14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that Microsoft was looking into building its very own foldable Surface model, and if the information provided by an analyst is anything to be believed, the debut of this device should happen in less than 12 months.
Jeff Lin, Associate Director, Consumer Electronics at IHS Markit, told Forbes that Microsoft is indeed working on a foldable Microsoft Surface, and it is expected by this time next year.
Lin claims Microsoft is targeting the first half of 2020 for the launch of the device, but if it’s ready earlier, it could go live in the first quarter of the year.
The new Surface device will use two different 9-inch screens connected to each other and boasting a 4:3 aspect ratio. It will run WCOS (Windows Core OS), but will feature several optimizations for a dual-display user interface. The OS itself, as well as apps, need several updates to run correctly on a dual-screen device and to support this aspect ratio.
Support for Android apps
The analyst says there’s a good chance Microsoft’s new Surface model will use Intel’s 10nm system-on-a-chip called Lakefield and will feature always-on connectivity like LTE or even 5G.
The more interesting bit is that Microsoft apparently wants its foldable Surface to boast support for Android apps, a thing that users have been requesting on Windows phones as well. There’s a chance that Android apps would be supported in order to deal with the potential lack of apps optimized for a dual-screen Windows device.
Lin says the device will also run the “iCloud service” in Windows 10, but at this point it’s not yet clear if Apple’s software could come pre-installed or not.
Given the foldable Surface is still a work in progress, some details should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially as Microsoft can always change its mind overnight by the time it gives the project its go-ahead.