Exclusive report: What's next for Surface in 2025, including a possible 11-inch mini Surface Laptop?
Microsoft aims to bring Copilot+ capabilities to the rest of the active Surface portfolio in 2025. Here's what to expect.
It’s been a very busy year for Surface, the first under new leadership with Pavan Davuluri at the helm. In March, Microsoft launched its first ever specialized commercial Surface PCs with the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, featuring Intel Core Ultra processors and anti-reflective screens.
Just a few short months later, the company unveiled its first ever Copilot+ PCs with the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7, both headlining Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X SoCs along with updated designs and accessories. It's the first time we’ve seen Microsoft ship multiple generations of hardware in such a short time span.
This year was all about AI PCs, specifically Copilot+ AI PCs. The focus was on Microsoft’s hero devices to kickstart this new category of AI-powered Windows computers. I fully expect this trend to continue as we head into 2025 as Microsoft aligns more of the Surface portfolio under the Copilot+ umbrella.
According to my sources, Microsoft is planning to ship new versions of the Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, Surface Laptop Studio, and maybe even a new 11-inch Surface of some kind.
Up first are new versions of the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, this time with Intel Lunar Lake chips powering things under the hood, joining the Snapdragon X versions already on the market. These devices are expected to ship as Microsoft’s first Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs, something many Surface customers will have been waiting for.
The Surface Laptop with Intel Lunar Lake has already leaked, confirming that its design will remain identical to the existing Surface Laptop 7 with Snapdragon X. This is unsurprising given the Surface Laptop was only just refreshed with a new design, so I don’t expect to see another design update for at least a few years yet. The Surface Pro with Intel Lunar Lake will be a similar affair.
I think Microsoft will bring the anti-reflective coating from the Pro 10 and Laptop 6 to the new Intel Lunar Lake models, which was confusingly missing from the Laptop 7 and Pro 11. I also hear the Surface Laptop with Intel Lunar Lake will be configurable with a card reader, just like the Laptop 6. And for the first time, Microsoft may even offer a variant of Surface Laptop with 5G.
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I’m also expecting Microsoft to bring Copilot+ capabilities to other members of the Surface portfolio, such as the Surface Laptop Studio. I'm unsure which chips will power this, it could be Intel or AMD, but for it to be classed as Copilot+ compatible it needs an NPU of 40+ TOPS. I don't expect too much to change in regard to design, but I did hear whispers that a 16-inch model was being considered.
I’ve also heard that Microsoft is working on a new Surface device with a display size of around 11 inches. I'm not fully sure what form factor this will take—my sources have described it as a Surface Go-sized Laptop Go hybrid that uses premium materials and components. UPDATED December 9: I believe this 11-inch device is a Surface Laptop, likely replacing the Surface Laptop Go. Sources say it will feature premium materials and components, and be powered by an Arm processor.
Lastly, I hear a new Surface Dock is on the way, but I have no idea what’s actually new with it at this time. Microsoft’s last Surface Dock dropped Surface Connect in favor of USB-C, so it will be interesting to see if that change sticks with the new one.
The timing for when all of these products will arrive is uncertain for now. I believe the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop will likely land in the first quarter of 2025, but the rest of the lineup could arrive from spring to fall.
As always, there may also be some surprises that we're yet to know about. We'll be sure to keep you updated if things change.
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LumiaWin8 Unless the 11inch Surface will turn out to be a tablet - the seemingly endless wait for a modern, performant Windows mini tablet continues... RIP Surface Mini and all that never followed...Reply
Ironically, now that Intel FINALLY has a low power, long battery life, good performance SoC with Lunar Lake, it's gonna be ARM based too, with still way to many of my everyday apps not optimized/ARM based
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Might go for an updated OneXPlayer X1 Mini or so instead... -
Alphabet The lunar lake devices need to launch before the end of Q2. Since 2020 Microsoft has a history of using last year's Intel processors, which I refuse to buy a year later for a premium. Come Q3 into Q4 we should see panther lake which will reportedly have much better multicore performance.Reply
I would really be disappointed if the Surface Laptop Studio comes with a year old processor whether it's Intel, AMD, or Qualcomm given it's two-year update cadence. I hope they also add a RTX 5070 config instead of stopping at the XX60 tier. -
bradavon
Windows tablets don't work. It's why the Surface Dual ran Android.LumiaWin8 said:Unless the 11inch Surface will turn out to be a tablet - the seemingly endless wait for a modern, performant Windows mini tablet continues... RIP Surface Mini and all that never followed... -
bradavon "Microsoft launched its first ever specialized commercial Surface PCs with the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6"Reply
They weren't commercial devices, they were business devices actually. -
Arun Topez Unless they've been secretly working on a proper tablet UI/UX mode in the next Windows update, any Windows tablet would be useless it's a convertible like the Pro/Go. But with Panos gone, and MS cutting corners everywhere they can, I'll bet more than likely it's not happening anytime soon.Reply