Microsoft Surface rumors heat up ahead of rumored October event
Microsoft is widely expected to launch its next generation of Surface devices at an event next month, and over the past week an increasing number of rumors have shed light on what form they could take. Top of the list is a new 2-in-1 device — the Surface Pro 9 — as well as the latest Surface Laptop 5.
WinFuture reports that both are expected to be available with 12th Gen Intel CPUs, up from the 11th Gen models seen in last year’s Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop 4. Specifically, it expects to see an Intel Core i5-1235U in the entry level models and a Core i7-1255U at the higher end, which should offer single-core performance increases of up to 22 percent and 12 percent respectively. Storage is expected to top out at 1TB, while up to 16GB of RAM should be available.
In addition to the Intel chips, the Surface Pro 9 could also be offered with an Arm-based processor. WinFuture reports that this will be branded as the Microsoft SQ3, and will be based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 platform. The good news is the laptop should actually support 5G this time around, which is more than can be said for last year’s Arm-powered Surface Pro X. If Microsoft is offering the Surface Pro 9 in both Intel and Arm flavors, that could mean we see an updated design and the end of the Surface Pro X line.
Over on the Surface Laptop 5 side, WinFuture reports that it’s yet to see any evidence of a version powered by an AMD processor. That’s in contrast to the Surface Laptop 4, which offered a choice of Intel and AMD. However, given that Surface chief Panos Panay posed for a selfie with AMD CEO Lisa Su just days ago, it would be surprising to see a Surface Laptop 5 without an AMD option. AMD refreshed its laptop processor lineup with the Ryzen 6000 series back at CES 2022, and announced new processors for low-power laptops just days ago.
Away from specs, the Surface Pro 9 might be available in new color options, with green (aka, “Forest”) and light blue (“Sapphire”) joining the standard black and silver variants. The screen size is expected to be 13.5-inches once again, while the Laptop 5 is expected to also be available in a larger 15-inch variant.
As for price, WinFuture reports that the Surface Pro 9 should start at €1,300 (around $1,288 and roughly €100 more than the starting price of last year’s Pro 8). Meanwhile the Laptop 5 should start at €1,200 for its 13.5-inch model (around $1,189 and roughly €50 more than last year) and €1,500 for the 15-inch version (around $1,487 and the same as last year).
According to leaker WalkingCat, Microsoft’s event is currently scheduled for October 11th at 12pm ET, although this timing is yet to be officially confirmed by the company itself.
Read the full article Here
