Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Rumors, News and Release Date: Price Cut Fuels Launch Speculation

Aided by price cuts in Surface Pro line-up, rumors of a Surface Pro 5 launch to address shortcomings of its predecessor are doing the rounds.

Surface Pro 4 was a highly anticipated launch given its impressive hardware but its battery performance was found to be lacking. Numerous reports have speculated the coming of a successor with improved battery performance though Microsoft released a fix last month to address shortened battery life in Surface Pro 4 when the hybrid went into low-power sleep mode.

A display larger than the 12.3-inch offered on Surface Pro 4 could be Microsoft's plan for its next release as it takes on the larger iPad Pro which boasts of a 12.9-inch screen. If rumors are to be believed, the next iteration of Surface Pro tablets could feature a 13.3-inch 4k resolution screen, a USB Type-C port which is now present in tablets of Microsoft's competitors and an improved Surface Pen.

Surface Pro 4 has received positive reviews in all departments from nearly all quarters. "When it comes to the performance and active cooling on the Surface Pro 4, I rarely heard the fan inside kick aside from the initial indexing and syncing of Office 365, Cortana and OneDrive," Patrick Moorhead said while reviewing the hybrid tablet for Forbes.

Speculation of a new release is also fuelled by recent price cuts in Surface Pro tablets. Christian Today reports that Microsoft has slashed $ 100 on its 128 GB i5 and 256 GB versions. The discounts are running till March 26. Third-party sellers are also offering discounts.

Surface Pro 5 rumors have accompanied those of Surface Book 2, which reports claim would be powered by the newer versions of Skylake processors set for launch later this year. Both Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book are speculated for release with the Redstone 2 Windows 10 update.