Microsoft says it loves AMD, just not enough to put it in a new Surface device

[DragonSlayer101]

The big picture: Microsoft debuted its new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro convertible at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit event in Maui last week and confirmed that the "Copilot+ PC" branding is being retired for new Windows devices. The company has now offered a rather unconvincing explanation for why the latest Surface devices won't ship with AMD processors.

During an interview with Windows Central, Microsoft's CVP for Surface devices, Brett Ostrum, was asked why the company dropped AMD from its 2026 Surface lineup. Ostrum stated that Microsoft's limited Surface portfolio prevents it from offering too many processor choices, even though it greatly values its relationship with AMD.

According to Ostrum, "We love working with AMD. We have a limited portfolio, and so we have to make our choices pretty wisely in terms of what we're doing and where we're doing." He added that AMD is a valued partner for Microsoft, and that the two companies will continue working closely on other products in the future.

Ostrum did not confirm whether future Surface devices will ship with AMD chips, but online speculation suggests that AMD-powered Surface PCs could still be in the pipeline, with Microsoft rumored to be working on new devices powered by AMD's upcoming Arm chip, codenamed Sound Wave.

The latest Surface devices notwithstanding, Microsoft and AMD share a close working relationship across PCs, gaming consoles, and handhelds. Team Red's 3D V-Cache CPUs remain among the best gaming processors on the market, and the company is also Redmond's chosen partner to supply a custom processor for the next-generation Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix.

Microsoft's new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop may not ship with the Copilot+ branding, but they still offer the same AI features as their predecessors. They're powered by the Snapdragon X2 Plus SoC, which the company claims offers up to 18% greater battery efficiency, over 60% faster graphics performance, and 95% faster on-device AI inference compared with the Snapdragon X Plus.

Alongside the Surface devices, Microsoft also debuted the second-generation Surface Mouse last week. Priced at $79.99, it offers several new features, including haptic feedback, a customizable Action Button, Bluetooth 6.0 with multi-device support, and a claimed six-month battery life. It will go on sale October 13 in Black and Platinum colorways.

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Microsoft says it loves AMD, just not enough to put it in a new Surface device

 

[yRaz]

I wonder if the bootloaders are locked arm laptops the sameway they are on phones. I'm going to over simplify this, but with Valve working on what I'm calling "proton for ARM", I would love to get an ARM laptop. I'm constantly impressed by the graphics power on Galaxy tab S10 ultra, it's just that all android games suck.

If we could get some ARM laptops going with SteamOS or something similar there might actually be some things to get excited about in tech.

There does seem to a push for desktop ARM devices, it's just hard to take M$ seriously about anything these days. I still see X86 being the sports cars of the computer world, but that doesn't meant we can't have fun on ARM chips.

At also seems like Nvidia is/was trying to make gaming SOCs with ARm but those plans are now going toward AI PCs. But who knows, if AI PCs end up not taking off then Vera Rubin might be repurposed into gaming chips

 

[WhiteLeaff]

Yeah, and they use ARM, which shows they hate consumers, and yet they still try to sell it as a premium product.

 

[Eldrach]

I wonder if the bootloaders are locked arm laptops the sameway they are on phones. I'm going to over simplify this, but with Valve working on what I'm calling "proton for ARM", I would love to get an ARM laptop. I'm constantly impressed by the graphics power on Galaxy tab S10 ultra, it's just that all android games suck.

If we could get some ARM laptops going with SteamOS or something similar there might actually be some things to get excited about in tech.

There does seem to a push for desktop ARM devices, it's just hard to take M$ seriously about anything these days. I still see X86 being the sports cars of the computer world, but that doesn't meant we can't have fun on ARM chips.

At also seems like Nvidia is/was trying to make gaming SOCs with ARm but those plans are now going toward AI PCs. But who knows, if AI PCs end up not taking off then Vera Rubin might be repurposed into gaming chips

It's just money. Apparently there's an insane push of incentives towards Microsoft for promoting ARM Cpus with Windows - Trying to breach that market

But ARM on Windows still has massive compatibility issues with anything not made for ARM - and running Software through their translation layer still gives a massive decrease in performance.
Mac could do it - as they basically control the entire hardware package and the operative system, Microsoft doesn't control the hardware and can only try to influence it

 

[Theinsanegamer]

It's just money. Apparently there's an insane push of incentives towards Microsoft for promoting ARM Cpus with Windows - Trying to breach that market

But ARM on Windows still has massive compatibility issues with anything not made for ARM - and running Software through their translation layer still gives a massive decrease in performance.
Mac could do it - as they basically control the entire hardware package and the operative system, Microsoft doesn't control the hardware and can only try to influence it

The compatibility issues we have seen are largely due to Qualcomm's incompetence, they only fully support DX12, anything lower is emulated, and that emulation is patchy at best.

That's not an ARM problem, its a Qualcomm shitty management problem.

Yeah, and they use ARM, which shows they hate consumers, and yet they still try to sell it as a premium product.

Using a more efficient architecture is "hating consumers"?

I swear people will get outraged over absolutely anything.

 

[yRaz]

Mac could do it - as they basically control the entire hardware package and the operative system, Microsoft doesn't control the hardware and can only try to influence it

I think the real problem is that Microsoft doesn't have control over their operating system. Some consistency would do them some good but I don't think their own devs know what build they're going to be releasing software on. If you look at early windows 10 VS where it was when they stopped supporting it, it's a completely different operating system. How can someone make quality software when they don't even know what the OS is going to look like at the time of release? Apple takes things slowly. It's part of the reason that I like the Long Term Release version of Linux distros. Very rarely do I need some new, cutting edge feature and if I do need it, it's not hard to add myself.

M$ really needs to slow things down.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I think the real problem is that Microsoft doesn't have control over their operating system. Some consistency would do them some good but I don't think their own devs know what build they're going to be releasing software on. If you look at early windows 10 VS where it was when they stopped supporting it, it's a completely different operating system. How can someone make quality software when they don't even know what the OS is going to look like at the time of release? Apple takes things slowly. It's part of the reason that I like the Long Term Release version of Linux distros. Very rarely do I need some new, cutting edge feature and if I do need it, it's not hard to add myself.

M$ really needs to slow things down.

Cool, now compare MacOSX Sierra to their current MacOS 27. Because that's how long windows 10 was supported, 10 years.

 

[Puiu]

"so we have to make our choices pretty wisely in terms of what we're doing and where we're doing" - they wisely destroyed the whole Surface line and brand.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

"so we have to make our choices pretty wisely in terms of what we're doing and where we're doing" - they wisely destroyed the whole Surface line and brand.

Still pissed they dropped the wireless/4k wireless adapters. They were PERFECT and the whole miracast environment has decayed to almost nothing now.

 

[yRaz]

Cool, now compare MacOSX Sierra to their current MacOS 27. Because that's how long windows 10 was supported, 10 years.

And the last few years of W10 it started to really go down hill then we were forced into the dumpster fire that is W11 and that makes Vista look desirable

 

[Theinsanegamer]

And the last few years of W10 it started to really go down hill then we were forced into the dumpster fire that is W11 and that makes Vista look desirable

Your feelings on if the OS went downhill or 11 have nothing to do with the point, which is that MacOS, in the same time frame as 10, ALSO drastically changed.

 

[yRaz]

Your feelings on if the OS went downhill or 11 have nothing to do with the point, which is that MacOS, in the same time frame as 10, ALSO drastically changed.

Windows changed with very little cohesive thought. MacOS changed but it fundamentally kept many of the principles that made people like it in the first place. Windows did not. MS keeps trying to push their services and become a Google or Apple with an ecosystem. Google was always the discount Apple and people were fine with that because it came with the freedom to tinker and side load things and enjoy your device while providing a good enough experience. Both Google and MS are adding more "inconveniences" while removing the freedom to use your device how you liked in the first place.

I like to use this analogy. MS and Google were a Honda while Apple was a Mercedes. The Mercedes was a premium product and while you paid more, you got more but maintenance was higher. Hondas were cheap, but fixing them was cheap and they were perfectly fine at being a car. Now, Honda wants to charge Mercedes money while not actually offering anything that made the Mercedes worth paying more for. Then Honda stopped being good at what Hondas were good at, just being a cheap car while still failing at being a Mercedes.