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Most of Microsoft's Surface product line is expected to be refreshed at the Microsoft event in New York on October 2, and speculations, rumors, and potential reports about the new Surface hardware are starting to emerge. to surface. But which ones have a meaning?
Last October, Surface launched Microsoft's Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2 and Surface. Earlier in 2018, Microsoft announced the software Surface Go and Surface Book 2. Theoretically, Microsoft could update all of these products, which would make it an epic event in Surface next month.
Rob EnderleMicrosoft's surface headsets did not have much effect. Could the auricles be the next generation?
Microsoft has a wide variety of chipsets from AMD, Intel and Qualcomm to exploit the new Surface hardware. First, there are no less than six viable central microprocessors around which Microsoft could build a Surface device: the Intel "Whiskey Lake" 8th generation laptop and the "Amber Lake" Y Series chips; The Intel 10th Generation Ice Lake Platform, also in the U and Y Series configurations; and the 10th generation "Comet Lake" platform, also in the U and Y series. Intel's Pentium Gold chips, which are the foundation of Surface Go, can still play a role.
Then there are AMD's new Ryzen Mobile processors, which have always struggled to find traction in laptops. Finally, we have Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx chips, which promise better performance and total connectivity.
Depending on how you calculate it, you have the choice between six different chip platforms. before you start to dive into particular families such as the Core i5 or the Ryzen 7. Now let's leave the rumors about the specific features of the product …
Surface Pro 7 using USB-C: Credible
Brad Sams of Thurrott began claiming last year that the Surface Pro 7 (and probably also the Surface Laptop 3) would include a USB-C interface as part of Under a surface, a book that he wrote about the past and future of Surface devices. To be fair, most people expected Microsoft to migrate to USB-C latest generation, as virtually all of its competitors have done, as well as the Surface Book 2. The question now is whether Microsoft will remove the Surface Connector, a staple of all Surface devices, or double it, as it does. did with the Surface Book 2.
Mark Hachman / IDGThe Surface Surface Connector Pro 6 (the long slot on the side of this Surface Pro 6) provides power and I / O, but Microsoft has not done much more.
Our proposal: USB-C replaces the type A connector already present on Surface devices. If Microsoft deletes the Surface connector, the USB-C port will probably be Thunderbolt compatible. If this is not the case, it is more likely that the USB-C exists alongside the Surface connector as a more generic I / O.
IDG / Mark HachmanIn Surface Book 2, a USB-C port is installed next to the Surface connector.
Surface Pro 7 with Comet Lake: Credible
It is reasonable to assume that Intel's Comet Lake will appear in one Surface and Ice Lake product in another. Winfuture.de thinks the Surface Pro 7 will run Comet Lake and in the following configurations:
- Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Intel Core i3, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD
- Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD
- Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
This is also credible, especially since these are the default configurations for most laptops at one time or another. But remember, Ice Lake has an improved Iris Plus compatible GPU, while Lake Comet enjoys faster clock speeds. Deciding to increase the clock speed on a tablet while reserving the graphics power of Ice Lake to a Surface 3 or Surface Book 3 laptop seems more logical.
IntelAn "OEMJL" list in GeekBench (codenames that Microsoft used earlier) suggests that an SP7 could use Ice Lake, but we remain skeptical.
A laptop 15 inches 3 surface: plausible
The original Laptop Surface was a laptop specifically designed for students. The Surface Laptop 2 has not changed much, the competition has responded. Winfuture.de again suggests that a 15-inch Surface 3 laptop could be envisioned, as well as the existing 13-inch model.
MicrosoftWho would not want a larger Surface Laptop? But Microsoft may not see it the same way.
It's reasonable. I do not see any particular need for a 15-inch laptop, but that would expand the product line. On the other hand, this would also represent development work going beyond any revision of the 13-inch model. Earlier iterations suggested that Microsoft had been cautious in its hardware changes.
A Surface Laptop 3 with Ryzen Mobile: Doubtful
But my boy, would it be a jump? To date, most surfaces have used a processor manufactured by Intel (with the exception of the Surface 2 Nvidia Tegra chip and Surface RT). AMD is relatively little present in the mobile phone market beyond its A-series chips. I still think that Microsoft will come out of the Intel hegemony, but I see it with Qualcomm, not with AMD.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx in one area: possible
Winfuture.de predicts again that a reorganized Surface Pro 7 will use an Intel Core m processor, which the Surface Pro tablet used previously. Brad Sams takes another tactic: the Surface Pro 7 may have an option instead using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx.
QualcommQualcomm's estimates of its Snapdragon 8cx chips put it alongside a Core i5 "Kaby Lake-R" chip.
If Microsoft believes in its Windows vision on ARM, designing a surface around an ARM chip is a no-brainer, and the 8cx is the obvious choice. So far, we have not seen the compressed platform in a format smaller than a flapper. A Surface Pro 7 can be an option. I still think Surface Go makes sense; However, if you want a machine connected all day, the Surface Laptop allows you to more meaning. But – and this is a big one – the minute a student can not complete a task due to incompatibilities, Surface's reputation in the world of education will quickly fade. The Snapdragon surface has many advantages, but it also has many potential disadvantages.
A double-screen surface: Show, not sell
Intel started promoting dual screen computers in 2018 and we saw more prototypes this summer at Computex with Honeycomb Glacier and others. Microsoft would also have a double-screen tablet "Centaurus", taking a page of devices like the Galaxy Fold.
Mark Hachman / IDGIntel's "Twin Rivers" prototype has been optimized for content consumption.
A dual-display device implicitly requires users to tap a window. The writers of PCWorld have clearly divided on this point. I think it's a bad idea, which looks like running barefoot. My editor, Melissa Riofrio, is much more open to this idea. It would be difficult for Microsoft to get rid of its excellent Surface keyboards for a device that does … what? Consume content? And which OS? The consensus seems to think that Microsoft could show a dual-display device when launching Surface and not sell it for the moment. A dual-display device is terribly exciting from a content consumption perspective, but we hope that Microsoft also presents a viable business case.
A Surface Book 3 with RTX hardware? Why not?
The status of Surface Book 3 is definitely in question. It is certainly time for Microsoft to update its powerful notebook, although Surface Book 2's power issues suggest that Microsoft may need to rethink its design. A July bug preventing Surface Book 2 from receiving the May 2019 update – and playing 3D games – because of discreet GPU issues has not been officially fixed since. (On my Surface Book 2, however, the discrete GPU works.)
AcerAcer's Predator Triton, announced at CES, uses an Nvidia mobile RTX chip.
If Microsoft had to rearrange the Surface Book 2, it could certainly update it with Intel Comet Lake or Ice Lake chips. It is unclear whether Microsoft would prefer to use Ice Lake's Iris Plus graphics cards and a separate graphics processor. But if Microsoft bet big and put a Nvidia mobile RTX chip inside, that would be a big problem. There has been absolutely no leakage suggesting that this happens, but it is a future that Microsoft could bring to the present.
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