Surface Laptop 3: Pricing & configuration details for the 15-inch model leak
Are hexacore and octa-core AMD Ryzen powered versions of Surface Laptop 3 on the way (buy Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 now at Amazon)? That is the latest rumor according to Roland Quandt at WinFuture, who is well known for the reliability of his leaks and tips. Quandt claims to have received an excerpt from a US pricing list for the allegedly upcoming 15-inch version of the Surface Laptop 3, on which we have previously reported. According to Quandt, the series will cost as follows:
| Processor | RAM | SSD | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen 5 3550U | 8 GB | ? | US$999 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 3750U | 8 GB | ? | US$1,099 |
| AMD Ryzen hexacore | 12 GB | ? | US$1,399 |
| AMD Ryzen hexacore | 12 GB | ? | US$1,599 |
| AMD Ryzen octacore | 16 GB | ? | US$1,999 |
| AMD Ryzen octacore | 16 GB | ? | US$2,399 |
The first two SKUs corroborate other claims that Quandt has made about the 15-inch Surface Laptop 3, which we have also covered. Meanwhile, the two hexacore and octa-core SKUs are apparently distinguished by RAM size, although storage volumes remain unknown at this point.
The main sticking point about this rumor is that AMD does not have any hexacore or octa-core processors in its current Ryzen U series product stack. Quandt stresses that the excerpt, which he received from an anonymous source, has been cropped to hide the product names of these supposed new Ryzen processors. While it is not beyond the realms of possibility that AMD could launch new processors alongside Microsoft hardware, we would recommend exercising some caution about this rumor for the time being.
Quandt also opines that it would be unlikely for AMD to power six or eight Zen+ cores with a 15 W thermal design power (TDP) like it does with the Ryzen 5 3550U and Ryzen 7 3750U. He claims that a potential solution to this would be to use EPYC Embedded 3000 series processors instead, which offer up to eight Zen cores using between 25 W and 55 W TDPs. However, these processors lack integrated graphics, so Microsoft would need to use a dedicated solution like it does with some Surface Book 2 SKUs. Dedicated graphics drink battery power compared to integrated solutions, so we doubt that this will come to fruition.
