If rumors are to be believed, Microsoft is currently gearing up for the release of the upcoming Surface Pro 5. Even though the previous reports had confirmed that the device will be released in October, it now looks like Microsoft has delayed the release to early 2017 to integrate Intel’s Kaby Lake processor.
We expect Intel to launch Kaby Lake processors in January 2016 and, hence, Microsoft has decided to delay the official release of Surface Pro tablet. It doesn’t make sense to release new Surface Pro with Skylake processor, which was already released in 2015.
Designed for ultimate power efficiency, the upcoming Kaby Lake processor will also extend the battery life of the Surface Pro 5 tablet. Moreover, the tablet will provide support for up to 4K resolution.
Even though Surface Pro 4 was widely accepted by tech enthusiasts, the biggest disadvantage of the device was its average battery life. Microsoft hopes to solve this issue by integrating Kaby Lake processor, which not only consumes low power but also enhances the performance of the tablet.
Surface Pro 5 to pack Graphics card, Windows 10 Professional Redstone 2, 16GB RAM
There are unconfirmed reports that the Surface tablet will be powered with a dedicated graphics card, which could be Nvidia Pascal or the latest AMD Polaris. It is expected that Surface Pro 5 will be pre-loaded with Windows 10 Professional Redstone 2, which will be available by July end to coincide with the one year of Windows 10.
On the specifications front, the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will be equipped with a 12.3-inch IPS high-resolution display, up to 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage. The base model will feature a 64GB default storage, which will help beginners to install demanding software applications like Visual Studio and SQL Server without any hassles.
Based on a recent patent petition filed by Microsoft, it is rumored that the Surface Pro 5 will be equipped with a Surface Pen with a rechargeable battery, USB Type-C port, and a built-in fingerprint scanner.
Meanwhile, Apple is scheduled to release the next-generation iPad and MacBook Pro in September. If Microsoft indeed believes that by integrating new Kaby Lake processor the device will be able to provide better performance, then the wait till January/February 2017 will be worth.
The upcoming Surface Pro 5 is expected to be priced between $800 to $999 depending on the configuration, which will vary based on memory and internal storage.
