Leaked marketing material of Microsoft's canceled Surface Mini have popped up on the web just a few days ago, revealing what the Surface Mini would have looked like in red. Evan Blass, known for leaking all kinds of devices before they launch posted the images on Twitter, along with device specifications.
The images and specifications confirm what we reported on just a few weeks ago, where we exclusively revealed what the Surface Mini looked like in photos. The marketing material appears to be showing off renders of a red Surface Mini, which confirms there was going to be multiple colors of the Surface Mini to choose from. The one we photographed was black, for example.
Canceled before its time
These marketing renders may be our best look yet at what Microsoft was cooking up internally for a smaller Surface. Canceled at the last minute, the Surface Mini was going to be Microsoft's shining star in 2014, running Windows RT with pen support for note taking and inking on the go.
Specs pic.twitter.com/2ksMpPsOJHSpecs pic.twitter.com/2ksMpPsOJH— Evan Blass (@evleaks) 2 September 20172 September 2017
The decision to kill the device just weeks before it launched was likely for the best, however. Windows RT was a failing platform, and there wasn't many apps in the Windows RT Store that could've shown off the potential of a Surface Mini device. OneNote was the only true app that would've made sense on a mini Surface.
Blass' leaks also confirm that the device was going to ship with a Snapdragon 800 processor and either 1GB or 2GB of RAM. It had a Full HD display at 7.5 inches and an aspect ratio of 4:3, which is great a size for a mini tablet.
The leaked technical specifications also confirm that the Surface Mini had an internal codename of "Iris", and would've come bundled with a Surface Pen in box. It's a true shame that such a device was canceled. Perhaps Microsoft will give it another go in the future, with Windows 10 instead. Would you be interested in a Surface Mini with Windows 10?
