Previously, it was said that Microsoft was planning a major announcement toward the end of the year, more likely the debut of the rumored Surface Phone. However, it seems that the much-awaited flagship has suffered a setback, as speculations suggest a 2017 release.
According to Mobile & Apps, Microsoft is more likely to focus on its hybrid and laptop products for a later 2016 release, particularly since its rival, Apple, is said to come out with the new iPad and MacBook lineups soon.
In a previous report, WCCFTech mentioned that a 2017 timeline is more likely for the Microsoft Surface Phone. Aside from focusing on the Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2 this year, the Redmond-based tech giant has to fully roll out the complete update for its Windows 10 platform, before having it on another mobile device. It is already confirmed that the planned major update for the Windows 10 platform will come in two stages. Redstone 1 is said to come out by October, while Redstone 2 is rumored to release during the early months of 2017.
In addition, rumors have mentioned that Microsoft is planning to use a new Qualcomm processor for the Surface Phone, the much-expected Snapdragon 830 chipset. However, Qualcomm has yet to hammer out details on the next-gen processor, and to date, only the step-up version SD 821 is confirmed. It is unclear on when Qualcomm plans to release the follow-up to the Snapdragon 820 processor.
Aside from a Qualcomm chipset, the Microsoft Surface Phone is rumored to come out with top-tier specs, aimed at business productivity tasks. While it remains unconfirmed, Microsoft may choose to feature an iris scanner to take advantage of the Hello Windows feature. This is more than likely, since the iris scanner tech is already out, Samsung being one of the first tech makers to adopt the feature for the Galaxy Note 7.
