Surface Pro 7

I looked, but couldn't believe we don't have a Surface Pro 7 thread going yet, so I'll start it with a bit of a downer - Mehedi Hassan at Thurrott.com is reporting that the "substantially redesigned Surface Pro" is off again for another year, although he said MS is toying with both Qualcomm and AMD based Surface models.

 

Here's an article about this:

https://www.neowin.net/news/microso...-from-intel-with-this-year039s-surface-lineup

(Courtesy of NeoWin site)

 

I have a suspicion that the "big redesign" may be dependent on these
https://knowtechie.com/intel-3d-stacking-cpu-lakefield-ces-2019/

 

<<...I have a suspicion that the "big redesign" may be dependent on these...>>

...This should make for some interesting cooling issues...

 

Agreed. In theory 10nm means less heat, but a "3d design" would mean the typical "stick a heatsink on top " probably wont cut it anymore.

 

<<...but a "3d design" would mean the typical "stick a heatsink on top " probably wont cut it anymore...>>

...This reminds me of (IIRC) the second generation Cray supercomputers. The processors were producing so much heat that Cray immersed them in a fluid bath to dramatically improve the heat extraction. I seem to remember that the working fluid was a fluoro-carbon somewhat like now banned freon.

I wonder if Intel could make chips that incorporate liquid cooling at the die level and come as sealed packages? That would certainly be a step forward!

 

Here's another article:

https://www.onmsft.com/news/new-sur...x-processor-is-reportedly-codenamed-excalibur

(Couretsy of OnMSFT site)

and...

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsofts-next-surface-pro-might-have-snapdragon-8cx-variant

(Courtesy of WindowsCentral site)

 

So as sort of a parallel to the SB3 "hopes and dreams" thread, I'm curious to know, for you personally what would it take for MS lure you back from the IPP?

I know you talked about merging the SB and Pro lines, but we've actually been suggesting the "unified Surface" for years (in a gem of thread you created ) and if anything, MS seems to be moving away from that idea, expanding number of Surface models rapidly.

So instead of having "wild wishlist" (eg. bring back EMR!, resurrect Courier!, etc.), what realistic design changes would get you genuinely excited for the Surface Pro 7/8, enough to hand in your IPP?

 

If the ARM 8cx device is not a 10" Go, there will be hell to pay. I was unhappy when Samsung went with the 12" Galaxy Book as a platform for WOA, but I will be ballistic if Microsoft ignores their ideal device for the new technology. Damn it Microsoft … MAKE IT SO!

 

Dell and Compaq had their own liquid cooling system back in the early days of the XEON but my understanding was that it really only worked well on a subset of server type loads.

I cant find the link at the moment but recall reading that even liquid cooling isn't a "best" solution with these newest chips due to the bursty nature and turboing characteristics, e.g. liquid isn't fast enough to pull off the quickly created heat.

Dell has talked about in the vaguest of terms "an innovative new cooling system" for their coming ice lake series based systems, but I haven't seen anything concrete.