Rumor: The new Surface tablet could launch with power-optimized Haswell chip

Hammad Saleem

Surface

Microsoft has scheduled an event on May 20th where the company is rumored to announce the Surface Mini tablet, as well as a new Intel-based Surface tablet, as reported previously. The Surface Mini is rumored to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip inside, making it the second Windows RT 8.1 tablet to use it — Nokia Lumia 2520 is the first, which also makes it compatible with 4G LTE connectivity. 

A new report from CNET suggests the Intel-Surface tablet will come with a power-optimized Haswell chip. They also said the attendees of the event will walk away with the Intel-based product. Attendees could get the new Surface tablet or perhaps the Mini version of it, which usually happens at Microsoft events.

“There’s definitely a new Intel-based Surface,” the source said.  “From what I can assess so far I think it’s going to [have] a new power-optimized Haswell variant,” the source further added. At the moment, the Haswell chip is a part of the Surface Pro 2 tablet, which runs the Core I5-4300U processor. 

It would be interesting to see what else Microsoft has planned for the event besides the long rumored Surface Mini. What do you guys think about a Surface tablet with an Intel-based chipset?