024 pressure sensitivity, magnet attached to the side of Surface Pro 4. Windows Hello It's all comes with Windows Hello facial recognition as standard. More Better 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera, new 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM.

Availability	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
Released	2012	2015
Release Info	Introduced: June 18, 2012 Not available for pre-ordered Released: February 9, 2013	Introduced: October 7, 2015 Pre-ordered: October 7, 2015 Released: October 26, 2015
Pricing	Intel® Core™ i5 $899 - i5 \| 4 GB \| 64 GB $999 - i5 \| 4 GB \| 128 GB	Starting at 899$

Surface Pro 1 Price
	Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB) with Windows 10 Anniversary (Renewed) By Microsoft $139.99 $149.99 7% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 Laptop/Tablet (2024), Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, 13" Touchscreen Display, Snapdragon X Plus (10 Core), 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage, Sapphire By Microsoft $1,199.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 7 12.3in Intel Core i5 10th Gen 8GB RAM 128GB SSD Platinum (Renewed) By Microsoft $364.95 $407.99 11% OFF	See at Amazon
Surface Pro 4 Price
	Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB) with Windows 10 Anniversary (Renewed) By Microsoft $139.99 $149.99 7% OFF	See at Amazon
	Latest Microsoft Surface Pro 4 - Intel Core, 4GB Ram, 128GB SSD, Bluetooth, Dual Camera - Windows 10 (Renewed) By Microsoft $134.99 $144.99 7% OFF	See at Amazon
	Latest Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (2736 x 1824) Tablet 6th Generation (Intel Core i5-6300U, 8GB Ram, 256GB SSD, Bluetooth, Dual Camera) Windows 10 Professional (Renewed) By Microsoft $229.80	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
Size	10.6 Inches	12.3 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (2M Pixels) Density: 208 PPI ClearType Full HDDisplay Aspect ratio: 16:9 Touch: 10 point multi-touch Surface Pen support (1st Gen)	Resolution: 2736 x 1824 (5M Pixels) Density: 267 PPI PixelSense™ Display Contrast ratio: 1300:1 Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch with GPU-based processing 100 percent sRGB color, individually calibrated

Exterior	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
Size Comparison
Dimensions	10.81” x 6.81” x 0.53” (275 mm x 173 mm x 13.46 mm) Width: 10.81” (275 mm) Height: 6.81” (173 mm) Thickness: 0.53” (13.46 mm)	11.50” x 7.93” x 0.33” (292 mm x 201.42 mm x 8.4 mm) Width: 11.50” (292 mm) Height: 7.93” (201.42 mm) Thickness: 0.33” (8.4 mm)
Weight	2 lbs (910 g)	Intel Core m3: 1.69 lbs (766 g) Intel Core i5 and i7: 1.73 lbs (786 g)
Colors	Dark Titanium	Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Surface Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys. Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12). 4 directional keys; Windows and Media Controls Keys. Trackpad: Two-finger multitouch gesture trackpad.	Surface Type Cover Not included Weight: 0.68 lb (310 g) Dimension: 11.61 x 8.54 x 0.19 inches (295 mm x 216 mm x 5mm) Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12) 4 directional keys; Windows, Brightness and Media Controls Keys; LED backlighting Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Trackpad size: 4 x 2 inches (101.6 mm x 50.8 mm) Supports a five-finger multitouch gesture.
Ports	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Surface Charging Port 1 x Headset jack 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Type Cover port	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Headset jack 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Type Cover port

Internal Specs	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
Processor	Intel® Core™ i5-3317U 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.70 → 2.60 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 17W	6th Gen Intel® Core™ m3-6Y30 2 cores, 4 threads, 0.90 → 2.20 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 4.5W 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.40 → 3.00 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6650U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.20 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics	Intel® Core™ i5-3317U Intel® HD Graphics 4000 16 Execution Units, 350 → 1.05 MHz	6th Gen Intel® Core™ m3-6Y30 Intel® HD Graphics 515 24 Execution Units, 300 → 850 MHz 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U Intel® HD Graphics 520 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6650U Intel® Iris® Graphics 540 48 Execution Units with 64 MB eDRAM side cache, 300 → 1050 MHz
Memory	4GB Dual Channel Memory	4GB 8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Storage	64 GB 128 GB SSD	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB PCIe NVMe SSD

Connectivity	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 4: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n compatible.	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology

Battery	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
Size	42 Wh	38.2 Wh
Battery Life	7-15 days of idle life	Up to 9 hours of video playback
Power Supply	48W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Charger: 43W	36W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Connect: 31W

Software	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
OS	Windows 8 Pro Upgradable Windows 10 Pro	Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps	Microsoft Office 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
Camera	720p HD LifeCam front-facing camera with TrueColor Technology 720p HD LifeCam rear-facing camera with TrueColor Technology	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD video
Audio	Single microphone Stereo speakers	Dual microphones Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio

Misc	Surface Pro 1	Surface Pro 4
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 1,024 levels of pressure Wacom Active Pen technology Can be attached to charging port Included with purchase	Supports Surface Pen 1024 levels of pressure magnetic storage
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer
Security		HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface Pro (1st Gen) Surface Pro Pen Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Pro 4 Surface Pen Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Casing: VaporMg Kickstand: 1 position at 22° Physical buttons: volumes, power	Mechanical features: Signature unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting Kickstand with a full-friction multiposition hinge to 150 degrees Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability Physical buttons: volumes, power