The last 24 hours have seen a flurry of Microsoft Surface news, with updates on the Surface Pro 4, the newly announced ‘ultimate laptop’ the Surface Book and now, the Surface Pen and Surface covers. Both of these are now available for pre-order immediately, with the latter purchasable in a range of color combinations.
The Surface Pen has been revamped for this generation, giving it a digitally satisfying 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, which makes it remarkably accurate at translating how hard you’re pressing into the digital medium. On top of that, Winbeta is reporting that the Surface Pen has a reduced latency, which will make it an even more useful tool to artists performing fine work.
You can even use it as a quick access Cortana button. You can call her just by pressing down the button on the end of the Pen, giving you access to information and functions without taking your hand off if you don’t want to.
Related: Hands on: Microsoft Surface Pro 4
That means artists can keep working, whilst still having access to information they might otherwise have needed to stop for.
And harkening back to the real-world pencils we all used at some point, the Pen also allows for the erasing of written or drawn data, by rubbing the end of it against whatever surface is being used.
The Pen is currently available for $60. It will ship by October 26.
The covers shown off by Microsoft at its recent unveiling are a little more expensive at $130 a piece. They work with both the Surface Pro 4 and Pro 3 and come in colors that include black, blue, red, and teal. There’s also an Onyx, which looks identical to the black in the images, but that also comes with a fingerprint scanner and has a higher $160 price tag.
All of these, however, give the ‘full laptop’ experience on the Surface Pro 4, making it easier to type out larger documents. The keys are spread slightly farther apart than previous models, making them more easily navigable, and more familiar for traditional keyboard users.
There’s also a larger trackpad, and the “cover” works as a protective casing for the high-resolution display as well.
