Microsoft has seen its Surface Pro line do well though most are eager to see how it would actually perform in the smartphone segment. The Microsoft Lumia 950 was the last handset from the Redmond company and the next big device is rumored to be coming in 2017.
There was actually talk that the Microsoft Surface Phone would be out last October. Microsoft’s big event did reveal a lot, ranging from new VR headsets, the new Surface Book, Surface Studio, Surface dial and improvements to Windows 10, BGR.com reported. Beneath all that, no hints of a Surface Phone came.
Hence, the attention on the Microsoft Surface Phone shifts to 2017. As mentioned in a previous post, there is growing belief that the said device could end up debuting alongside the Surface Pro 5.
All this is pure speculation for now though one feature most are expecting is seeing the Microsoft Surface Phone sporting an Intel Kaby Lake processor. However, there are precedents to that, including a licensing deal involving Intel and ARM.
The angle here is that Intel and ARM’s licensing agreement is not expected to take be in effect until 2018. With that in mind, it could affect the chipsets needed by Microsoft for the rumored Surface Phone in 2017. With the sketchy situation, Qualcomm Snapdragon technology comes into the picture.
Qualcomm and Microsoft recently announced their partnership and now most are seriously considering the possible use of Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 for the latter’s line of mobile devices. Could this be enough to make the Microsoft Surface Phone the ‘ultimate mobile device’ in 2017?
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella touched on that possibility and admits it will require a lot of work, Forbes reported. Aside from the debate on the processor backing the Microsoft Surface Phone, other features it could come out with include 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal storage and something that may be offered in three variants.
