14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft may be planning to expand the Surface device lineup with a PC monitor that could see daylight sometime around 2020, according to a new report.
While specifics are scarce at this point, it’s believed the monitor could be based on the existing Surface Studio. Microsoft watcher Brad Sams claims in his book Beneath a Surface (via The Verge) that the new device could land in approximately two years, most likely with features that are unique to this product category.
Microsoft has tried to make the Surface a pioneer of new features, and it looks like the same approach could be used in the long term too.
What will be interesting, however, is how Microsoft will make the Surface monitor take advantage of other products, like Windows 10 and Cortana, which have until now served as the software foundation of its Surface device lineup.
AMD chips on Surface?
Interestingly, there are also more hints of a growing tension between Microsoft and Intel, and it’s believed that the software giant could even consider AMD for its Surface device launching next year. A Surface Laptop model running on an AMD chip could see daylight in late 2019, as the company is currently looking into how AMD Picasso processors would work on its devices.
This isn’t the first time Microsoft considered embracing AMD chipsets. The Surface Go, Microsoft’s smallest and most affordable Surface model to date, was supposed to launch with AMD, but Intel reportedly pressured the company for choosing one of its chips.
The Surface Go eventually shipped with an Intel processor, but its performance is somehow limited, more or less because of the price, and a potential switch to AMD could help improve a second generation.
For the time being, these are all rumors and a certain amount of skepticism is certainly recommended. We’ll find out more as we approach the said launch dates.