Microsoft is planning a big event for its Surface hardware — but it might not announce any new laptops or tablets

microsoft surface panos panay

(Microsoft Corporate VP of Devices Panos PanayMatt Weinberger/Business Insider)

Microsoft is planning a big hardware event before the end of Spring 2017, reports ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, reinforcing earlier rumors.

The catch is that Foley is also hearing that Microsoft won't be planning to unveil a new Surface Book 2 laptop at the event. And she's "not sure" about whether or not the long-awaited Surface Pro 5 tablet will be introduced, either.

That's contrary to earlier reports that Microsoft would be unveiling a new, cheaper Surface Book within the next few weeks.

Given that the Microsoft Surface Studio PC only first came out in December 2016, it seems unlikely that Microsoft would be unveiling any kind of major update. And Microsoft has reportedly scrubbed plans to unveil the second version of its HoloLens hologram headset and go straight to version 3, for release in 2019.

On the software side, Microsoft is ramping up to release the free Windows 10 Creators Update sooner rather than later, but we already know all about the new features it brings.

So then, the question becomes: If we're perhaps not getting any upgraded Surface devices at this event, or even a Windows software surprise, what the heck is Microsoft planning to unveil? Microsoft declined to comment, leaving us in the land of pure speculation.

surface pro 4 hello

(Microsoft Surface Pro 4Matt Weinberger/Business Insider)

The best-case scenario, as laid out by Foley at ZDNet, is that Microsoft is planning to blow us all away with a new Surface device that nobody sees coming.

Given that Microsoft already has a laptop, tablet, desktop PC, and even holographic headset in its lineup right now, with the "Project Scorpio" next-generation Xbox slated to be unveiled closer to the summer, it's hard to image where any new gadget would fit in.

The worst-case scenario would be that Microsoft lets us down with an event that sees little more than minor upgrades and refreshes to the Surface lineup we already have. But watch this space, because as this still-unofficial event gets closer, more details are surely forthcoming.

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