Microsoft are reportedly developing an all-in-one PC variant of its popular Surface, Surface Pro, and Surface Book line of hybrid laptops.
Microsoft’s Surface range has always been about mobility. Early Surface models shifted between the tablet and laptop space, while the company’s latest hardware extravaganza – the Surface Book – hedges more on the side of being a laptop than a tablet. Now, new reports indicate that Microsoft is ready to go steady (if you’ll pardon that rhyme) with a Surface all-in-one PC.
If you thought the all-in-one PC died along with Windows 8 and 8.1, think again; Microsoft is reportedly developing an all-in-one Surface that would “turn (one’s) desk into studio”.
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The idea sounds vaguely reminiscent of how the Surface line started out – and, ironically, where it got its name from. Microsoft first prepared its Surface Hub as a table-style workspace from which one could interact with like a massive tablet.
The device, which is supposedly under the codename ‘Cardinal’, would feature up to three different screen sizes; options would arrive in 21″, 24″, and 27″ models. The implication being that as the Surface Pro and Book lineup is Microsoft’s answer to the iPad and MacBook, a ‘Cardinal’ all-in-one PC would be the Redmond company’s answer to the iMac.
Microsoft first filed a patent for an all-in-one PC with modular capabilities in 2016, leaving potential for the device to be upgraded as time progresses.
The device could be officially announced alongside new entrants in the Surface family this October; we expect to see a Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2 unveiled before the year ends.
The news comes amidst reports that Microsoft have delayed its Surface Phone offering to 2017 or potentially 2018, leaving the future of Windows 10 Mobile in doubt.
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Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
Source: MS Power User
