Now that details of the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet have come to light we are a little surprised that there is already rumors of the next-gen device/devices, the Microsoft Surface 2 tablet and family. But we have to question the plausibility of the recent release speculation, which puts it pretty close to next months Pro.

There’s no denying that new versions of Microsoft’s Surface tablets will be with us sometime next year, but we can’t see it being until much later in 2013, as the current versions need time to prove themselves — something the Microsoft Surface RT tablet has been struggling with.

A recent tweet from @MS_nerd suggests that there will be three new Surface 2 tablets, the Microsoft Surface RT 2, Surface Pro 2 and also a larger Surface Book, which if rumors are correct will sport a 14.6-inch display. While we do question the plausibility, it’s worth remembering that @MS_nerd has been on the money before, so could he also be correct this time as well?

So what can we expect in terms of key features and specs from the next-gen Microsoft Surface tablets? Firstly the Surface RT 2 is said to come with an 8.6-inch display and could do away with the NVIDIA Tegra chip and replace it with the Qualcomm chipset instead. The Surface Pro 2 could come with an 11.6-inch display and is suggested to come rocking a new AMD “Temash” APU instead of the trusted Intel Core i5 processor, which to us seems a bit of a gamble.

Finally the tweet suggests that there could be a new device from the Microsoft Surface tablet family and that’s the Surface Book. Now the Intel 22nm “Haswell” chip does not surprise us, but that questionable 14.6-inch display does. We have to wonder when a tablet stops being a tablet and becomes a hybrid laptop instead?

If we are to believe this rumor then Microsoft looks set to go down a different route when compared to Android and most recently Apple with a smaller tablet form factor; we just wonder if there is a market for a tablet with a display a little under 15 inches?

We still have trouble believing this recent rumor because of those specs, as we find it hard to believe that Microsoft will ditch Intel for AMD. Okay, we understand that Microsoft would like to make a few adjustments in order to help further reduce costs, but is it taking things a little too far by replacing AMD chips with those from Intel?

Who knows though, Microsoft is in a tough market and need to make several changes in order to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung, and one of the biggest issues is always price; I guess we will just have to watch this space.