Windows 11 Hardware Event: Notes on Surface Pro 8, Pro X, Book 4, Go 3 (and Duo 2)

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Microsoft has invited to an event on Wednesday in which hardware is to be presented in the run-up to the Windows 11 market launch. It's about Surface. The rumor mill is already providing initial information about the new products: Surface Pro 8, Pro X, Book 4 and Go 3. The Duo 2 with Android shouldn't be an issue.

Surface Pro 8: Thunderbolt premiere and 120 Hz

The Surface Pro 8 could take a big step that customers have expected for years. According to information from Asia, Microsoft's 2-in-1 detachable not only receives the latest mobile CPUs of the 11th generation Core (Intel Tiger Lake), but also offers Thunderbolt for the first time – twice based on the Thunderbolt 4 natively integrated in Tiger Lake .

Contrary to expectations, Microsoft had repeatedly not integrated Thunderbolt 3 as the universal standard on the USB Type-C port in the Surface Pro over the past few years, the Surface Pro 7 brought USB Type C including an alternate mode display port in autumn 2019, but still no Thunderbolt.

With the Surface Pro 8, the wait is apparently over. The 8th generation of the display should also stand out from the predecessor and, thanks to the thinner frame, use a 13 x instead of 12.3 inch display with 120 instead of 60 hertz.

The information shared by Twitter user Shadow_Leak has not yet been conclusively confirmed from another source. However, the Verge had already spoken a week ago about the elimination of the USB type A ports and that Microsoft had tested 120 Hertz displays.

Zac Bowden points out, however, that the device shown on the alleged poster looks astonishingly similar to the Surface Pro X with Snapdragon SQ2 shown by Microsoft a year ago, with the exception of the desktop background. But that doesn't have to contradict the truthfulness.

The Surface Pro X already offers a 13-inch display with thinner bezels – it cannot be ruled out that the Surface Pro 8 is even slimmer Form factor also takes over for the Intel platform. And in the end, a photomontage from the trade does not have to mean that the information given on it is incorrect.

Surface Pro X: More performance and more Hertz?

The Verge assumes that the Surface Pro X with ARM architecture will also be transferred to a new generation at the event, even if in this case it is likely to be a less serious update. 120 Hertz and a faster SoC are also under discussion, although there is currently no successor to the SQ2 SoC used by the second-generation Surface Pro X based on the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, which in turn is only a mini upgrade compared to the SQ1 version based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx.

Surface Book 4: Away from the detachable approach

Windows Central had already speculated about the 4th generation Surface Book in August. Microsoft's notebook with a removable display unit could therefore move away from exactly this approach and operate with a 2-in-1 function like the HP Folio under a new name as “Surface Laptop Pro” above the Surface Laptop. Part of the hardware could still be in the display unit, while a current mobile GeForce RTX is being discussed for the base unit. And 120 Hertz should also be set in this line in the future.

  1. HP Elite Folio (Image: HP)

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HP Elite Folio
HP Elite Folio

Surface Go 3: new CPUs

A more or less open secret is the new edition of the inexpensive Surface Go 2 as Surface Go 3.As WinFuture reports, retail listings leave little doubt that the new generation will only experience another SoC change in the Y series after the Surface Go 2 slimmed down a bit in terms of display renders and increased the display by 0.5 inches. We're talking about Pentium Gold 6500Y and Core i3-10100, each with two cores and four threads based on Amber Lake-Y, which is ultimately only a minimal further development of Kaby Lake-Y from 2017. Another innovation is the support of WLAN according to the 802.11ax standard.

Surface Duo 2: Triple camera and Snapdragon 888?

At the end of the day there is still the question of the new generation of the folding smartphone Surface Duo 2. Microsoft only reduced the price of the first generation by 50 percent in August.

For the Surface Duo 2, the use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 with 5G support, a triple camera with a clearly protruding module on the back and the support of NFC for paying with smartphone has been assumed for a long time. Images of an alleged prototype had already surfaced in July.

Pictures should show the Surface Duo 2 (picture: Tech Rat)

The form factor should be the same over large areas, but the USB Type-C socket should move away from the hinge and migrate centrally to the underside of the right half. The power button and fingerprint sensor should also merge into one unit. In terms of color selection, there should be a black model in addition to the well-known light gray. Recently it was quiet about a new edition.

The hot candidates for Wednesday

It is doubtful that Microsoft will present all devices circulating in the rumor mill on Wednesday in the stream. As an Android 11 device, the Surface Duo 2 is unlikely to be its turn and the Surface Go 3 is a hot candidate for a more or less silent update. Surface Pro 8, Pro X and a new Surface Laptop Pro seem to be hot candidates for the event.