Microsoft recently launched the Surface 3 and there are rumors that the Surface Pro 4 might be introduced before the end of April 2015.
DigiTimes reported that Microsoft might be shipping over 4 million Surface tablet units in 2015, which is double the total it shipped in the previous year. Since launching Surface, Microsoft already shipped 12 million units. Due to the popularity of Surface devices, sources believe that Windows-based tablet shipments may exceed 15 million units in 2015.
The Surface 3 tablet was introduced at the end of March and will most likely become available to the public in May 2015. The Surface 3 will retail at $499 and is expected to be well-received, just like its predecessor.
There are speculations that the company is already planning to introduce the follow-up to the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 in the upcoming BUILD developer conference happening on April 29 to May 1, TechRadar noted. If Microsoft features the new product at the conference, people can expect the new tablet to hit mass production in June and the product might become available together with Windows 10 in the second half of 2015, the tech site added.
TechRadar also reported that the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 may be revealed as a genuine 2-in-1 product that integrates the Windows 10 tablet mode into the full version of the OS. Users speculate that the new product might feature a 12-inch or 14-inch screen that would rival Apple's rumored upcoming device, the iPad Pro, based on a report by Trusted Reviews.
The new product may feature the next-generation Intel Skylake processor, which was previously announced by Intel to become available later in 2015, Fool.com noted. The outlet explained that if Microsoft opts for the more recent Skylake processor over the Intel Broadwell processor, the Surface Pro 4 might also include a Core M processor. As a result, the device will be thin and fan-less. The Surface Pro 3 featured a fan to cool its 15-watt Haswell processor. The choice of Core M might also be hinting at the presence of a 4-watt chip, which Skylake is rumored to be, but performance will not be compromised much by the sleeker design.
Based on the same report on Fool.com, Intel intends to improve in terms of architectural design, which will be apparent in the Skylake processor. There are speculations that Intel may reportedly transfer the auxiliary platform controller hub chip which is located adjacent to the processor. Intel may also go down from 32 nanometers using Haswell and Broadwell to 22 nanometers using FinFET technology, Fool.com added, and the move will likely improve performance capacity for graphics and the CPU.
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