One of the most well-received mobile workhorses which even landed as one of Time magazine's Top 25 inventions for 2014 was the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. Because of this, there are already rumors that the Cupertino-based company is now arranging for the next in line Surface Pro 4. More recently, Microsoft has also unveiled a Surface 3 tablet, aimed at those who are wishing to get Pro-like performance without breaking the bank. How would the two compare?

Display

Microsoft's newly-launched Surface 3 features a 10.8-inch screen with a 1920 x 1280 resolution. The Surface Pro 4, on the other hand, is rumoured to come in two versions. There will be a mid-range model that would have a 12-inch screen that will come with 2K display able to have a 2160 x 1440 resolution. The premium version will have a slightly bigger 14-inch display.

Processor and hardware specs

The new Surface 3, being made for the targeted mid-range class, features an Intel Atom x7 SoC with a quad-core processor. It comes in either a 2 GB or a 4 GB RAM variant with 64 GB and 128 GB of internal storage, respectively.

The Surface Pro 4 will reportedly be powered by either an i5 or i7 configurations for both models. This will make the Pro 4, even the mid-range model, much faster than the Surface 3. And with a reported 16 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB storage, the Surface Pro 4 is decidedly the winner in terms of hardware specs.

Power-wise, Microsoft would need the Surface Pro 4's batteries amped up, in order to compete with the Surface 3's 10-hour run. No details yet on the Pro 4's battery life, but based on its predecessor, it would undoubtedly provide more than 9 hours of juice.

The Surface 3 is already available in the Microsoft Store and retailers, while the Surface Pro 4 is still in the works and will have a rumoured launch in the middle of this year.