According to a report from Digital Times, the Microsoft Surface Book 2, the official follow-up to Microsoft's first foray into designing their own laptops, was initially scheduled to be released before the end of the year but it may now be delayed to 2017 due to the development team experiencing design conflicts that will take time to resolve.
According to the report, the Surface Book 2 is aiming to implement an Ultra HD screen and Thunderbolt 3 support, but design issues are causing the new laptop to be pushed back from the expected October launch to a spring 2017 release instead. It is undetermined what kind of specific design issues Microsoft is dealing with.
Tech Radar also stated that the timing of the delay may be coinciding with the launch of the next Redstone update for Windows 10. This update was also delayed and it is likely that both the Windows 10 update and the Surface Book 2 will launch simultaneously next year.
Information Week reports that the Surface Book 2 is expected to come bundled with the seventh generation Intel i7 core processor, an 8MP camera and a USB Type-C port. It is undetermined at this point if the Surface Book 2 will feature the same RAM and HDD variants that the first version had, although this is highly likely.
The report also states that early rumors suggested the Surface Book 2 will launch in June this year, around the same time Apple will release the MacBook Pro 2016 model. By delaying the Surface Book 2 to early 2017 the company will be able to steer clear from direct competition from Apple.
Digital Times also states that the first-generation Surface Book will see a $100 to $150 price drop given that sales have begun to slow down. This has fans speculating that the Surface Book 2 might start off with a slightly lower price tag to pull in more customers.
