It’s been over a year since the launch of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7, and we’ve heard very little about its successor in the meantime. Things have just changed, though, and it’s a very strange situation.
Our first real glimpse of the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 hasn’t come from a traditional leak, because one of the engineering samples has just turned up on eBay.
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The listing ended last night with a single $1,300 bid, less than 24 hours after it first went live. Apparently the seller, who has no visible seller feedback, ended the listing because the item had been sold.
The eBay listing claims that the Surface Pro 8 comes in the exact same chassis as the Surface Pro 7, seemingly ending rumors that there would be some design upgrades coming along for the ride. So it’s all about the internal hardware again, including an 11th gen Intel i7-1165G7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
The seller also says the tablet comes with a blue type cover, and warms potential buyers to back up the drivers before doing a system restore because they won’t be able to find it again online. Which makes sense, given the fact that this is an engineering prototype of an unreleased machine.
If this 2-in-1 prototype is legit it suggests that the Surface Pro 8 is likely to disappoint. Rumors have suggested the machine would get an upgraded kickstand, possibly with solar panels installed, but apparently that’s not going to happen.
We don’t know what the battery life is like, though, so that’s one thing we can still be surprised about when Microsoft reveals the tablet for real.
We still don’t know when the Surface Pro 8 is going to arrive, though reports have suggested it won’t be happening this year. So early 2021 is likely to be the earliest time we’ll see some sort of official announcement, provided COVID-19 hasn’t affected Microsoft’s plans.
It's possible that Microsoft could still launch the Surface Pro 8 this year. After all, Apple is expected to hold a November event to unveil is Apple Silicon MacBook. But we’re just going to have to wait and see.
