- Rumor has it that the next-gen Surface devices have been delayed by a month
- A further suggestion is that “prices will probably be so bad” that no one will be able to afford them
- Big price increases on existing Surface devices have already raised concerns that the new hardware will be really expensive
Ever since the recent leak of Microsoft’s next-gen Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, there have been concerns that the devices will be too expensive, and a new rumor will be precious little comfort to those laboring under that fear.
It should be made clear that the hardware itself is still a rumor, but another well-known leaker believes that these updates are on the way, but they have apparently been delayed a bit and could be very expensive.
Notebookcheck.net found Roland Quandt writing on Bluesky that: “So it looks like the Surface has been pushed out by about a month. Wonder why that is. Shouldn’t matter since the prices will probably be so bad no one will be able to afford the stuff anyway…”
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According to the latest rumor about these Surface devices, the hardware with Intel CPUs inside was expected to arrive in the spring in the US, followed by the Snapdragon (Arm) models in the summer (from June). So, given that May is the last month of spring and what looks like the targeted launch month at this point, the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop are now coming in June instead. And that would line up with a reveal at Microsoft Build 2026, early that month.
Of course, this is all in theory, as is the information about prices, so sprinkle spices liberally.
Analysis: increasingly ominous
A reply to Quandt’s post about Bluesky questions whether this means Microsoft is set to launch the Arm and Intel variants of these devices at the same time now. That may be the case, and Quandt acknowledges it, even if he doesn’t know it.
Whatever he’s heard, it’s probably vague whispers of the release schedule, and nothing concrete about how the timing between Arm and Intel-powered versions might drop.
That prices are expected to be “so bad” that no one can afford the new Surface Laptop or Pro sounds ominous to say the least. Unfortunately, expensive next-gen devices make sense given what has happened to current-gen models recently.
Microsoft has just raised the prices of the existing Surface range significantly, with some versions being raised up to $500 in the US. And while I wouldn’t trust early pricing from retailers – because these are placeholder guesses, as a rule – the hints we’ve picked up from European websites suggest that price tags will indeed be weighty.
If true, it’ll be a shame, as Surface products themselves tend to be good, but the prices can greatly ruin the appeal if they end up being very expensive. Especially if the price tags are pushed to the limit, making MacBooks seem relatively affordable.
These rumors—and the very real price increases on existing Surface products—underscore how Microsoft is struggling with the RAM crisis and, what I can only assume, weakness in its hardware supply chain. The rumored delay in the launch of the new Surface Laptop and Pro would also make sense in that light.
Apple looks much more robust in this regard, especially considering that it has managed to launch a successful new budget laptop in this climate, the MacBook Neo.
It’s no secret that Apple has more hardware power than Microsoft, but the extent to which the latter now appears to be failing is perhaps worrying. Microsoft may argue that its software is far more important than the hardware anyway – and of course it is, and the focus is of course the big drive to fix Windows 11 – but it won’t look good if the company’s range of laptops starts to come apart at the seams, which seems to be the suggestion of the rumor mill.
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