Microsoft's affordable Surface tablet may launch this week

Microsoft’s much-leaked affordable Surface tablet may be revealed this week, going by some new information which has just popped up.

According to another leaked document, Microsoft Stores are preparing a display for a new Surface product on the 13th July 2018, which is, of course, this Friday.

Microsoft is expected to launch two affordable Surface tablets powered by Intel’s Pentium processors, and a claimed insider on Reddit posted the following specs:

10″, 1800×1200 screen.
562g body with USB-C and microSD.
Available in 4GB RAM / 64GB storage, 8/128, 8/128 LTE and 8/256 LTE SKUs, but I don’t think all of them will come out in one go.
Up to Pentium Gold processor. Launches with its own Type Cover and mouse.
Starts at $399 for education customers. Tops out at $829 (excluding accessories).

He also claimed a new Surface Pro was coming in October, but not a new Surface Laptop.

Earlier the tablets are believed to have passed through the FCC, meaning they are cleared for sale, and details of the chipsets in the devices have leaked, with the cheapest model most likely coming with the Intel Pentium Silver N5000, a four-core x86 SoC from the “Gemini Lake” family running at 1.1 gigahertz base clock, and up to 2.7 GHz when needed. The more expensive versions will likely feature the Intel Pentium Gold 4410Y and the Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y, both based on the “Kaby Lake” architecture. The chips are based on 14 nm process and can be fanless.

The cheaper tablets are unlikely to excite buyers intending to use the tablets for work but is believed to be directed at the education market. Many have wondered why they are not powered by ARM processors, but this has been explained as being due to the need for 100% compatibility with legacy applications that this market demands.

Are any of our readers intending to pick one up? Let us know below.

Via Reddit.com