Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Rumors and Release Date: It's Official. Redstone 2 And New Microsoft Devices Only In 2017

Rumors of delay notwithstanding, a price cut in Surface Pro 4 line-up continues to fuel speculation about Surface Pro 5. However, the confirmation of Redstone 1 update for Windows 10 on Wednesday has ruled out more updates this year, indicating that a new Surface Pro hybrid release will only happen in 2017.

Inquisitr reported that Amazon dropped price up to $ 200 on Microsoft's hybrid tab across all models, with bigger discounts being offered on the expensive Core i7 models. This fuelled talk that Surface Pro 5 is in the coming, notwithstanding the 16-month gap between Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 release.

Rumors of launch of Surface Pro 5 also gained some steam on Wednesday when Microsoft reportedly announced it would release the first update to Windows 10, codenamed Redstone 1, this summer. The update is also being referred as Windows 10 anniversary update.

That said, the rumored update to Windows 2, colloquially being referred as Redstone 2, was confirmed deferred to 2017; it is expected to land on a new range of Windows devices including the much-speculated Surface Pro 5 and other Surface devices. With the confirmation of the release of Redstone 1, it is highly unlikely that a new update will be released before the year end.

"Microsoft officials decided to release only one update to Windows 10 that includes a bunch of features in calendar 2016," Mary Jo Foley wrote in ZDNet citing company sources.

That has not stopped specification speculation. Rumored Surface Pro 5 speculations include new variants of Intel Skylake processors, bigger and improved display. Surface Pro 5 may also feature USB-C ports, which have gained popularity thanks to Apple.

Microsoft loyalists also hope the next Surface Pro tab comes with satisfactory battery life out of the box; Surface Pro 4 needed a fix to improve battery performance.