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Will there be a March or April launch for Microsoft’s new Surface machines? The answer is a little more complicated, it turns out.
First published on January 19.
Updated, March 7, 4:50 p.m.:
Microsoft confirms that the Surface event is on March 21st, but there’s more: they’ll also be talking about Windows and Copilot, so here’s the possibility of more exciting reveals, and it looks like most of it will be AI-focused. As mentioned, The Verge reported on March 5 that the real big consumer news related to the Surface with OLED won’t be revealed on this date, and that’s probably right since the slogan is “A New Era of Work.” We follow the revelations at 18:00.
Updated, March 5, 9:45 p.m.:
The Verge’s sources reveal above the technology newspaper that Microsoft will reveal the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 on March 21 as previously reported. But there’s something to note: these are the business models of the Surface Pro 10 and Laptop being revealed on this date, and not the more exciting OLED model (just in time to compete against the iPad Pro OLED expected this month or early next month) for consumers. “The March event is focused on smaller commercial updates to existing Surface models instead,” reveals The Verge.
Surface Laptop 5 with relatively large frames. Photo: ITavisen
In fact, both the Surface Laptop and the Pro series are getting major consumer-oriented upgrades during the spring, and then we’re not just talking about OLED and guts, but also design. It is unknown whether the Laptop will get OLED, but at least the laptop will get shrunken frames around the screen.
According to the latest reports, the Surface Pro 10 also gets an OLED ultra-wide-angle web camera, an NFC reader and a panel with anti-glare and support for HDR video. The Intel models will arrive in April and the ARM in June, i.e. the Snapdragon X Elite. The new hardware launches in conjunction with the announcement of a Windows 11 update with an AI-powered file explorer, as previously reported by Windows Central. The file explorer will follow everything the user does, so that you can easily scroll back and forth in your work.
The Surface Pro 9 is getting a major upgrade with an OLED panel and perhaps a new design during the spring. Photo: ITavisen
March, April and June
We are not yet sure whether Apple will launch new MacBooks and iPads with the M3 in March or April, as both months are rumoured, but the latest from the Microsoft rumor camp is a launch in less than three months. As always, it’s @h0x0d at X who believes that Microsoft’s tentative plan is a launch not too far off – even the date of Thursday, March 21, is the potentially big day. And it may be about more than just Surface.
Windows Central, which is behind a number of recent Microsoft scoops, backs up the date of new Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 announcements, and that the machines will be shipped to the first customers in April. “In my report I mentioned that these devices will be announced in the spring. With that in mind, I’m now hearing that Microsoft plans to roll out new hardware in two waves, the first of which will be in April, and the second in June,” writes Zak Bowden at Windows Central.
Certainly, the month of June is the time for the launch of “Surface Pro 10” and “Surface Laptop 6.” They will take that much time because these machines come with Qualcomm X Series, hardware that depends on Microsoft first finalizing Windows Germanium:
The platform the OS is developed on is called Germanium, and this is already ready in April, while Windows 12, or whatever the name will be, will not be launched until August. As usual, this means that the OEM manufacturers of machines will have ready machines with the new OS in September and October.
What about Windows 12?
So what are the customers served, or should we say the corporate market, in April? Certainly the focus will be on companies with Intel 14. CPUs in the same machines, and a PR focus in the direction of this segment. It is therefore also possible that these will be launched as Surface Pro 9+ and Laptop 5+ – Microsoft has done this before, specifically in 2019 with Surface Pro 7+. These machines get an NFC reader and support for Windows Studio Effects. It is interesting that Microsoft, if true, will therefore try to convince consumers to choose the ARM editions. Moreover, it is apparently only these that are delivered with an upgraded design.
“It is unlikely that Microsoft will talk about the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 in March, although they may give a small preview. I suspect we’ll hear more about these devices, along with the next version of Windows, closer to June,” reveals Bowden, who reports that Microsoft will end the year with Surface launches in October with the Surface Laptop Go 4 and Surface Go 4 .
About March is the month Microsoft will give a preview of the new ARM machines, what about “Windows 12” which is supposed to be finished in August this year? Isn’t June a bit late?
