No Surface Pro 5 in 2016?

[Tsang Fai]

There has been nearly no rumors of Surface Pro 5.

Just wonder if Microsoft is going to take a "rest" on the Surface Pro this year.

Or have Microsoft finished its "mission" on creating an example device so that SP4 is the last Surface Pro?

I do agree that SP4 is perfect enough for many users. Is there any major room of improvement for SP4? I think bezel is thin enough for many people. They can make it even thinner but then battery life will be sacrificed (thinner battery...), so I think Msft would not make it thinner in the near future.

I wish Microsoft would make a metal-body type cover which is more durable and looks sexy and premium.

Maybe Microsoft would release an update of SP4 - upgraded hardware with the same price? Just like Apple that they release updates on MacBookAir and MacbookPro every year instead of naming them MacbookAir 2/3/4...

Any thought?

 

[hasasimo]

Can't think of a single reason why MS wouldn't make a SP 5 this year. It's a successful product, and the once-a-year timeline has worked. There will 100% be a SP 5 and a SB 2 come the holiday season short of sort of apocalyptic world event.

 

[mrmobileperformance]

The way I see it there are no differentiating improvements the Microsoft designers could possibly make to the Surface Pro 4. Hell, even making a the Surface Pro 4 was risky because to many consumers the Surface Pro 3 was already close enough to perfect. What's more, the buyers who normally wait for initial design bugs to be worked out are only beginning to consider buying it now. If there'll be a Surface Pro 5, it'll hit the market late next year at the very earliest.

Sent from mTalk

 

[Xavier2508]

There will be a Surface Pro 5 when Intel releases it's next generation of CPUs, simple as that.

 

[zkyevolved]

I love all the speculation going on in this forum! LOL! NO ONE knows if or when it'll come out. It'll probably come out since the SP4 is more successful than the SP3. And the SP3 was more successful than the SP2. I don't see why they'd stop... But dates? We don't have a clue. As of right now, MS is on a yearly cycle so PROBABLY they'll sell it before x-mas. Is this a guarantee? of course not... No one knows! We don't work in MS. There are no leaks or specifications for a device that's over 6 months away as of yet... Just enjoy the Sp4 if you have it, and if you're going to wait, better find something to do while waiting, it could be a while hehe.

 

[dstrauss]

There will be an SP5 if for no other reason than to upgrade to Thunderbolt 3. They can consolidate the USB 3 and mini-DP ports into two Type C Thunderbolt 3 ports. My bet is power will stay with their Surface connect port (for backwards compatibility), but you can then use third party Thunderbolt 3 docks for better expansion. I also hope they will finally bring us Intel's smart frame technology to give us a full 13" screen when docked or connected to Type Cover, and bezels (for those fat finger folks) when used purely as a tablet.

 

[Davidz]

They need to get SP4 sleep, etc. right before they introduce an SP5.

 

[anthonyng]

I don't think they need a SP5 yet, I didn't upgrade my SP3 to SP4 yet! and I want to

 

[ArtificiallyYours]

We barely have a year on the Surface Pro 4. In fact they might be working on a Surface Book upgrade just cause it's their most experimental kit in the Surface series.

 

[kristalsoldier]

I don't think they need a SP5 yet, I didn't upgrade my SP3 to SP4 yet! and I want to

Me too! But its just that I can't find a realistic reason to! The Sp3 is still going strong! Though what I am really looking forward to is what MS will replace the Surface 3 (non Pro) with. The M4 version of the SP4 looks like a good candidate though it will have to be shrunk down to a 10" device.

 

[Axeelant]

I hope not I still can't get enough of my Pro 4, and processor wise there is no room to improve yet...

 

[onlysublime]

There would have to be a new CPU/chipset to make a Surface Pro 5 happen.

Surface Pro came with Ivy Bridge which was good for performance but poor for mobile. It also came with Ivy Bridge when Haswell was just coming onto the market which meant the Surface Pro was already late.

Surface Pro 2 came with Haswell. Great performance and better for mobile. But the design didn't resonate with people (thickness and heavy build). So the "next gen" Surface designwas fast-tracked.

Surface Pro 3 was supposed to come with Broadwell but Broadwell was so late so SP3 had to come out with Haswell. Which meant that by the time Broadwell was common, SP3 was stuck with Haswell. Luckily (or unluckily depending on perspective), Broadwell for mobile was late as well. Late enough that some Broadwell models were canceled with the impending release of Skylake processors.

So Surface Pro 4 was almost the first machine out there with Skylake.

That's the reason why SP, SP2, SP3, and SP4 came out so fast after each other. SP was already behind in CPU/GPU tech. SP2 was caught up in tech, but wasn't selling well because of bulky design (though I still love my SP2 machines). SP3 was out fast to replace the poor-selling SP2. SP4 was trying to get on the leading edge of the CPU curve for the first time for a Microsoft device.

Now, Kaby Lake is a minor improvement on Skylake. Probably fixing bugs. But new GPU. Built-in support for USB 3.1 (rather than using third-party chips for USB 3.1 which is what happened with Skylake). Don't know if Kaby Lake is enough of an improvement for a Surface Pro 5. And Kaby Lake won't hit volume until the end of 2016 which means a Surface Pro 5 couldn't come until probably spring 2017.

The true successor to Skylake is Cannonlake but that's behind as well and won't be until near end of 2017.

 

[TheCudder]

Really? It's March of 2016, only 5 months have passed since the release of the Surface Pro 4. There was nothing said about a Surface Pro 4 this early last year. You'll likely hear new of a Surface 4 before another Pro model. That being said, there's almost always room for improvement even without a new processor line.

-Faster SSD
-More efficient cooling technology
-Pen improvements
-USB Type C
-Another bump in the screen size w/o increasing the physical dimensions
-Improved cameras
-Surface TypeCover trackpad can go a little larger.

 

[onlysublime]

Maybe for a "Surface Pro 4S". but not enough for a SP5.

The bezel is already almost too small. I can't carry the thing without accidentally hitting the screen, throwing off my windows or many the active window inactive. USB Type C doesn't really mean much now and basically means you have to have a stupid dongle hanging off the body.

A Surface 4 makes sense because the Atom in Surface 3 is getting really old. I really think they should make the non-Pro line have the Core M processors. Just like the MacBook Air has the Core M while the Pro line has the regular Core series. Atom is cheaper than Core M but close enough to phase out the Atom.

 

[Xavier2508]

Atom is cheaper than Core M but close enough to phase out the Atom.

Not even close, Atom is about 30-40$, Core M is 281$. And that's just what Intel charges, add Microsoft's profit margin and VAT and.... well, there's a reason the sp4 costs ?999 with Core M...

 

[onlysublime]

Few buy the Surface 3 because it's too slow. Sure, there are the older folks who just want a machine that's small and can do email, word process, etc. Microsoft is not about marketshare. They shouldn't play the race to the bottom. Let Dell and Lenovo do that. It's about making money.

Have the Core M with the regular Surface line and the Core processors for the Pro line. Selling less machines is okay if the margins are good and right now, the SP4 machines are far outselling the S3 machines so it's winning on both margin and total sales numbers.

 

[Steve Adams]

I think they will wait until the release in 2017. They are planning something big for then supoosedly.

 

[ttsoldier]

I hope they wait until 2017. It's way to early to release another SP5

Who will they be targetting? Everyone who bought a sp4 is not going to buy a sp5.. Maybe those who are still on SP2?

I don't know... I just hope not.

 

[ray963]

I remember reading about the new pen dock thing, so they're working on it for sure.
So Hopefully they will release one this year because the SP4 despite being a great device with a greater sales success, still failing at quality check or fixing the software bugs.
( lucky you if you have a good SP4, maybe I'm jinxed)
I really hope they release SP5 this year or a revised SP4.

 

[RichBrown68]

I've seen this rumor in 3 publications now this week: The release date of the Surface Pro 5 has been pushed to 2017, if the rumor is to be believed: Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Rumors and Release Date: It's Official. Redstone 2 And New Microsoft Devices Only In 2017 : News : News Every Day Personally I'm hoping this opens the door for them to release a Surface 4.