Microsoft has certainly kept us hanging when it comes to the second edition of its popular Surface Book but it's rumored that it will pack in powerful specs to challenge Apple's dominance with the MacBook Pro. 

UniversityHerald reported that the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is probably going to release some time around October, but the International Business Times puts it much earlier than that, with the possibility of it releasing any time between now and June. 

TechRadar has indeed noticed prices falling on Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 and original Surface Book devices, which could indicate the imminent release of another laptop as retailers clear their shelves to make room for the new inventory. 

However, in our book a March release seems highly unlikely, given that Microsoft is rolling out its Windows 10 Creator Update in April.  

It seems reasonable that Microsoft would want to ensure that its new high spec laptops are running with the latest version of Windows. 

Certainly Microsoft has been quiet on all fronts where the Surface Book is concerned, with no confirmed details on release date, price or specs.

But rumors abound that the Surface Book 2 will come with a VR-ready 4K display, something the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 is also rumored to have.

It's also expected to come out with Intel's more powerful seventh-gen processing chip, the Kaby Lake.  This would make it faster and more power-efficient than the current model which has the Intel Skylake. 

Microsoft had better make it stand out as there's a lot of competition out there.  Porsche, for example, recently unveiled its own new notebook, the Porsche Design Book One, at the Moible World Congress (MWC) 2017 and it bears a striking resemblance to the Miscrosoft Surface Book.  

It has some interesting hinge technology and is all in all a sleek little laptop and as Microsoft apparently helped to make it, TechRadar speculates Microsoft will come up with something even better for its own Microsoft Surface Book 2.