The Microsoft Surface is way overdue for a refresh this year, and pop-ups of the alleged dual-display Surface devices have gotten fans of the brand excited. Having said that, don’t be surprised if Microsoft’s next batch of Surface tablets and notebooks should be powered by AMD hardware.
According to sources, Microsoft is currently exploring the possibilities of using AMD’s 12nm Picasso chipset, as the company begins to reduce its dependency on Intel and its processors. One source, Petri, also says that the relationship between Microsoft and Intel were recently on shaky grounds. It’s an interesting bit of news about the two giants, considering that both of them have worked together for several decades.
To be fair, this wouldn’t be the first time that Microsoft has used AMD’s technology and hardware as its own. Lest we forget, the Xbox One is one of two consoles powered by a chipset designed specifically by AMD. The other obviously being Sony’s current PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro.
Moreover, Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox console, codenamed Project Scarlett, will be running on a new AMD Ryzen CPU and GPU. The latter being based on the semiconductor maker’s recently announced RDNA architecture.
There’s also talk about Microsoft developing its own ARM-based chipset with Qualcomm as well. Running on a Surface Pro device that has is currently known by its codename, Excalibur. Before we jump to conclusions, it should also be made clear that Microsoft is about to abandon Intel altogether. If anything, Microsoft is simply expanding its lineup and offering its clientele different options.
(Source: Petri via Techspot, TechRadar, Tom’s Guide)
