Microsoft Surface Pro 3
Attach the keyboard in a loose hinge style or snap it secure for a more stable setting with the use of a magnetic strip.An attendee uses his phone prior to the launch event of the new Microsoft Surface Pro 3 in New York May 20, 2014. Microsoft Corp on Tuesday unveiled a larger but lighter version of its Surface Pro tablet as it ramps up efforts to make an impact on the mobile computing market and counter the popularity of Apple Inc's iPad and MacBook Air laptop. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

From the beginning of this year, various companies have rolled out laptops such as 12-inch MacBook, 13-inch MacBook Air, Dell XPS 13 and Chromebook Pixel 2 that are powered with Intel’s fifth gen Core CPUs called Broadwell. Microsoft is heavily rumoured to bring on the new Broadwell chip on the successor model for the last year’s Surface Pro 3 tablet.

According to PC World, the Broadwell chips are made with 14 nm manufacturing technology. It is a low power consuming processor that allows the battery of the device to last longer. The Dell XPS 13 powered with a Broadwell chip can deliver battery life of up to 15 hours.

The Broadwell chips support playback of 4K videos without the need of an additional graphics card. With Core M, the processor is available without a cooling fan. Even though Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is very popular and competitive device, since it is powered with a Haswell chip, it appears outdated when compared with the newer Broadwell processor powered laptops.

According to the International Business Times report dated March 10, the unannounced Microsoft Surface Pro 4 tablet is expected to come out in two display variants. One model is expected to feature a 14-inch display and the other model is rumoured to house a 12-inch display. Another IBTimes report claims that the Redmond giant is also planning to launch the Surface Pro Mini tablet.

Skylake, an unreleased processor built with 14 nm technology from Intel, is going to succeed its Broadwell chip. It is expected to release in the second half of the year. Neowin states that if Skylake releases on time, the Surface Pro 4 may feature the newer processor. However, making the Surface Pro 4 wait for the arrival of Skylake can be a disadvantage for the company as it would mean that Microsoft did not update its Surface Pro device over a year.

The IBTimes report says that it may feature 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM. Since the device is speculated to house a fanless CPU, there will be more space to include a larger SSD storage.

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, email a.sivanandan@ibtimes.com.au

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