The recently concluded Microsoft event did see the release of the Microsoft Surface Book i7, which is not cheap by any means with a $2,399 price tag, mind you, alongside other goodies like the Microsoft Dial, but one particular device from Microsoft that many people looked forward to was the Surface Pro 5. However, there was nary a beep concerning the Surface Pro 5 from Microsoft, and this has certainly led to speculations by many on what the possible new Surface Pro 5 would look like, assuming it has gone beyond the drawing board and is being prepared for manufacturing.
Surface Pro 5 specs (rumors)
Whispers that are going around concerning the Surface Pro 5 would include it running on a processor from Intel -- where it could be the older Sky Lake range that can be found in the existing Surface Pro 4, or the newer range of Intel Kaby Lake processors. Needless to say, many people would prefer to have a newer breed of processors -- it makes perfect sense. Either way, both processor families will boast of 14 nanometer architecture, enabling faster clock speed changes. The Surface Pro 5 is said to have a minimum of 8GB of RAM in order for it to run, so expecting 16GB of RAM would be much more realistic.
In terms of visuals, the new Surface Pro 5 is said to arrive with 2K and 4K screen resolution, now how about that? If it were to come with a 4K/UHD 3840 x 2160p, it ought to drive up the final sticker price -- not to mention see a drop in battery performance time, when compared to the 2K version of course. The 2K version is whispered to come with a 12” PixelSense display, in the same vein as that of its predecessors.
Taking into consideration how all Surface Pro devices to date do arrive with this particularly nifty accessory known as the Surface Pen, it is rather safe to take the same road of assumption, that the new Surface Pro 5 too, will boast of stylus support. It would not be out of place to know that the new Surface Pen will boast of a higher degree of pressure sensitivity compared to its predecessors -- that’s progress for you.
Other rumored hardware specifications of the upcoming Surface 5 would be the USB Type-C ports, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and the possibility of enabling other devices that run on Windows 10 to hook up to it. Makes sense, as Microsoft already owns a patent for technology that enables one to gain access to the keyboard, mouse, memory and operating system from a connected device.
Surface Pro 5 release date and price
Historically speaking, Microsoft has always revealed new Surface products in the month of October, or somewhere near it. Since October has come and gone with nothing about the Surface Pro 5 at all, momentum is building up in the rumor mills that the Surface Pro 5 will see an early 2017 release -- which would be perfectly timed as that is when the new Intel Kaby Lake processor would be released. How much will it cost? No one really knows yet, although we would not be surprised to see a sub-$1,000 price tag, perhaps somewhere in the $900 region.
