So, not long ago we reported that Surface Centaurus is targeted to launch in Q1 or H1 2020 powered by an Intel Lakefield processor. Later we received comments from readers wondering why Microsoft is not using Qualcomm processors.
So, while it was always known that Microsoft has Surface prototypes with Qualcomm’s latest processors meant for Windows 10 in testing we have a new name for the upcoming surface device powered by a Snapdragon 8CX processor. According to Zac Boden, senior editor at Windows Central it is codenamed as Excalibur internally.
"Excalibur" is your latest Surface codename to keep an eye out for. It's an 8cx device of some kind 🙂
— Zac Bowden (@zacbowden) June 24, 2019
The 8cx processor that Zac is hinting at may be the rumored Snapdragon SCX8180 that for PCs is considered to be the equivalent to the flagship mobile processor Snapdragon 855. It is an octa-core processor with four Gold ARM Cortex A76 cores clocked at 3.0 GHz + four Silver ARM Cortex A55 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz.
But the most important question is about the form-factor that Surface Excalibur will sport. While Microsoft may ideally use Snapdragon SCx8180 for devices like Surface Go that will not only bring good performance but also great battery life, it may surprise us with a foldable form-factor too. One can hope to see a Snapdragon always-connected version of the Foldable form-factor powered by an ARM processor.
