A new leak suggests that the upcoming Surface Pro 4 will see a sizable power upgrade.
According to benchmarks for the Surface Pro 4 that have reportedly surfaced on Geekbench, Microsoft is currently testing a new 6-core CPU that's expected to utilize the latest processing tech from AMD.
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Per Geekbench, as uncovered by Notebookcheck, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is expected to sport Renoire-based AMD Ryzen APUs. Microsoft tried to sneak scores passed lurkers by listing the previous generation Ryzen 5 3850U Surface Edition processor in its benchmarks. But that processor is a 4-core chip, while the ones tested were 6-core. It's therefore likely that the Surface Laptop 4 will instead use the Ryzen 5 4600U.
Unlike standard Ryzen 5 4600U chips, it seems that Microsoft might be getting something custom from AMD. Geekbench shows that the APUs found in the Surface Laptop 4 have a 100 MHz higher boost clock and seven compute units (CUs) versus the expected six.
If not the Ryzen 5 4600U, it's possible that Microsoft may have sourced the Ryzen 5 5500U instead. It's also a 6-core APU that supports multithreading and has a GPU on chip with seven CUs. Both chips are relatively similar, but the Lucienne-based Ryzen 5 5500U has some newer optimizations.
Much like past Surface Laptop models, users can expect a sleek design in either a 13 or 15-inch package. This year's model should see a Thunderbolt 3 port and hopefully an upgraded display.
The Surface Laptop 4 was expected to drop last fall, but never arrived. It's likely that things got pushed around due to manufacturing hurdles caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to our sister-site Laptop Mag, the Surface Laptop 4 is expected to drop in April. While it's speculative, every new leak points to it coming sooner rather than later.
