Since the release of Microsoft Surface Pro 4 back in October 2015, gadget geeks are now looking forward to what the next generation Surface Pro will offer to the public. The much anticipated Surface Pro 5's release is said to be delayed until next year.
Previous rumors, according to Tech Radar, indicate that the release of Microsoft Surface Pro 5 is set to the fourth quarter of 2016; however, fresh reports indicates that the release date will be moved to Spring 2017, along with Surface Book 2, due to some reasons.
First, it is said that the new Surface Pro device will be packed with the next version of Windows 10, called as "Redstone 2." Since the said operating system is still under developmental stage and not yet available, Surface Pro 5 will not be released until such time Redstone 2 is available.
Second, since Redstone 2 is not yet finalized, Microsoft is working on to feature a new high-end Intel chip, known as Kaby Lake for now, to its fifth gen Surface Pro device. Due to the next-gen chip's unavailability as of now, Microsoft Surface Pro 5 release may be pushed further until both Redstone 2 and Kaby Lake is available to use.
Although, according to ZDNet, there's still a possibility that Surface Pro 5 will be released this year; however, if that happens, the device will not be equipped with Kaby Lake processor and Redstone 2 operating system.
The upcoming Surface Pro 5 is expected to sport 12.3-inch display screen with 2736x1824 pixel resolution. The device, which is rumored to be priced at $899, will feature a USB Type-C port, will support 4K resolution, will be equipped with fingerprint scanner, 16GB RAM, 1 TB SSD and will have a rechargeable surface pen.
Due to battery issues experienced by Surface Pro 4 owners, Microsoft is expected to equip the upcoming Surface Pro 5 with better battery performance. It is said that the next gen Surface Pro device can last until 7 hours of continuous usage.
Surface Pro 5, which is also expected to be lighter than Surface Pro 4, is rumored to be released alongside Microsoft Surface Book 2 and the much-rumored Surface Phone, codenamed Panos Phone.
Watch the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 concept trailer below: