Every new Surface Pro has been the best Surface Pro yet. The new fifth-generation Surface Pro—unnumbered, Microsoft having dropped numeric suffixes—continues that trend. It is as good as or better than its predecessor, the Surface Pro 4, in every way.

And yet, the new machine strikes me as unambitious in a way that older models weren't.

The 2017 Surface Pro is an extremely incremental update. What was once a Skylake processor is now a Kaby Lake chip, which brings a healthy improvement in battery life and additional GPU features such as accelerated 4K HEVC video decoding. Overall, the new Surface Pro runs a bit faster and lasts longer away from the wall socket. The screen size and resolution remain the same (a beautiful 12.3" display with a strange 2736×1824 resolution), pen latency is lower, and parallax error seems improved. The pen itself is better.

But beyond those small changes, well—you'd be very hard-pressed to distinguish the 2017 Surface Pro from the Pro 4. The corners are a little more rounded and that's about it.

Specs at a glance: Microsoft Surface Pro (2017, 5th-gen) Base As reviewed Screen 2736×1824 12.3" (267 PPI), 10-point capacitive PixelSense touchscreen OS Windows 10 Pro CPU Intel 7th generation Core m3-7Y30 Intel 7th generation Core i7-7660U RAM 4GB 16GB GPU Intel HD Graphics 615 Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 SSD 128GB 1TB Networking 802.11ac/a/b/g/n with 2x2 MIMO antennas, Bluetooth 4.0 Ports Mini-DisplayPort, headphones, micro-SDXC, USB 3.0, Cover port, Surface Connect Cameras Rear: 8MP autofocus, 1080p video

Front: 5MP, 1080p video, infrared facial recognition Size 11.50×7.9×0.33" (292×201.3×8.5 mm) Weight 1.69 lb (0.768 kg) 1.73 lb (0.784 kg) Battery 42 Wh Warranty 1 year Price $799 $2,699 Sensors Ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer Other features 36 W charger with 5 W USB charging port, TPM 2.0

A more potent pen

The Surface Pro's pen has seen a significant upgrade. It now has 4,096 pressure levels (up from 1,024), and Microsoft has added tilt support; you can hold the pen upright to write with a fine point, or you can angle it for shading. A wide range of artists have already made Surface Pros an important part of their toolkits, and tilt support will further enhance this. (Microsoft has promised to add support for the new tilting pen to the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book, and Surface Studio through a firmware update, though there's no ETA yet.)

The magnet on the pen is also considerably stronger; one problem I've found with previous models is that the pen often gets divorced from the system when it's in my laptop bag; a stronger magnet should reduce this.

The old pen will work on the new system, so if you don't care about tilt and have a pen from a Pro 3, Pro 4, Book, or Studio, you can continue to use it. One less satisfactory aspect of the new pen is that Microsoft no longer bundles it. With the Pro 4, only the cheapest system omitted the pen; now they all do. Worse still, the new pen is more expensive—$100 as opposed to $60.

The good news is that Microsoft now arguably makes two of the most compelling devices for digital artists: the Studio when you're at a desk and the Pro when you're on the move. (The Pen and the Surface Dial can be shared between and are compatible with both systems.) This certainly strengthens the Surface line-up as a whole; Microsoft is building not just products but an ecosystem.

The 2017 Pro also has a slightly improved kickstand. The multi-angle kickstand seen on the Pro 4 now supports an even wider range of angles—it can now sit slightly flatter when folded back, for an angle that's very similar to that of the Studio—and is stiffer across its range of motion. The kickstand was already a fine piece of engineering—the Pro 4s I've used have held up well, not becoming slack or wobbly—and I fully expect the new design to be the same.

A first-rate typing experience

The all-important Type Covers are, again, incrementally improved, with a typing action and feel that would feel at home even in a traditional laptop. The keys feel a little crisper when pressed, with a positive switch action and a good amount of key travel. The touchpad remains a nice size with a smooth glass surface and accurate pointing and gesturing.

In previous generations, the mainstream Type Covers were plastic and available in a range of colors; Microsoft also offered more expensive "Signature" variants covered in Alcantara, a synthetic fabric. With the new Surface Pro, Microsoft is clearly trying to push the Type Covers up market. The cheaper keyboard ($130) is now only available in black; if you want colors, they all sport the Alcantara fabric and attract the Alcantara pricing ($160).

Alcantara is supposed to be a hard-wearing fabric—it's also used in car seats and steering wheels, uses which require considerable endurance. Microsoft insists that the fabric is wipe-clean and that there's no reason to be concerned about the keyboard staying attractive. I'm not in the least bit convinced. Pictures of filthy, stained Signature Type Covers are common; units I've seen in Microsoft Stores are often far from pristine.

I know that I shouldn't eat at my desk and that my hands should be grease- and sweat-free every time I use my keyboard. But I do eat at my desk, and sometimes my hands are not completely clean. New York City is currently sweltering, and sweat is frankly unavoidable. The keyboard will inevitably get dirty, and I simply don't believe that a fabric covering is ever going to be as easy to keep presentable as hard plastic.

The three Alcantara colors (burgundy, cobalt blue, and platinum) look attractive, and Alcantara certainly feels pleasant; in a world of metal laptops with sharp edges, the warmth and softness of the fabric provide a nice contrast. But ultimately, I don't think it's a good match for the ways that people use computers.