by: Katelyn Chedraoui | CNET
Microsoft is gearing up to drop even more news for Windows and Surface laptops. The tech titan is hosting a Windows and Surface event on Wednesday in San Francisco, its first laptop-centric event in two years. This is everything we’re expecting to see — and no, sorry, Windows 12 is not on the list.
The event will be a “conversation on how local AI will shape the next chapter of the PC,” according to Microsoft. That makes sense as Microsoft has been all-in on AI by incorporating Copilot everywhere and partnering with chip makers like Qualcomm to bring enough firepower to its devices to handle the computational load of generative and agentic AI tasks. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the head of Windows and Devices, Pavan Davuluri, are slated to speak.
This event could be when Microsoft actually drops the Surface Laptop Ultra, a 15-inch high-end variant first announced this spring at Computex. The Ultra is powered by Nvidia’s new RTX Spark chip, so Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s slated appearance at the event is another sign toward the Ultra.
We already got two new Surface laptops this month, previewed at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit. At the Hawaii event, Microsoft upgraded its Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface 13-inch laptops, running on Snapdragon Elite X2 chips, and introduced a new Surface mouse to go along with them. The new laptops have better cameras and “embody the PC-phone marriage Qualcomm promised years ago,” CNET’s David Lumb reports.
A big question will be prices. Computer hardware companies have raised their prices across the board, from Apple to Asus and Acer, over the last year to keep up with rising manufacturing costs. AI is at least partially to blame, with advanced chips in hot demand for data centers as well as laptops and phones. Other costs, like price increases in Windows licenses during the manufacturing process, may also be contributing to higher price tags. The result, sometimes called RAMageddon, is that it’s more expensive to buy new devices.
Microsoft’s Windows and Surface event begins at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It is being held in San Francisco and will be livestreamed on YouTube. CNET will be on the ground to bring you all the latest Microsoft news.
Katelyn Chedraoui
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Katelyn is a reporter with CNET covering artificial intelligence, including chatbots, image and video generators. Her work explores how new AI technology is infiltrating our lives, shaping the content we consume on social media and affecting the people behind the screens. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in media and journalism. You can reach her at kchedraoui@cnet.com. See full bio