Microsoft is gearing up for its annual Surface fall event, which will be a special milestone this year as the company celebrates Surface’s 10th anniversary. As we always do at Windows Centralhere’s a rundown of everything we’ve heard and expected to announce from Microsoft at this year’s Surface event.
An event is happening October 12th at 10:00 AM ET. The event will be streamed live, although it is not yet known if the event will be in person or digital only.
Surface laptop
First on the agenda is the next Surface Laptop, which is long overdue for an update since it’s been a year and a half since the Surface Laptop 4. from other sellers.
according to recent reportsThe next Surface Laptop will only be available with Intel 12th generation U series chips without AMD Ryzen options.
This will be the first time since the Surface Laptop 3 that Microsoft has shipped a Surface Laptop without AMD options. This is possibly due to an ongoing component shortage. My sources tell me that Microsoft has internally developed new Surface Laptops with AMD Ryzen 6000 series chips, but we’ll have to wait and see if they ship this fall.
I expect the Surface Laptop to ship in the same 13-inch and 15-inch sizes and the same colors as last time. But we might also see a new Sage green color, as seen on the Surface Laptop Go 2 earlier this year.
And it should be Lightning 4 for the first time in the Surface Laptop series.
Here are the SKUs I expect to see ship:
13.5 inches:
- Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
- Intel Core i5, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i5, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
15 inches:
- Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD
Surface Pro 9
I’m also looking forward to the new Surface Pro this fall, which will see significant changes to the product line in the silicon department. According to my sourcesMicrosoft plans to bundle the Surface Pro Xi with the main Surface Pro brand this fall, meaning the Surface Pro “9” will be available to order with either Intel or Qualcomm chips.
The Qualcomm variant (codenamed Arcata) is expected to feature Microsoft’s SQ3, a customized Snapdragon 8cx Gen3 SoC that will significantly boost performance over the existing ones. Surface Pro X. The Intel model (codenamed Zaca) will be powered by 12th generation chips, although I’m not sure if it will be the P series or the U series.
The P series in the Surface Pro line would be huge, as it would offer a huge performance boost over the Surface Pro 8, putting it head-to-head with Apple’s iPad Pro. However, P-series chips run hotter and are less power-efficient than U-series chips, so perhaps the U-series makes more sense for a device like the Surface Pro.
Another key feature of the new Surface Pro will be the inclusion of 5G LTE for the first time on a Surface PC, especially for ARM models (which just passed the FCC). Other than new device colors and possibly new Type Cover designs, I don’t expect any major exterior design changes over the current Surface Pro design.
Here are the SKUs I expect to ship for both the Intel and ARM models.
Surface Pro 9:
- Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD
- Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
- Intel Core i5, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD
Surface Pro 9 with 5G
- Microsoft SQ3, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD
- Microsoft SQ3, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD
- Microsoft SQ3, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
- Microsoft SQ3, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
Surface Studio 3
I also expect Microsoft to ship a new one eventually Surface Studio (codenamed Chehalis), with modest updates to its design and more modern features under the hood. We have already looked at it updated accessoriesThe Surface Pen has an updated color scheme and a slightly new design.
Note that the pen design is of the thicker variety and not the updated Slim Pen design. This suggests that the Surface Studio 3 won’t have a dedicated wireless charging dock for the Slim Pen 2, as some had expected. It should be noted that Surface Pen and Surface Fine Pen are two different product lines, one is not a replacement or successor to the other.
Like previous Surface Studios, I’m told this device will be powered by an Intel chip, although I haven’t been able to confirm for sure whether it will be the 11th generation or 12th generation series. I heard over a year ago that the Surface Studio 3 would be powered by a Tiger Lake processor, but hopefully the device has been updated since then.
I expect only one SKU of the Surface Studio 3 to ship, although it can be purchased without the keyboard, mouse, and pen for commercial customers.
What was believed to be the Surface Studio 3 just happened Filed through the FCC.
- Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD
Project Volterra
The project was Volterra (codenamed Black Rock). announced earlier this year, but I expect Microsoft to be preparing to ship the first units at the same time as the other new Surface devices. Project Volterra features a Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 under the hood and is Microsoft’s first mini desktop, although the company plans to sell it only as a developer kit.
Fun fact: Project Volterra was built by the Surface team and is a Surface product in all but name. So even though it’s not branded as a Surface, it’s still a Surface at heart.
Accessories
First look at the updated Surface Keyboard and Surface Pen, which I assume will be updated for the upcoming Surface Studio 3 this fall pic.twitter.com/RJs8qYrkarAugust 31, 2022
As every year, we expect to see a few new accessories along with the new Surface PCs. Updated versions of the Surface Keyboard, Surface Pen, and Surface Mouse are expected to be included in the box with the Surface Studio 3, but can also be purchased independently for people who don’t want to spend more than $3,500 on a PC.
We can finally see Microsoft’s new Adaptive Accessories start sending. These were announced earlier this year but haven’t gone on sale yet, and they recently passed the FCC, so their launch should be imminent.
There is also a chance that Microsoft could announce it new Android 12L update For Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2.
Finally, I heard that we might be getting a second generation of Surface Headphones (codenamed Ella). Unfortunately, I have no idea what’s new with them. Still, it’s been over two years since the first one Surface Headphones launched, so we are very late with the update.
What can’t wait
There’s always a list of Surface devices we don’t expect to see this fall. This year they include:
- Surface Laptop Studio 2
- Surface Go 4
- Surface Duo 3
- Superficial Neo
- Surface Laptop SE 2
- Surface Laptop Go 3
- Surface headphones 3
Sure, there might be a surprise or two, but I’m pretty sure we won’t see a sequel or new versions of it. Surface Laptop StudioSurface Go, or Surface Duo this fall.