We also redesigned the LED on the connector such that you can see its indicator from every angle,” the team says. We designed it so it is much easier to position and insert it. “We spent a lot of time redesigning the profile of the connector, the part that you hold with your fingers. Many users found the magnetic power-cord attachment to the original Surface devices to be awkward, and they have been redesigned, Microsoft says. The dock charges Surface when they are connected. Microsoft is introducing a docking station for all Surface devices old and new to support external displays and an Ethernet connection. We made it a top priority to make sure it is the most sturdy part we could design.” “The new kickstand will not break on you in use. “We put a ton of design time into this feature,” Microsoft responds. Microsoft seems particularly proud that its kickstand now has two distinct positions, but one Reddit reader asked whether the new, lower angle would make the kickstand susceptible to damage. Before it was black, and the new version will be the natural metallic color of the magnesium alloy it is made from. The color scheme is changing for the Surface 2 body as well. Those old colorful Touch Covers without backlighting will stay on the market, the Surface team says. Touch Cover 2 comes only in black, whereas before it came in five colors. Microsoft says the new Type Covers will come in four colors whereas the earlier version came just in black. The backlit keyboards are features of Touch Cover 2 and Type Cover 2, Microsoft says.Ĭolors were a big concern of Redditors. We thus did not support backlight key on the Power cover,” the Surface team wrote. “We focused the Power Cover on longest battery life possible.
Surface pro 2 battery upgrade#
The Power Cover supports the first-generation Surface Pro as well as Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2 but not its predecessor Surface RT.Īn upgrade to the other Surface keyboards adds backlighting of the keys to make them easier to see, but the backlight is not a feature of the Power Cover. The supplemental battery in the cover recharges the battery in the tablet. Adding the new Power Cover keyboard, which contains an auxiliary battery, doubles that to 19.2 hours, the Surface team says. With Surface 2, expect a 20% increase in battery life, the Surface team says, which comes to about 9.6 hours based on Microsoft literature. Estimates for the previous version were 4 to 5 hours, which means the new ones would be 6.4 to 8 hours, based on testing. “What is the battery life of the Surface Pro 2?” one questioner asked.