If Microsoft sticks to its traditional update cycle, we could be meeting the Surface Pro 9 before the end of this year.
The Surface Pro 8 hit shelves just under a year ago and scored a 4.5 star rating from us in our review, fixing some of the nagging flaws from the series.
But what kind of upgrades can you expect for the next entry in the series?
Read on to find out everything you need to know about the Surface Pro 9, including the price, release date, design and specs. And be sure to bookmark this page and visit us again, as we will be updating this article whenever anything new pops up about the device.
Release date
Microsoft has announced that its annual Surface event will take place on 12 October this year.
While Microsoft hasn’t confirmed a new Surface Pro will be revealed at the showcase, it’s looking very likely. We are also expecting to see the launch of the Surface Laptop 5 and the Surface Studio 3 at the Surface event too.
This means that the launch of the latest Surface Pro 9 could take place in October, with the device actually being available for purchase a few weeks after.
Price
Microsoft has not given us any clues about the pricing, but we can look back at past models to get an idea of how much the Surface Pro 9 should cost.
The Surface Pro 8 launched at £999, while the Surface Pro 7 launched at £909. Unfortunately, neither of these models came bundled with the Type Cover keyboard, which costs another £149.99 and is pretty important in transforming the Surface Pro into a useable laptop.
If we assume that Microsoft is going to stick with a similar pricing structure and keep the Type Cover keyboard behind an extra paywall, we would expect the pricing to come in as very similar to last year, if not a little more expensive thanks to any extra features Microsoft may add.
Specs
According to a report by German tech site WinFuture, the Surface Pro 9 will come with Intel 12th-generation Core processors. There are expected to be two processor options, including the Core i5-1235U and the Core i7-1255U, according to leaker Roland Quandt (via Twitter).
All models are also expected to come with integrated graphics, in the form of Intel Iris Xe. It seems that there won’t be the option for a discrete GPU for those who want to game or edit 4K video.
However, Windows Central has claimed that the Surface Pro 9 will actually be merging with the Surface Pro X range in an attempt to help Microsoft normalise its Windows and ARM devices.
The same article states that the Surface Pro 9 will be available in both Intel and ARM configurations, with the ARM variations being powered by a custom Snapdragon 8cx Generation 3 SoC, also referred to as Microsoft SQ3.
Surface Pro 8
Seeing as the Surface Pro X line has offered Microsoft SQ processors for its last two generations, it wouldn’t be too surprising if it was phased out, and the Surface Pro 9 took over as the start of the new Surface Pro range.
Another feature from the Surface Pro X that the Surface Pro 9 seems to have picked up is 5G connectivity since the ARM SoC has 5G capabilities built-in.
Moreover, the Surface Pro 9 will come with 256GB SSD in the base model, topping out at 1TB. The base amount of RAM looks to be 8GB, with the top model coming in at 16GB.
Design
Compared to the specifications, there are few rumours floating around about the Surface Pro 9. It looks like the display will stay at 13-inches and have an aluminium chassis, with the addition of two new colour options.
Forest and Sapphire – also known as green and blue – will be joining the existing colours of Platinum and Graphite, with some suggesting that Microsoft will also offer new versions of the Type Cover keyboard.
Surface Pro 8
Sadly, there have been no indications of the Type Cover being bundled in with the Surface Pro 9, so you will still need to purchase this accessory separately if you want to use it like a laptop.
To stay updated on the Surface Pro 9, make sure you bookmark this page and keep visiting us, as we will be updating this article every time new rumours or information comes out.
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