As a Laptop Studio owner I’ve been hearing that more than four cores would give a huge performance boost, and apparently the current SLS design could handle a way more powerful dGPU than what they put in. So on the SLS side it seems like there’s plenty of inspiration to be given. 
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Here here!!
I could give them a detailed list if they were interested.
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But THAT is the whole problem - Surface itself was supposed to be the Corvette among the pedestrian stream of OEM Chevys, Fords, and Yugos
WHY should there even be a Surface brand anymore?
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I imagine an updated CPU and GPU would be welcome there. A 13th gen update will certainly up the core count.
Re the GPU: do you mean there is more headroom in the thermal/power department that they are leaving on the table, or just updating (40 series NVIDIA had a pretty big jump in efficiency)?
I have little doubt =P
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The former. This machine appears to be a thermal beast (barely gets warm even when pushed), so it seems like it has thermal headroom for more cutting edge components.
Either redesign this tank of a laptop to be more sleek/lightweight, or fill it with the “hottest” tech it can handle.
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I will throw my hat in and say the idea that the Surface Pro has reached “peak” form-factor is nonsense; there are many avenues for advancements, from moderate to more radical:
- USB-C ports on both sides
- Bluetooth connection for detached keyboard
- Redesigned magnetically-attachable Surface Pen
- Docking port on the bottom for a clean desktop dock and…
- Battery/GPU enabled keyboard dock (a la Surface Book)
Personally, I think there are currently too many Surface SKUs; imo the “converged Surface” concept is the natural evolution of the original hybrid design principal.
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They actually had a battery/keyboard in one of the earliest permutations of the Surface if I recall correctly. A keyboard fitting the Surface Pro with extra battery power and a GPU would be interesting and fill the void left from the discontinuance of the Surface Book.
There was one of these too. Right? it was an adapter.
I am sold on the keyboard charging slot. They have to make the pen thinner so they can put one on the 11" keyboard.
I docking port that uses the pogo pins to dock would be interesting. Particularly if MS loses the Surface plug in lieu of a USB C charging port.
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Yep, none if these are new even to MS, which is why it’s not unreasonable to expect some design efforts towards them.
Yep, it was called with Surface Power Cover:
Right again, the Surface Keyboard Bluetooth Adapter:
Not necessarily, they could make a recessed groove on the flat of the pen body that confirms to the chassis edge. Ergonomics and convenience, best of both worlds. 
I was thinking either TB4 or OCuLink+USB-C to support GPU expansions and multiple video streams. (Pogo pins could be on the side of the main docking port for keyboard charging.)
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Considering the plethora of foldable screens available now I was thinking along the line of a Surface Pro Böj (Swedish for Fold a name they can’t use and it gives the brand a little Metal flair) and then make the keyboard foldable as well and you have the ultimate Cargo pants device.
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These all sound like good ideas, and in many cases old ideas they have already done and could do again.
I was really excited when the BT keyboard adapter came out… but then I ended up almost never using it after the newness wore off. It would definitely be better if it were integrated into the keyboard itself.
I’d definitely prefer the Surface dock on the right side to be replaced with more USB ports, but I probably would not use them much. Keeping the Surface dock for at least a gen or two post-TB4 is perhaps necessary. Not that getting rid of the SD is necessarily a prerequisite for more USB ports.
I don’t think I’d personally be very interested in the other suggestions. I’m quite happy with the current pen. So far it feels like quite an improvement on the previous pens I’ve used recently.
It really all comes down to what you want out of the device. For me it already fits the bill very well and any improvements I can think of feel pretty minor in my usage. Still, sometimes you don’t know what will inspire you until you see it, and I definitely haven’t spent as much time in recent years contemplating it as I know goes on in this community.
Plus, would a bigger bump on the keyboard side be that big of a deal? Again though, I’m pretty happy with the pen as it is. However, I haven’t put many hours into it.
It feels like Microsoft can now finally announce their 13th Gen devices:
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Indeed. From all accounts though, 14th Gen is skippable since reports are showing a measly 3% performance improvement. So next generation Surface will only look fashionably late this round, not direly rundown and old upon release.
What about power efficiency?
Well, I should walk that back. Raptor Lake Refresh is desktop and what I read of today.
Meteor Lake was originally planned also for desktop but was cancelled. It is purportedly what is still coming out now only on mobile. To your question, 50% higher power efficiency and 2x iGPU performance.
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That sounds… To good to be true.
(I’m guessing it was a specialized best case workload?)
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Well, they are moving from Intel 7 (really 10nm) to Intel 4 (really 7nm) + TSMC 5nm for the integrated GPU. Intel’s 10nm process never was really that good. They only got it to acceptable levels but it is still well below the industry standards. So I can believe it.
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If true then, would that make them competitive with Apple’s chips?
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Intel already has a demonstratable advantage over ARM in graphics performance (no idea about Apple’s chips), so the boosting of the IGPU just increases the graphic advantage of Intel’s chips over ARM. Power efficiency, on the other hand, should help the Intel hardware to compete with ARM chips on a more equal playing field.
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