Last week at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Microsoft introduced a new Surface Laptop and a new Surface Pro convertible. It also confirmed that new Windows devices will no longer carry the “Copilot+ PC” branding.
Microsoft has explained why its newest Surface devices won’t use AMD chips. Asked about the decision in an interview with Windows Central, Brett Ostrum, the company’s corporate vice president for Surface, said the lineup is too small to support many processor options. He added that Microsoft still values its relationship with AMD.
“We love working with AMD,” Ostrum said. “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.”
Ostrum added that AMD is a valued partner for Microsoft, and that the two companies will continue working closely on other products in the future. He did not confirm whether future Surface devices will ship with AMD chips.
Some online speculation points to AMD-powered Surface PCs still being in development. Microsoft is rumored to be preparing new devices that use AMD’s upcoming Arm processor, code-named Sound Wave.
Although the latest Surface devices don’t use AMD processors, Microsoft and AMD continue to work closely on PCs, gaming consoles, and handheld devices. AMD’s 3D V-Cache CPUs remain some of the strongest gaming processors on the market, and the company is supplying a custom processor for Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox, code-named Project Helix.
The new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop will not use the Copilot+ branding, though they offer the same AI features as earlier models. They are powered by the Snapdragon X2 Plus, which Microsoft says improves battery efficiency by up to 18%, graphics performance by more than 60%, and on-device AI inference speed by 95% over the Snapdragon X Plus.
Microsoft also announced the second-generation Surface Mouse last week. It costs $79.99 and adds haptic feedback, a customizable Action Button, Bluetooth 6.0 with multi-device support, and a stated battery life of six months. It will be available on October 13 in Black and Platinum.
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