Analyst claims a foldable Microsoft Surface is planned for 2020

Foldable devices have had, to put it kindly, a difficult start in life. But that hasn’t put Microsoft off its plans for a foldable Surface, according to one analyst.

The Associate Director of Consumer Electronics at IHS Markit, Jeff Lin, has told Forbes that Microsoft is planning its foldable Surface tablet in the first half of 2020 – maybe the first quarter if everything lines up particularly well.  

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The device will apparently have two 9-inch screens that connect to each other, forming a 4:3 aspect ratio. The device will reportedly run Windows Core OS (WCOS), but a version modified to cope with the added complexity of dual-screen apps.

The rumoured Surface will run Intel’s 10nm Lakefield chipset, and some kind of cellular support is extremely likely, given the nature of the device. This could be the standard 4G that we’re very familiar with, although it’s possible it could also be a 5G device.

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But the most interesting thing in the report is that Microsoft is reportedly planning to offer support for Android apps – a common request for Windows tablet users. Why now? Well, the dearth of dual-screen supporting Windows apps is something that could be mitigated by opening the door to Android support. Apple’s iCloud service would also apparently be supported.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumours about Microsoft’s dual-screen device, codenamed Project Centaurus, but it does provide plenty more details to get our teeth into. Whether these rumours are ultimately borne out remains to be seen – it’s still a long way away, and even if they’re correct now, things can change in a flash. But it’s still something to look forward to for Surface fans.

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