The Surface Pro 4 was unveiled in October 2015 and now Microsoft fans are eagerly waiting for the launch of Surface Pro 5 2-in-1 device. The rumor mill had been claiming that the Redmond giant would be launching a Surface device at the start of this year. Even though people speculated on the arrival of Surface Pro 5, Microsoft introduced the Surface Laptop. Fresh reports suggest that Microsoft may not launch Surface Pro 5 this year, but rather launch a Surface Pro 4.5.
Even though the rumors are hinting that Microsoft is finalizing the design of Surface Pro 5, Panay Panos who is the chief of Microsoft Surface devices revealed in a recent interview that the Surface Pro 5 does not exist. However, Microsoft expert, Paul Thurrott has claims suggest that the Surface Pro 5 does exist as he says that it is a minor upgrade over the Surface Pro 4.
According to Panos, the Surface Pro 4 can remain competitive for up to next five years. However, it does not seem so as the recent revenue report of Microsoft suggests that the profits generated from the hardware division have considerably reduced. The Redmond giant has not revealed the reason behind it, analysts are of the view that Surface Pro 4 sales have become sallow. The market now has 2-in-1 devices from various brands which could one of the reasons behind the slow pace of Surface Pro 4 sales.
Since Panos says Pro 5 does not exist and Thurrott says that Pro 5 will not feature overhaul improvements. It seems that Microsoft may launch a revamped version of Surface Pro 4 that is dubbed as Surface Pro 4.5 by the rumor mill
In the previous year, Microsoft had launched an upgraded version of Surface Book featuring Intel Core i7 processor. The Surface Book was launched alongside Pro 4 in October 2015. Hence, the Redmond giant could employ the same strategy for launching an upgraded Surface Pro device. Hence, the Surface Pro 4.5 is speculated to arrive with Intel Kaby Lake processor.
See you in Shanghai. May 23. #MicrosoftEvent #Surface https://t.co/aMgvkkqE52 pic.twitter.com/vzcK9MqIpf
— Panos Panay (@panos_panay) May 5, 2017
There is no information on when the company would be releasing the Surface Pro 5 or the Surface Pro 4.5. However, a recent tweet from Panos states that Microsoft will be holding an unveiling event in Shanghai on May 23. The interesting thing to note is that it will be a Surface product related event. So, if it is not announcing Surface Pro 5, it may unveil the Surface Pro 4.5 or a brand new Surface product like the highly anticipated Surface Phone.