Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Release Date, Rumors, Features: Delayed for Intel's Kaby Lake Processors

Jun 09, 2016 11:06 AM EDT

Microsoft Surface Pro 5 was originally rumored to be released sometime this month, but consumers of the updated technology will need to hold on a little while longer.

The reason for the wait is that Microsoft will be waiting for the new Kaby Lake processors from Intel to use in the new tablet.  The Kaby Lake processors are 7th generation processors, and are said to draw lesser power, and the battery life will be better because of it. 16GB of RAM in the device will make it so easy to multi-task. The extra RAM will cost more than the ones with lower amounts in similar models.

The battery life improvement will be welcomed by Surface Pro 4 users, after many have complained about the current battery life. The device currently gets only 5 hours and 15 minutes on the video setting according to techradar. Microsoft currently says that the Pro 4 should get 9 hours of life. Speculation states that the Surface Pro 5 should go up to at least 7 hours of battery life.

According to MobiPicker, and their sources from China, There might not be a 4K display as the standard. Again, if you want to pay more, you can get that option, but the 2K display option will be available for those who don't care about the screen resolution.

Nvidia Pascal or AMD Polaris GPUs are said to be on the new release, and that the tablet will come with Windows 10 Redstone 2.

MobiPicker claims that the chances are high that this is a genuine leak because the information is also being talked about on Weibo, but that any of these speculations should be taken with a grain of salt.

Some have speculated that this will all be released in October of this year, but MobiPicker says that we likely won't see the release until the spring of 2017, due to the wait on the new Intel processors.

Other rumors include the size of the screen becoming bigger at 13.3 inches, like the size of most laptops. USB-C availability, and perhaps the advancement of the Surface Pen. The current version uses AAAA batteries, and people think it's about time that the pen is rechargeable.

Microsoft's patent for a stylus charger may take the form of a charging dock that holds the Surface Pen magnetically.

The Surface Pro 5's pricing is rumored to start at $899 for the i5, and all the way up to $1,599 for the i7 extreme.