Rumor has it that Microsoft will add an all-in-one desktop PC to its Surface line of products. And we may not have long to wait to find out if that rumor is true.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft will hold a “fall hardware launch in late October,” where the company will unveil a new member of the Surface family, code-named “Cardinal.”

It’s likely that this is the new all-in-one PC.

Microsoft Surface Book (from the back)
Microsoft Surface Book (from the back)

Microsoft is also said to be working on a Surface Phone, but we probably won’t see that until next year at the earliest.

The desktop, meanwhile, would be a logical addition to Microsoft’s Surface lineup. The company currently offers Surface 2-in-1 tablets with optional detachable keyboards, a Surface Book laptop (with a detachable screen), and super-expensive Surface Hub wall computers (with nothing that detaches).

An all-in-one desktop could leverage some of the technology used for the Surface Hub for a consumer-level product that would likely include a large display and all the hardware you need to take advantage of Windows 10 features (possibly including touch and/or active pen support for Windows Ink, microphones for Cortana input, and cameras and/or fingerprint sensors for Windows Hello secure logins).

Earlier reports suggest that thew Surface desktop will feature an Intel Kaby Lake processor… which is interesting, since Intel has only launched notebook/mobile versions of its 7th-gen Core chips so far. Desktop variants aren’t expected to be available until early 2017.

 

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