After Panos Panay, the Microsoft Corporate VP for Surface, wrapped up the official announcement event this morning he and his team headed off to participate in a Reddit Ask Me Anything session about the second generation Surface devices.

Here are some of the interesting questions and answers from that Reddit AMA.

  • Does the connectors (USBs, Ethernet, Audio) of the Dockingstation share the Bandwidth of one USB 3.0 Port of the Pro / Pro2? What speeds can we expect from the Ethernet-Port?
    • Ethernet is 10/100. USB 3.0 is the main connection to the Dock. We have a separate USB3.0 in the Dock.
  • What graphics card is in the Surface Pro 2?
    • Intel 4400HD
  • Will the new accessories for the Surface Pro 2 work with the first Gen Pro?
    • Yes, they will – the covers, the docking station, the chargers work on both versions
  • My #1 complaint about my Surface: Volume is WAY too low. Have you fixed this in a meaningful way with v2?
    • Yes we have!
  • What’s the maximum resolution of the Mini-DisplayPort on the Pro model? Does it max out at 1920×1080 or could it go as high as quad HD 3840×2160? What about DisplayPort 1.2 – will you support display daisy-chaining?
    • Yes… does up to 4k! Yes, we support daisy chaining.
  • Will you offer the same Student Deals (10% discount) for Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2?
    • Yes – through Microsoft Store
  • Does the Surface 2 now only come in white?
    • The Surface 2 color is ‘True Magnesium’.
  • I just boxed my Surface RT up to have the logo and peeling paint fixed. Has this been addressed in the Surface 2?
    • You must have bought one of the very early units. We saw a problem with the first batches of Surface RT. This problem is ABSOLUTELY fixed with Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 We spent a ton of time with our material science team to develop a brand new, super sturdy finish.
  • When connecting the Pro 1(!) to the Dockingstation, will it be able to handle 2 external Displays (and the own Display at the same time)?
    • Yes, you will be able to handle 2 external displays at 2560×1600 while the internal display is also on. The external displays will need to be daisy chain capable via DisplayPort 1.2.
  • Does powercover come in other than black colours?
    • Power Cover is only in black
  • We see a lack of NFC, WiFi 802.11ac, and the usage of Intel HD Graphics 4400 instead of HD Graphics 5000 … there are some explanation to not put this new’s technology on this new line of devices?
    • The HD4400 has great performance for the power drawn. We put in dual channel memory for extraordinary PC Mark benchmark scores. We have options for high capacity SSDs up to 512GB. We also have best-in-class 802.11n performance.
  • Any news on a potential trade-in scheme for current Surface RT/Pro owners to get money off the new devices?
    • We’re very happy you’re interested. we’ll definitely discuss options w/ the MS Store team. we really don’t have anything lined up right now though.
  • Why was LTE not included on neither Surface nor Surface Pro?
    • Great question. We didn’t talk about it today, but Surface 2 will be launching an awesome LTE SKU early next year!
  • Can the whole new touch cover be used for gestures or just the non key area?
    • The entire key area is live! You can use it for select gestures….. some pretty cool ones.
  • Will the surface 1 pens and chargers still work with the surface 2?
    • Capacitive passive pens that worked on Surface RT will work on Surface 2. The active pen on Pro will work on Pro2. The chargers work across the whole product line, gen 1 and gen 2!
  • Please tell me that the power connector is easier to connect in these 2nd gen Surfaces. ?
    • The answer is yes :) We spent a lot of time redesigning the profile of the connector, the part that you hold with your fingers. We designed it so it is much easier to position and insert it. We also redesigned the LED on the connector such that you can see its indicator from every angle.
  • How bright does the Surface display get?
    • 400 nits.
  • What type of battery life can current Surface Pro owners (Gen1) expect while using the Power Cover? Also, is there perceptible heat being generated while it’s in use?
    • 50% more.
  • I noticed you didn’t show much detail of docking and undocking during your launch event today. It appears that it slides open and shut to allow the device to “drop” into the dock, is that correct? Also will the dock work to charge the device?
    • The docking station comes with a power supply that will charge your Surface Pro/Surface Pro 2. It does slide open and close to hold your Surface Pro.
  • I love my gen 1 surface pro. One small complaint is that the unit gets very hot after a few hours of use, making it hard to use on my lap. Were any improvements made to the cooling system? Or does the new Haswell chip run at a lower temp?
    • We’ve made multiple improvements to increase battery life and decrease heat. Surface Pro 2 will run cooler, quieter, and for longer.
  • Specifically, which i5 processor will be used with the Surface Pro 2, and what’s the GPU on the chip?
    • Intel Core i5-4200U