Rumor: Microsoft is considering using AMD processor for Surface Laptop

Microsoft plans to release a new Surface Laptop by the end of next year, and there’s a chance it will include an AMD processor, according to a Microsoft insider, who has drawn up a Surface roadmap.

Microsoft is said to have doubts about Intel because of the problems with 10nm production, which won’t start until late 2019, too late for a possible update of the Surface Laptop next year. That’s why Microsoft would consider AMD as an alternative, writes Brad Sams in his book Beneath A Surface. It would be AMD Picasso APUs based on Zen 2, which AMD is rumored to release next year. GeekWire, among others, writes about the publication.

In the book, Sams discusses the creation of the Surface line of hardware within Microsoft. The writer also publishes a roadmap, based on conversations with Microsoft employees. That roadmap not only includes the arrival of a new Surface Laptop, but also a Surface Pro. This would have USB-C, narrower screen edges and less sharp corners.

In 2020, Microsoft would unveil a new generation of Surface Book models, as well as a new Surface Studio, which would then have a “modular design” like the Surface Hub 2. He also mentions the arrival of cheaper Xbox One S consoles without an optical drive and the ‘Andromeda’. This device has been rumored for some time and Microsoft is still working on it.

The device with two screens would be on the large side, be more PC than smartphone and could be released at the end of next year, claims Sams.

Render of what the Microsoft Andromeda could be, based on the rumors