Surface Book 2 release date, specs news: To launch next month as Microsoft's answer to Macbook Pro 2016?

According to the latest rumors, Microsoft Corporation is planning to launch the latest Surface Book laptop model as early as June. This is to counter the anticipated release of Microsoft's rival tech giant Apple Inc. with the latter's launching of Macbook Pro 2016.

Microsoft is reportedly engaging Apple in a rivalry as the release of Surface Book 2 is expected to coincide with the Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) 2016 of Apple. According to the news website Yibada, the WWDC 2016 event is said to be the venue where Apple will finally unveil the newest Macbook Pro design.

The first Surface Book model was released by Microsoft in October last year. If the rumored June 2016 launching of the Surface Book 2 is true, the scheduled release of the latest Surface Book will be a few months earlier than usual.

Microsoft may also mind the price of Surface Book 2 as Apple is reportedly making the 2016 Macbook Pro models to be cheaper than the previous Apple laptops released in the past few years. While this could be a bold move for Apple in terms of profits, it may also be a way for the company to bring in more buyers. A separate report from Yibada states that the new Macbook Pro is expected to have a touch sensitive keyboard that will recognize different touch pressures to perform certain actions. For example, a lighter touch in the same area of the screen will result in a different command as compared to a harder press. Microsoft will also need to match the anticipated high-level performance of Macbook Pro 2016 as MacRumors reported that new GPU products from NVIDIA and AMD will power up the upcoming Macbook.

Microsoft has its own surprises for its latest product. The processors of Surface Book 2 are rumored to be the latest generation of Intel Kaby Lake i7 and i5 processors. This is a huge improvement from the first Surface Book that is using the Intel Skylake processor.