Surface 3 production to end in Q4 2016 + Speculation on Surface 4

Microsoft has announced their plans to end production of the Surface 3. Launched in early 2015, the Surface 3 offered an x86 Intel Atom processor and active stylus support in a smaller and lighter form factor than a Surface Pro. These changes from the previous ARM powered Surface 2 (Windows RT) created a relatively capable device at a lower cost than the Pro models.

Source

Speculation:

Microsoft has not yet announced a successor (Surface 4?), but assuming that one is coming, there will certainly be some major changes to the device. Earlier this year, Intel announced their plans to end development on Atom Broxton for smartphones and tablets. This would have been the direct successor to the Cherry Trail-T processor inside of the Surface 3. Apollo Lake, which uses the same Goldmont cores in Broxton, was not cancelled, but is not likely to make an appearance outside of cloudbooks or yoga-style 2-in-1 devices. This leaves Microsoft with the more costly and much more powerful, Skylake or Kabylake Core m processors. Utilizing a Core m processor would also open up the device to a number of new capabilities such as the use of a PCIe SSD and Thunderbolt 3. This would also mean that using an external GPU is now a possibility.

Other changes might include the removal of the capacitive Windows button on the bezel and a slight increase in the size of the display. The introduction of Windows Hello functionality through a fingerprint sensor or an IR sensor for face detection is also possible. A stylus with an eraser and magnet, as seen on the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, would be a likely addition.

Microsoft, the owner of N-Trig, has also been developing a next generation stylus technology with the cooperation of Wacom and other companies in the industry. G13 is designed to be a high performance pen with features such as tilt detection, 240 Hz and 4096 levels of pressure.

Given the number and types of improvements, a successor, as imagined above, would probably see an increase in base price. These features would bring it much closer to a Surface Pro, but in a smaller/lighter form factor.

It's not unusual for tech companies to discontinue hardware before announcing new hardware. It's a little unusual if it's from something like Surface 3 to Surface 4 because it's the same product line. It would be a little like discontinuing the MacBook Pro before releasing the next model of MacBook Pro.

Apple just discontinued their Thunderbolt display and one can only think it means a new type of display all together that would carry a different name.

So it could mean a bigger change than we understand, which could be exciting for fans. There are more pessimistic ways to look at it, too, but only time will tell at this point.

It is a bit odd, there is the chance Microsoft might not make a successor and just continue to focus on the Surface Pro and Surface Book line. The entry Surface Pro 4 uses a fanless design and a Core m processor, it's a larger device (12.3" display), but it only weighs ~0.3 lbs more than a Surface 3. Of course, Microsoft often announces things with little to no rumours in advance. The Surface 3's hardware was mostly a surprise and the Surface Book was almost completely unexpected.

I've heard some rumours about a new TB display that might have an graphics card inside. It would be more likely for Apple to announce this alongside a new MacBook Pro 13" and 15" with Thunderbolt 3. As well, a new Mac Mini with Thunderbolt 3 for an external GPU could make a lot of sense.

For example, Intel's Skull Canyon PC has an i7-6700HQ (4 cores / 8 threads), DDR4 RAM and a PCIe SSD. The Iris Pro 580 graphics is respectable given the size of the PC, but using an external GPU through Thunderbolt 3 gives the user a much more capable system.

While I don't know if a new Mac Mini will have the same level of performance as Intel's Skull Canyon (Apple has a history of using mobile processors), the setup could be similar.

As for the display itself, a 5K resolution and ideally something like AMD's RX 480 could offer respectable levels of performance.

@NVIDIATI: Yes, I also saw the GPU-clad display rumor from Apple. I'm not sure what to think about that yet.

Microsoft is done with Surface. Hardly any profit for massive amounts of work and time spent.

Being an Apple branded 'accessory' product, price always comes into question. There was nothing that justified the original TB display's price, given monitors as low as half the price could be found using the same display. It would however fit the direction Apple seems to be moving. All of their laptops with the exception of a higher equipped version of the Macbook Pro 15" now uses Intel's graphics. TB3 with the addition of external GPU support for these devices will allow for greater capabilities when docked and increased mobility when on the move.

With or without Apple, the Windows market is already going big on TB3 and external GPU's. AMD's XConnect for external GPUs (announced earlier this year) will even allow for hot-plugging, so you can plug in or unplug a GPU without having to shut down the device. This makes using an external GPU into a simple plug-n-play task instead of what was previously more complex.

DirectX 12 can allow for both the internal and external GPU's to be utilized at the same time for even greater performance:

It goes without saying, these features and advantages are only going to be available for Windows devices, so it would definitely be a great addition for future Surface devices. Apple, on the other hand, will still need to develop their own driver compatibility and API (or potentially adopt Vulkan) to match the current versatility and performance for Windows devices.

External GPU's come in many shapes and sizes, this might make things even more difficult for Apple, given you can have mobile GPUs or desktop GPUs from either NVIDIA or AMD. For example, Acer's Graphics Dock is very small in size and it has a GTX 960M 4GB, meanwhile something like Razer's Core can accommodate desktop GPU of a user's choosing and comes with it's own PSU.

UPDATE

Placeholders, that say "Coming Soon", have just been spotted in Microsoft Building 88:

Three of them are for 2017 and one of them is for 2016.

@NVIDIATI: it could also be the rumored Surface AIO Desktop. But I would love a Surface 4.

Yeah, an all-in-one could be interesting, but I don't think I'd ever purchase one for myself. I imagine it would be like a very large Surface Pro with an adjustable kickstand so you can easily change the angle for writing/touch.

Microsoft is dying.