What’s next for Microsoft’s Surface PCs?

Nearly 10 years ago I reviewed my favorite Surface device. Microsoft hand-delivered its Surface Studio all-in-one PC to me, and I was hooked from the moment I switched it on. It had a beautiful floating touchscreen that you could push all the way down into a drawing board mode, making it unlike anything I had seen in the PC market. But like many other Surface devices, it no longer exists. Over the past few years, Microsoft has been steadily walking back from the experimental ethos that built the brand. The detachable Surface Book? Gone . The giant Surface Hub touchscreen displays? Gone . The Android-powered Surface Duo? Gone . Even the Surface Laptop Studio, which was supposed to replace the Surface Book, has been axed . What’s left of Microsoft’s Surface devices has been reduced to just the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, with a variety of different sizes and specifications. Earlier this month Microsoft launched its Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 8 devices with Intel chips inside, and rumors suggest Qualcomm-powered consumer versions will be announced next month. Both of the new Surface Laptop and Pro models are simply refinements of an existing formula and don’t push the categories forward in meaningful ways. The Surface Pro and Surface Laptop have matured to the point where Microsoft can launch smaller models that squeeze in more powerful chips, but apart from that, you know what you’re getting at this point. …