Last month, Apple unveiled its largest tablet ever, the stylus-equipped iPad Pro. Microsoft answered on Tuesday with the Surface Pro 4.
"We have competitors, you may have noticed," Panos Panay, corporate vice president for Surface Computing, said at a launch event in New York City.
"They're chasing it," he said of the Surface line of tablets. "It's pretty cool."
The new Surface Pro 4 features a 12.3-inch screen, which is slightly larger than the Surface Pro 3 but smaller than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
As for performance, Microsoft's new tablet is 30 percent faster than its predecessor and 50 percent faster than the MacBook Air, Panay said. It also measures only 8.4 millimeters thick, compared to the 9.1-millimeter Surface Pro 3.
The Surface Pro 4 comes with a new Type Cover keyboard that is 40 percent larger than the previous model, complete with a fingerprint scanner, glass trackpad, and back-lit keys. Microsoft also released a new stylus that works for around a year without the need to charge it.
Related: Apple Unveils iPad Pro, Its Largest Tablet Ever, Starting at $799
Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 tablet starts at $899, with pre-orders starting on October 7 and shipping starting on October 26.
