Microsoft could refresh its Surface Pro X tablet with a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, if the latest from the rumor mill turns out to be correct.

This conclusion has been drawn because Windows Latest spotted an unknown Surface Pro device listed in the Geekbench 5 database, with a processor that’s clocked at 3.15GHz (on its four main cores of eight total) – and this lines up with the previously rumored Snapdragon 8cx Plus, which is thought to be an incoming SoC from Qualcomm to step up from the Snapdragon 8cx.

• Microsoft Surface Pro X: the answer to iPad Pro has its ups and downs
• Surface Pro X is a new high in ‘repairability’ for Microsoft
• These are the best 2-in-1 laptops of 2020

The Snapdragon 8cx is the chip which the Surface Pro X was built around – or at least a custom Microsoft SQ1 version which runs at 3.GHz – so the theory is that this could be a speed hike for a refreshed Pro X model.

However, plenty of caution is required around this rumor, as there is also the possibility that this Geekbench result could simply be Qualcomm using a Surface Pro X in internal testing of its incoming Snapdragon 8cx Plus.

Pushing harder with Pro X

This is just speculation, then, but it does make some sense that Microsoft might want to give the Surface Pro X something of a refresh and a bump in power, given that as we observed in our review, it is way behind the iPad Pro in performance terms. So, while it doesn’t look like this will be a major revamp – if it’s even coming at all – anything that might help Microsoft’s tablet compete with Apple’s rival slate would certainly be welcome.

As for the actual Geekbench scores themselves, they are rather lackluster, but then this is likely an early sample of the Snapdragon successor, so we wouldn’t read too much into that.

The benchmark result also makes it clear that the unknown Surface Pro device comes with 16GB of RAM, which again matches the current Surface Pro X memory loadout (at least for the higher-end model of the tablet).

Microsoft’s Surface Pro X has benefited from some compelling price cuts recently, and if we see some good deals on a more powerful spin on the device, it might well be in a position to give Apple more of a run for its tablet money.

• Check out the best Microsoft Surface Pro deals going