A leaked image of what is believed to be Microsoft's Surface Pro 8 reveals that the company's upcoming 2-in-1 laptop could be quite boring.

The reason for that somewhat premature conclusion is that its design appears to be unchanged from the past few generations of Surface Pro machines. The images show the same 12.3-inch PixelSense display, relatively chunky bezels for 2020, and a standard kickstand design.

Additionally, the Type Cover keyboard attachment appears unchanged. However, this is not a bad thing, as this keyboard cover is excellent based on our tests.

However, the lack of design changes to what appears to be the Surface Pro 8 is quite disappointing. We had hoped that Microsoft would apply the design of the Surface Pro X, with its slim body and narrow screen bezel, to the upcoming Surface Pro.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case, and the only way to get a Surface Pro with a slimmer bezel is to opt for Microsoft's Surface Pro X 2020. The only caveat here is that the leaked device is an engineering prototype. Perhaps there is still hope for a redesign, but we doubt it.

So what can we expect from the Surface Pro 8? Most of it is improved internal specs. According to this leak, Intel's new Tiger Lake 11th generation Core processors will be at the heart of the new Surface Pro. And thanks to the new Xe integrated graphics accelerator, it promises increased CPU performance and more graphics power.

The increase in power won't make a night and day difference between the Surface Pro 8 and the Surface Pro 7. However, for users who may use graphics-intensive applications, the increased Xe graphics power could improve performance.

As it stands, Microsoft is very tight-lipped about when we can expect a new Surface device. Perhaps the Surface Pro 8 will simply be released as a minor spec refresh with no major launch event. Microsoft has already announced a major Surface device this year in the form of the Surface Duo, an interesting, albeit flawed, mobile phone/tablet hybrid.