Some of the rumored devices like the new Microsoft Surface products may be released before the end of 2016 after all, as rumors suggest that the new processor, Kaby Lake, is already being shipped out by Intel to its partner tech makers.

According to Windows Report, a recent earnings call by Intel has the company announcing that the seventh-gen Kaby Lake processors are being shipped out to computer makers. This means that different third-party manufacturers like Asus, Dell, and HP will be receiving the new processors early, and can then come out with new-gen lineups for their laptop and tablet products.

In addition, it is reportedly confirmed that with the ship out dates occurring in the middle of the year, fans can expect to have Kaby Lake-powered devices by fall. This may mean that some of the most-awaited products like the Surface Book 2 and Surface Pro 5 may still make it before the year ends. There are rumors that Microsoft is delaying the release of the new Surface products to 2017, since Intel reportedly has also delayed its assembly and production of the new Kaby Lake chipsets.

Kaby Lake shipping out this early is surprising for some observers, since it has already been established that Intel may suffer setbacks due to some issues. Early in the year, Intel has to lay off around 12,000 employees due to constraints, and the tech maker also has to curtail its smartphone and tablet CPU division. In addition are the rumors of production line woes for its Kaby Lake architecture.

The new Kaby Lake is a major update for Intel's major processor lineup, although it is built on the same 14nm architecture as its predecessors, the current-gen Skylake and the fifth-gen Broadwell processors. Meanwhile, it is said that Intel will be overhauling its chipset lineup by next year and will announce a newer, 10nm architecture for the next-gen chipset dubbed as Cannonlake.