Reports about the Microsoft Surface Book 2 arriving this year have been rampant but fans might need to be more patient. There is a chance that the next generation of Surface hybrid laptops will be released in 2018 as its shipment is expected to begin early next year.

According to Tech Radar, the likelihood of a Surface Book 2 appearance this year is decreasing. The 2018 launch of the new Surface laptop comes from Mary J. Foley, a well-known tech leaker and analyst from ZDNet.

According to Foley's inside the company, Microsoft might opt to postpone the new Surface Book release to early next year. This is due to the expected delay in the shipment of the Surface Book 2, thus the devices will not make it to the market this year.

It was suggested that the Microsoft Surface Book 2 reveal might happen at the Future Decoded event in London on Oct. 31, where the Redmond-based tech giant will unveil their latest lineup of Surface machines. The timing seems right for the unveiling of the Surface Book 2, but if the latest reports are true, the public will see not see the product until next year.

According to Tech Advisor, the Microsoft Surface Book 2 will feature a lot of upgrades, as well as some important revisions in the laptop's design.

For one, Microsoft is expected to fix the hinge of the Surface Book to make the laptop easier to fold. Surface Book users also reported an issue in detaching the keyboard from the screen, so it is expected that the next iteration will not have the same problem.

The Microsoft Surface Book 2 is rumored to boast top-end hardware specs, such as a 4K screen with 3840 x 2160-pixel maximum resolution with VP9 and HEVC 10-bit decode. The laptop is likely to receive the latest eighth-generation Intel processor, as well as USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Microsoft has not yet released an official statement regarding the Surface Book 2's release, so the public is advised to take unconfirmed rumors with a grain of salt.