Microsoft recently announced their next keynote event happening this October. Although the Redmond-based tech giant did not reveal what new products should be expected, the rumors are rife that the Surface Book 2 will finally be launched during the event.
According to Engadget, Microsoft vice president for Surface Computing, Panos Panay, announced that the company will be holding a two-day keynote event called Future Decoded. The event will begin on Oct. 31, where it has been confirmed that at least one new piece of hardware will grace the stage. For now, the best bet for the major hardware refresh is the Surface Book laptop.
The Surface Book was first launched back in 2015, marking the first laptop from Microsoft under the Surface brand. It was speculated that the Surface Book 2 would be announced last year to replace the current one. Instead, Microsoft revealed the same Surface Book model with a higher hardware spec option.
This time around, a true Surface Book replacement is expected at the Future Decoded keynote, featuring improved graphics and performance boost. Specifically, it is possible that the Surface Book 2 will feature an upgrade from the seventh-generation Intel Skylake processor.
Tech Advisor reported that the Surface Book 2 may use the eighth-generation Intel Kaby Lake chipset for faster processing and power efficiency. It is also expected to sport a 4K display with 3840 x 2160-pixel maximum screen resolution. The display is said to include VP9 and HEVC 10-bit decode technologies as graphics enhancers. The 2017 Surface Book laptop will also receive USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 ports.
As some users have raised concerns about the Surface Book's faulty hinge and limited battery capacity, Microsoft is expected to address these issues with the launch of the Surface Book 2 this year. It will run the latest Windows 10 Creators Update, which will allow the users to access the voice assistant Cortana's speech recognition feature.
Lastly, the Surface Book 2 might include support for virtual reality (VR) content, as teased by Microsoft with their mixed reality headgears at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last January.
