It has been more than a year since Microsoft's Surface Pro 7 was released, and in that time we have heard very little about its successor. But things have just changed, and in a very strange way.

The first time we actually saw Microsoft's Surface Pro 8 in person was not through a traditional leak, but because one of the engineering samples was listed on eBay.

The listing closed last night with a bid of $1,300, less than 24 hours after the initial reveal. Apparently, the seller, whose feedback was not displayed, closed the listing because the item had sold.

The eBay listing claimed that the Surface Pro 8 is exactly the same chassis as the Surface Pro 7, and rumors of a design upgrade seem to have died down. So it is all about the internal hardware again, including an 11th generation Intel i7-1165G7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

The seller also says the tablet comes with a blue type cover and warms up potential buyers to back up drivers before doing a system restore so they can't find it online again. Considering that this is an engineering prototype of an unreleased machine, this makes sense.

If this 2-in-1 prototype is legitimate, it suggests that the Surface Pro 8 is likely to disappoint. Rumors had suggested that the machine would feature an upgraded kickstand and perhaps a solar panel, but it appears that will not happen.

That said, we don't know what the battery life is like, which is one of the things that could still surprise us when Microsoft actually unveils this tablet.

We still don't know when the Surface Pro 8 will be available, but reports indicate that it will not be available this year. Therefore, if COVID-19 has not affected Microsoft's plans, early 2021 is likely to be the earliest we will see some sort of official announcement.

It is still possible that Microsoft will announce the Surface Pro 8 this year. After all, Apple is expected to hold an event in November to announce the Apple Silicon MacBook. But we will have to wait and see.