It’s been over a year since the Surface Laptop 7 was announced, which means it’s time to start thinking about what the next generation Surface Laptop will look like. The company just launched the Surface Laptop 13-inch, a new entry-level model that undercuts the flagship by a couple hundred bucks, so the flagship Surface Laptop 8 is still to come.
While we don’t yet have any concrete information on the next-gen Surface Laptop, we can read the tea leaves and speculate as to what Microsoft will want to deliver with its next flagship laptop.
So, here’s everything we think we know so far. Check back for more information as it becomes available!
Price and release date
The Surface Laptop 8 is expected to start at a slightly higher price tag compared to the Surface Laptop 7, which debuted at $999. This is because Microsoft now sells an $899 13-inch Surface Laptop, and so it needs a larger pricing gap between the entry-level model and the flagship Surface Laptop 8 for the lineup to make sense.
While we don’t know for sure what the price will be, we can assume it’ll be at least a few hundred bucks more expensive than the Surface Laptop 13-inch, as it’s expected to feature a much better display and trackpad, more powerful SoC, and more ports.
The Surface Laptop 8 doesn’t have a concrete release window just yet. It’s expected that the company will unveil it later this year, likely in the October timeframe as that’s when the company usually announces new hardware in the fall.
With that said, this depends entirely on whether Qualcomm is ready to ship its next gen chips. If there’s a delay, then the Surface Laptop 8 will likely get pushed back. If a delay does happen, don’t expect to see the Surface Laptop 8 until spring next year.
Processor and specs
My sources say Surface Laptop 8 will very likely be powered by Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon X2 SoC, the successor to its first-generation Snapdragon X line of chips. Not much is known about Snapdragon X2 just yet, but we do know it’s expected to focus on GPU performance improvements, along with better multi- and single-core performance to compete with Apple’s latest silicon.
Down the line, it’s likely Microsoft will update the Surface Laptop 8 with an Intel variant, just like it did with the Surface Laptop 7. This model will likely be exclusive to business customers, as the company likes to differentiate consumer hardware with Snapdragon’s chips.
That assumes Intel is able to make a new Copilot+ capable chip anytime soon. As I understand it, Microsoft will only chip new Surface hardware powered by Copilot+ capable processors going forward, so if Intel has nothing new to offer in the next 12 months, we likely won’t see a Surface Laptop 8 with Intel.
Design and features
As the Surface Laptop 7 was the first time in the product lines history where the device got a design refresh, it’s unlikely that the Surface Laptop 8 will have any major design changes. That means it’ll still feature the new 13.8-inch 120Hz display, surrounded by thin bezels and rounded display corners.
The keyboard and trackpad on Surface Laptop 7 are basically perfect, and so it’s unlikely these will change on Surface Laptop 8 too. The trackpad will continue to be haptic, which uses a vibration motor to simulate a click, and it’s very satisfying.
The only thing to watch out for is the Surface Connect port, which was removed on the new Surface Laptop 13-inch. Given this is a new generation of Surface Laptop, it’s possible that Microsoft will follow the same trend and remove the Surface Connect port on the Surface Laptop 8.
The company has already stopped shipping the Surface Laptop with a Surface Connect charger in the box, which certainly suggests the company is on the path to killing Surface Connect all together. That would be a real shame if true.
Over to you
That’s everything we know about the Surface Laptop 8 so far. What are you hoping to see on Microsoft’s next-generation flagship Surface Laptop? Leave a comment below!
