After decades of making the software that powers most of the world’s personal computers, Microsoft started building its own PCs a few years ago. The Surface line of tablets are positioned as 2-in-1 devices with optional keyboard covers that let you use them like laptops, and digital pens for pressure-sensitive writing and drawing.
This year the company also started selling the Surface Hub, which is an expensive line of computers with enormous displays (there are 55 inch and 84 inch models) primarily aimed at enterprise customers.
Now there are at least two different reports suggesting that Microsoft is also working on a Surface all-in-one desktop PC.
When Digitimes broke the news earlier this week, I didn’t pay much attention… because the Taiwanese website has a pretty mediocre track record of predicting future products based on supply chain sources.
But Windows Central says it found a source that can independently confirm that Microsoft’s Surface team is developing an all-in-one PC.
It’s expected to feature an Intel Kaby Lake processor and it’s expected to be positioned as a PC you can use in your living room. Intel’s 7th-gen Core processors, code-named Kaby Lake, are due to ship in the second half of 2016, but it’s not yet clear if that means we can expect the Surface all-in-one to ship before the end of the year.
There’s no word on how big the new Surface computer would be, how much it would cost, or… well, just about anything else. But it may be just one of several new product categories from the Surface team. Microsoft is also said to be working on a Surface Phone.