Microsoft Surface Phone may sport Snapdragon 830 processor-- reports

Microsoft’s Lumia sales dropped by 73 percent from the previous year, reveals the Q3 2016 quarterly earnings reports. The company sold only 2.3 million Lumia Windows phones as compared to 8.6 million during the same quarter in 2015. To revive its Windows Phone sales, Microsoft is believed to discontinue the Lumia series and come up with a refreshed Surface Phone by early 2017.

To replace its entire Lumia line-up, Microsoft has long been rumoured to be working on a Surface Phone with high-end specifications. Fresh details have surfaced online regarding the processor and memory capacities of the anticipated Surface Phone.

Microsoft’s updated ‘Minimum hardware requirements’ page for Windows 10 Mobile devices has added MSM8998 chipset, which is said to be Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 SoC, as a compatible processor with the operating system.

The successor to the Snapdragon 820 SoC, the high-end Snapdragon 830 could support up to 8GB of RAM, as reported by Forbes. The new processor will also supposedly enhance the graphical capabilities of mobile devices.

Microsoft’s Surface branded smartphones are highly anticipated to come in three variants at different price points. All three models are slated to sport the company’s iconic Microsoft Pen technology and Continuum.

In 2016, Microsoft is also rumoured to revamp its Surface Pro and Surface Book line-ups. To take on Apple’s new MacBook Pro 2016 series, the Redmond-based tech giant will reportedly announce its refreshed Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2 as early as July.

However, Microsoft is yet to announce the official release date of the Surface Book 2 and Surface Pro 5.

The Surface Pro 5 will reportedly sport a 4K display, an innovative rechargeable Surface Pen, latest 7th generation of Intel Kaby Lake processor and an improved battery life.

On the other hand, the rumoured Surface Book 2 is believed to feature a 13.5-inch display screen with 4K resolution . The device is said to come with major graphics and battery performance improvements.

Related: Microsoft Surface Pro 5: Specs, features of upcoming laptop-tablet hybrid in various reports