New Surface Laptop hits Geekbench with an Intel Core i5-1035G1 and up to 16 GB of RAM

Earlier this month, Windows Central revealed that Microsoft plans to release a 'budget' version of the Surface Laptop, codenamed Sparti. The website added that this device would be arriving in October for US$500-US$600 with a 12.5-inch display and a 10th generation Core i5 processor.

Now, WinFuture has revealed that this processor may be the Core i5-1035G1, a quad-core chip from Intel's Ice Lake-U generation. The processor integrates four Sunny Cove cores, eight threads and 6 MB of L3 cache. Intel manufacturers the Core i5-1035G1 on a 10 nm processor and has designed it to consume up to 15 W.

To date, Microsoft has not released a device with this processor. However, WinFuture has found multiple entries on Geekbench for what may be the device. The listings are for an OEMQN OEMQN Product Name EV2 and Product Name DV, which are probably the same device. Microsoft has at least two SKUs in development, one with 8 GB of RAM and another with 16 GB. However, Windows Central asserts that Microsoft will release a 4 GB entry-level model, as it does with many of its products.

Supposedly this device will have 64 GB of storage too, but Roland Quandt has suggested that retailer databases contain references to a 256 GB model. If that is the case, then Microsoft may pair 8 GB of RAM with 128 GB and 256 GB of storage, while offering 16 GB of RAM only with a 256 GB SSD. Presumably, these higher-end models would be several hundred dollars more expensive than the 4 GB entry-level SKU, which may push the 'budget' Surface Laptop closer to US$1,000.