ΠΠ°ΠΊ ΡΠΆΠ΅ , in early October, Microsoft plans to introduce new versions of its Surface family of mobile devices, some of which will be quite unexpected in terms of hardware. According to the information reported by the German site WinFuture.de, modifications with a 3-inch screen and AMD processors will appear among the new Surface Laptop 15 laptops, while all previous versions of this device have always been based on Intel chips.
The first version of the Surface Laptop was introduced in May 2017, and in October 2018 the second modification of this device, the Surface Laptop 2, was released. In both cases, these laptops were equipped with a 13-inch screen, and they were based on Intel processors - 15W Kaby Lake and Kaby Lake Refresh chips. But apparently, with the help of Surface Laptop 3, Microsoft is going to break several established traditions at once and aim at market segments in which the company's devices were not previously present.
Rumors about Microsoft's intention to try alternative platforms in their laptops have been circulating almost since the Surface Laptop 2 entered the market. During this time, there were reports that Microsoft could choose AMD Picasso processors for future versions of laptops, and that the company generally intends to abandon the x86 architecture and is developing a solution based on one of the Qualcomm Snapdragon chips.
However, now a German source, citing closed databases of European distributors, confidently asserts that at least part of the Surface Laptop 3 modifications with a 15-inch display will receive an AMD platform. It is reported that the databases contain references to at least three Surface Laptop 3 configurations based on AMD processors, but it is not yet possible to understand which specific chips they use.
So, in general, the new-generation Surface family of devices is likely to use processors from different manufacturers at the same time. In other words, according to Microsoft, in some situations AMD can offer an interesting and competitive mobile platform, although it is not yet clear which one. AMD has several APU options that could get Microsoft's attention. The most likely choice would be the already mentioned 12nm Picasso processors based on the Zen + microarchitecture with Vega graphics, which were announced in January. But do not forget that AMD is working on high-performance 7nm Renoir APUs based on Zen 2, as well as on budget Dali APUs that inherit their design from Raven Ridge. Theoretically, they also have a chance to become the basis for promising Microsoft computers.
The announcement of the Surface Laptop 3 is scheduled for October 2. That's when we get all the details.
Source: 3dnews.ru