A leaked benchmark test has shed light on the hardware consumers can expect with the next Microsoft Surface Pro generation, or even a new Surface Laptop.
The benchmarks show a clear performance boost to Microsoft's flagship portable, although there is zero indication of when the upgraded hardware might appear on the market.
Microsoft "OEMWY" Benchmark Leak
The Geekbench 5 benchmark test shows a new device using an 11th generation Tiger Lake Intel Core i7-1185G7, a quad-core processor with a base frequency of 3.0GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.80GHz.
It also shows the device using 32GB RAM, although it doesn't indicate which RAM generation the device uses. Still, the scores of 1,343 for single-core performance and 4,970 for multi-core performance are decent, though not an enormous increase over benchmarks for the current version, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7.
The benchmark, which uses the device codename "OEMWY," could relate to either of Microsoft's portable hardware options. However, as with any benchmark leak, it is important not to read too much into the data.
Without knowing which device it was, a benchmark leak cannot tell the whole story. It does show that the Microsoft team is rapidly approaching the point where a specification leak isn't a major concern. In turn, this means the new hardware is somewhere on the not-too-distant horizon.
One certain thing is that whichever device the benchmark is for will have use of Intel Xe, a new GPU generation that integrates with mobile processors.
The new integrated Intel graphics card outperforms the AMD Ryzen 4000-series Vega iGPU and is certain to allow much better graphics performance, along with more opportunities for media creation and video game support.
Microsoft has already indicated that the upgraded Surface Pro is unlikely to differ significantly in style and proportion compared to the current iteration. Using an Intel x86-based processor requires higher thermal capacity than an ARM-based processor, so expect cooling fans and vents with little reduction in overall size.
A second Geekbench 5 benchmark leak, for a device codenamed "OEMGR," uses an AMD Ryzen 7 3780U, which is the previous processor generation (the latest hardware is AMD Ryzen 4000-series).
Still, the AMD Ryzen 7 3780U is a powerful octa-core processor with a base frequency of 2.0GHz and a maximum frequency of 3.95GHz.
When Will the New Microsoft Surface Pro Arrive?
Unfortunately, there is no indication as to when these benchmark tests will materialize into physical hardware.
2020 has been a difficult year for hardware manufacturers, despite PC hardware sales increasing in response to the rise in remote working brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most likely scenario is that Microsoft will release the new Surface Pro 8 in the second half of 2021, potentially alongside the Surface Laptop 4, especially as the Surface Pro X and Surface Laptop Go hit the market in late 2020.