14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft unveiled the Surface Pro as the most recent member of its Surface family, and together with the new device, the company also took the wraps off a new-generation Surface Pen that features a significant number of improvements.
Microsoft claims the new Surface Pen is the fastest in the world, and the company didn’t refrain from comparing it with Apple’s own Pencil that was launched with the iPad Pro.
The new Surface Pen is twice as responsive as the Apple Pencil, Microsoft said, clearly emphasizing that, at this point, its own stylus is the absolute best technology of its kind on the market.
Faster than the Apple Pencil
And the new generation truly delivers a series of significant improvements. The Surface Pen features 4096 pressure points and has 21 milliseconds of latency, which means that you barely feel any lag when drawing or writing. This means the experience is as natural as possible and it’s pretty much the closest you can get right now to writing on a piece of paper with a traditional pencil.
The new pen also introduces a tilt feature that makes it possible for users to angle the pen for shading, which is another feature that brings it closer to a traditional pen.
“Not only does Surface Pro work with on-screen Surface Dial, it was also designed with the new Surface Pen, our most natural and responsive pen yet, with over 4096 pressure points, only 21 milliseconds of latency and new tilt functionality,” Panos Panay, the man in charge of the Surface series, explained.
“It gives people, from artists to mobile professionals, a more fluid and real-to-life inking experience. Over two times more accurate, with four times more pressure sensitivity than the original Surface Pen, we engineered Surface Pen to be the fastest pen ever. And with the lowest parallax in the industry, we bring your ink and your content closer to your fingertips.”
Apple to unveil new model next month
Cupertino-based rival Apple is also investing in digital pens, even though at first the company said such a device had no place in modern technology. Apple downplayed 2-in-1 devices from the very beginning, calling Microsoft’s Surface a mix of a toaster and a refrigerator because it combined a tablet with a detachable keyboard.
Furthermore, Apple pledged to never release a stylus, but due to the success of the Surface series, the company needed to adapt to the changing market and launched an iPad Pro with a detachable keyboard and support for the Apple Pencil.
The firm is expected to unveil its latest-generation products next month at WWDC, so a response to the just-launched Surface Pro and Surface Pen should land very soon.
