Microsoft's Budget Surface Tablet To Reportedly Use Intel Pentium Processors

Today, we're getting more specifics on those processors, which are said to be from the Pentium family rather than beefier Core range found on the pricier Surface Pro tablets. This news comes from WinFuture, which says that the cheapest Surface will feature a quad-core Gemini Lake Pentium Silver N5000 processor.

However, if you need a bit more firepower, Microsoft will offer the Pentium Gold 4410Y and 4415Y as options, clocked at 1.5GHz and 1.6GHz respectively. Both of these are dual-core Kaby Lake-based processors capable of executing four threads.

The Surface tablets will be available with either 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and LTE connectivity will be available as an option. As we've previously reported, the new entry-level Surface will have a 10-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio -- just like other members of the Surface family. It will be the first Surface-branded device with USB-C connectivity and it's expected that Microsoft will smooth out the hard edges that are prominently on display with the Surface Pro's exterior for a curvier design.

As for pricing, the entry-level Surface should start at $399 (Pentium Silver N5000 with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage) and will probably quickly escalate from there. The range-topping model will likely pair the Pentium Gold 4415Y with 8GB RAM, 128GB of storage and LTE connectivity.