- A new report from WinFuture details alleged further information about Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5
- The report claims that there is “no indication” of AMD options for Surface Laptop 5
- Both Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5 will get Intel 12th Gen U-series processors
- Supposedly, Surface Pro 9 will have two new color options, including Sapphire blue and Forest green
The news and tech site WinFuture has some new information about Microsoft’s upcoming Surface devices expected to launch this fall via its usual “retail trade” sources. Some of the info corroborates what Windows Central has reported, but there are also a lot of new bits that we have not been able to confirm.
Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5 are anticipated to receive Intel 12th Gen U-series processors, including the Core i5-1235U (4.4GHz) and Core i7-1255U (4.7GHz). Both come with two high-performance (“P”) cores with eight efficiency (“E”) cores for background tasks.
Roughly speaking, the Core i5 should deliver a 22 percent performance improvement over last year’s Core i5-1135G7 from the Surface Pro 8, while the Core i7 gets a 12 percent performance improvement for single-core tasks.
Besides Intel, at least one variant of Surface Pro 9 should ship with a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 processor, likely renamed Microsoft SQ3 with some modest performance improvements. That model will also be the first 5G Surface Pro device.
New FCC filings back up the claim of a Qualcomm-based computing device from Microsoft coming out very soon, and we know it’s not a Surface Duo 3.
Expectations for the chassis for Surface Pro 9 include further rounding of the edges, a thinner profile, and possibly moving the Type-C ports to the left side, with Surface Connect remaining on the right. That layout mirrors Surface Pro X, except even the ARM-based Surface Pro 9 is expected to have venting near the top like the Intel-based systems (but likely no fan).
No more AMD for Surface Laptop?
Perhaps the most gloomy news is the AMD omission from Surface Laptop 5. WinFuture hedges a bit in its reporting (translated from German):
“… there is so far no indication that the Redmonders want to offer the Surface Laptop 5 again with AMD chips. However, it is probably too early to commit itself in this regard, so it is not certain whether Microsoft will actually do without AMD Ryzen chips in this model generation.”
While an option for AMD Ryzen processors has been a tradition for the last few years, even Windows Central Senior Report Zac Bowden has heard “AMD options might be skipped this fall” when asked about it for this article.
The potential dropping of AMD may have to do with the omission of Thunderbolt 4 from the Ryzen versions, which could cause some marketing confusion. Granted, there is USB4 as an alternative, which offers similar performance. Or it could simply come down to testing, battery life, performance preferences, or chip availability and pricing with Intel meeting Microsoft’s needs.
We’ll have to take a wait-and-see approach to what Microsoft does here.
The tech internet recently buzzed with Microsoft’s head of Surface Panos Panay meeting with AMD CEO and president Lisa Su. Still, perhaps it was to smooth things over instead of delivering positive news.
Surface Laptop 5 reportedly will also get a new 120Hz display panel with Dynamic Refresh matching that of Surface Laptop Studio and Surface Pro 8.
New colors for Surface Pro 9?
The other big scoop from WinFuture’s report is that Microsoft will reportedly offer four color options for Surface Pro for the first time. While Matte Black and Platinum (silver) are expected to return, the new Surface Pro 9 may also show up in Forrest (green) and Sapphire (blue).
Forrest is not unheard of, as Microsoft introduced a similar Sage green color with Surface Laptop Go 2, and it would make sense to expand it to other devices. Likewise, Sapphire is likely a slight modification of Surface Laptop 4’s Ice Blue option.
WinFuture could not confirm if those colors apply to Surface Laptop 5. Still, it would seem very odd not to, as that line traditionally has had at least four options, including Platinum, Matte Black, Ice Blue, and Sandstone, which are the current colorways for Surface Laptop 4.
Want more info and scoops? Make sure to check our Surface fall 2022 hardware predictions and expectations.
