Microsoft's Surface lineup could use a refresh, as the hardware lags behind the rest of the PC industry. Many of us are wondering when that refresh is coming, and what it will look like. A new report from Thurrott.com's Brad Sams has outlined some of it, including codenames and possible release timeframes.
Libra is most likely the low-cost Surface device that was reported by Bloomberg almost a month ago. The device will reportedly cost about $400 and include an Intel Core M processor. According to Sams, this is slated for later this year, so it could come shortly after Intel announces its Amber Lake eighth-generation Y-series processors.
And then there's Carmel, which is the sixth-generation Surface Pro. There was no shipping date listed for this one, and Sams speculates that this might not come soon due to the current iteration of the Surface Pro's LTE variant being released so recently. Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet said that this is likely to arrive in mid-2019, with a significant design refresh.
According to Zac Bowden of Windows Central, the Surface Studio 2 is codenamed Capitola. This also seems like it will be released sooner rather than later, given that the current Surface Studio is the oldest consumer Surface device. In fact, it still includes sixth-generation 'Skylake' processors, which are actually built for laptops.
And of course, there's Andromeda, the dual-screen mobile PC that's often referred to as the Surface Phone. This is also slated to arrive this year.
Alongside of all of that, Mary Jo Foley is also reporting that we might see refreshes of the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop that include eighth-generation Intel processors.
So to recap, we can at least hope to see the new low-cost Surface codenamed 'Libra', the Surface Studio 'Capitola', and Andromeda this year, along with eighth-gen refreshes of the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. Next year, we'll see 'Carmel', the redesigned Surface Pro, along with a new HoloLens that's codenamed 'Sydney' and the new Surface Hub 2. And finally, the next Xbox console, codenamed 'Scarlett', will arrive in 2020.
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