Introduction
This blog post looks back at the history and evolution of Microsoft Surface dating back to 2007 and the iconic Surface Table to today’s sleek and beautiful Surface Copilot+ PCs.
As Microsoft turned 50 last week, and I watched the “Copilot Show” on both my Surface Pro 11 and (for nostalgic reasons) Surface Pro 1, I thought I should revisit the twists and turns of Microsoft’s transformative and sometimes hero Surface line.
I’ve been a fan of Surface since I got my hands on the own first Surface devices – the Surface RT and Surface Pro 1 (which I bought in combo), but my journey began even before that with the original Surface, which was not a tablet but “a big ass interactive table”
2007: Where it started – The Surface Table
Back in 2007, I was working at RM Education (UK leading supplier of IT to education) and we were the Education UK launch partner for the original Surface Table computer.
This early Surface was a huge 30-inch touch-screen display that delivered in the form of a coffee table style device. It showcased Microsoft’s leading edge PixelSense technology, which was used a combination of integrated sensors and no less than seven infrared cameras to track fingertips, objects and swiping motions. It also allowing for the concept of specialised tags (before QR codes were a thing) and objects to interact with images on the screen.
This technology was totally breath-taking from an innovation perspective and aimed mainly at for businesses and education. It sold in the UK for more than £10,000 and we sold a handful or so of devices to leading tech innovator/showcase schools, colleges and Universities in UK. I also saw these pop up in flagship retail stores and even found one in a bar in Redmond, US.
2012: Surface RT – A conceptual leap forward
Fast forward to 2012 where Microsoft’s Chief Product Evangelist, Panos Panay, introduced the very original Surface tablet device (the Surface RT) to the world.
This device marked the beginning of a new era for Microsoft with dedicated hardware and software that worked “in tandum” together, very much the approach and appeal that Apple had with the iPhone.
Touch-screen devices and tablets had existed in one form or another since the late 1980s, and Microsoft had been pitching pen input with heavy, bulky PCs which ran a modified version of Windows XP and Office XP in the form of Windows XP Tablet Edition. Again, RM Education were education launch partner for these back in 2004. I have covered this in a previous blog and mine still works!!
The original Surface device – the Surface RT came from “almost” nowhere. Though an innovative device for its time, it was really more of a proof of concept aimed at kickstarting a much-needed innovation push into end user laptops which were mainly (at the time), clunky and plastic clam shell laptops.
Surface RT never really succeeded as a mainstream device, due to its limited app support, mainly due to the reliance on the (at the time almost odd choice of) Arm processor. Despite Microsoft doing a good job of porting its own office apps, many others didn’t follow suite meaning the device suffered from a huge app shortage (sound familiar???).
Despite its initial shortcomings, Surface RT did introduce some significant hardware innovations like the integrated kickstand and type cover keyboard, which are still standout features on Surface Pro devices today. It also lit a light on what devices running ARM based chip-sets were and would be capable of.
Surface RT was, a great looking device for it’s time. It was impressively slim and light, came with full-size USB port and a microSD card slot. The device (bear in mind this was 2012), can with 2GB of memory, a 1.3GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, integrated graphics and 64GB SSD storage which was little low even then.
The point of this was concept and a line in the sand that portable computing was about to get a reboot it….. and it did, kickstarting fresh innovation not only within Microsoft but across the wider manufacturers too.
2013: Surface Pro: The Game Changer
Then, around six months later in 2013, Microsoft launched the Surface Pro. This time it is not a prototype and far less of a Proof of Concept, shipping with a full-featured intel x86-based architecture. The Real Surface Pro was born.
The move to Intel hardware and Microsoft’s new Windows 8 Operating System (which was really designed for touch devices) was essential for the Surface on-going development. Surface Pro brought laptop-level functionality in a tablet form factor and the addition of the kick stand and Type Cover Keyboard made switching from Tablet to Laptop mode a breeze.
The original keyboard wasn’t great to be honest and took some time to adjust too as the keys we not physical keys and had no travel. The track pad was also really small. The Kickstand was super reliable and presented the device is a good angle to work on but was not adjustable and feels very simple in contract to the slickness of Surface Pro from around V4 onwards.
2014: Surface Pro Improvements
We saw Surface Pro 2 and Surface Pro 3 ship in 2014 as Microsoft continued to improve on the device, slowly taking user feedback and making subtle changes to demonstrate to Microsoft’s partners what was possible in detachable-tablet designs while attracting die-hard Windows fans.
This of course led to other OEMs closely watching the changes and innovation Microsoft were attempting with both Windows OS and Surface and the coming together of these technologies.
It wasn’t really until Surface Pro 4 that commercial customers would take Surface seriously… It was here that Microsoft truly became an innovator and front liner in the Windows device’s market. Surface Pro 4 with Windows, innovated the development of Windows.
We saw Microsoft really prefect ink and pen and drove new security innovations too bringing the concept of (now a security stable) of Windows Hello for Business to Windows and the wider OEM space.
2015: Big and Mighty – Surface Book
Microsoft continued to innovate in this space with new and cutting edge devices. In 2015, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Book. This still a 2-in-1 but in new design that was much closer to the way a conventional laptop looked. The difference though was it had a fully detachable tablet screen.
This design further bridged the gap between dedicated tablets and laptop devices. The Surface Book featured a flexible docking connection that let the screen completely separate from the base (which housed the keyboard) and function as a dedicated Surface tablet.
There was a battery in both the base (keyboard unit) and screen, meaning you could detach and re-attach whilst the device was powered on and running applications. There was a dedicated “undock” key on the keyboard which ensured Windows was “ready” for the dock disconnect to work without interupring your session too.
It was super slick and another fleet of engineering marvel from Microsoft.
You could use the Tablet portion in standalone mode, which worked really well with the Surface Pen (massively perfected from the original Pro 1) and could even re-attatch the screen in either forward or backward-facing orientation (folding it over on itself). It was really popular device with Microsoft employees and partners in particular.
Microsoft continued to update Surface Book, with Surface Book 2 in 2017 and Surface Book 3 in 2020, both saw improvements to the docking mechanism and upraded performance including decicated GPUs which were housed in the keyboard portion of the Surface Book.
2016: Surface Hub: Echoes of the Original Surface Table
Microsoft launched the Original Surface Hub device in 2016. These came in 55″ and 84″ version and were large-format display screens that functioning like a high-tech whiteboard for conference rooms.
This product continued the legacy of the original Surface table, packed with multitouch digitizer and a customised of version of Windows 10 designed for Surface Hub. The 84″ version was very heavy and retailed for around £24,000. It needed specialist partners to sell and install them and run (essentially) Windows 10 Store apps and Edge. The device had 10-point multi touch and supported cross tenant sign-in, supported MFA and gained support from third party apps such as AutoCAD and several leading education and training apps designed especially for Surface Hub.
2016 – Surface Studio – a thing of beauty is born
This remains the one device I have never owned and really wish I had. The Surface Studio, released in 2016, was an all-in-one PC with a gorgeous pull-forward display, appealing to creative professionals. It was a thing of beauty, and was very Apple Mac style.
The Surface Studio really was a groundbreaking all-in-one PC designed for creative professionals and also for organisations that really wanted a showcase device on their reception desks! Surface Studio features a unique Zero Gravity Hinge that allowed the 28-inch PixelSense display to be tilted to a flat position, similar to a drafting table. If you watched the Sayta Nadella keynote on Microsoft 50th Birthday, you would have noticed the gorgeous Surface Studio Sayta was working on.
Surface Studio was (well still is) gorgeous – with a high-resolution display of 4500 x 3000 pixels and supported both DCI-P3 and sRGB color spaces. It was super powerful too – equipped with powerful Intel Skylake processors and NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics meaning it could run professional-grade software like Adobe Premiere Pro and Autodesk with ease.
Microsoft released the Surface Studio 2 and later the Surface Studio 2S (sadly the last one). Its elegant design, versatile input options, and transformative experience made it a standout product in the Surface lineup and one that really does show the innovation and inventiveness that defined the Surface brand.
2017 – Surface Laptop is Born
The Surface Laptop was released in 2017 and echoed several of the Surface tablet’s design elements but without the detachable tablet capability. This appealed to Surface fans who needed a more traditional clam-shell style laptop and allowed Surface to compete in the fierce and competitive traditonal laptop space, accepting the fact that not everyone was a fan (I am) of the 2-in-1 form factor and didn’t see the need for pen and ink. That said, Surface Laptop has supported pen until the most recent verion (Laptop 7). The device still sports the 10-point mult-touch screen, something I find hard to believe is not standard on every laptop build….buy hey ho!
Microsoft say that the Surface Laptop is Microsoft’s most popular device. We have seen multiple updates year after year with Surface Laptop 7 (both Intel and Snapdragon Elite variants) being in the latest Copilot+PC devices (read more later).
2018 – Arrival of the Surface Go family
OK – so these were called the Surface Go and Surface Laptop Go range.
The original Surface Go was launched in early 2018 and brought the same sleek design and style of the Surface Pro but in a mini version and offering standout value. By scaling back the processor to Intel’s Pentium Y range and swapping the solid-state drive for cheaper eMMC flash memory, Microsoft trimmed the Surface Go’s price to around £449 making it far more affordable than the regular Surface Pro. There were a few high spec options for another hundred pounds or so!
Surface Go weighs in at just 1.15 pounds (without keyboard) and featured a 10.1″ 10-point multi-touch pixel sense display screen. At just 9.65″ x 6.90″ x 0.33″ (245 mm x 175 mm x 8.30 mm) Surface Go was small and light enough to fit in a handbag, use on a train or plane tray table and even stick in your coat pocket.
The lowest spec (cheapest device) – with the Intel® Pentium® Gold Processor 4415Y was in most cases a little under-powered, however it served a good purpose and bridged a gap providing a capable device with the same gorgeous look at feel, combining size and usability with style in a super compact form factor. The device supported Windows Hello(r) for Business, Secure Book and TPM 2.0, and the same slick 10-point multi touch screen and pen support and came with its own (optional) mini type cover keyboard.
Surface Go 2 got an upgrade the following year with the Surface Go 2 which introduced full better Processors (With the Intel 4425Y or 8th Gen Intel® Core m3 Processor).
We got Surface Go 3 and Go 4 (released in 2024), all of which also shipped with an LTE/4G version for great connectivity and on-the-go support.
The Surface Go range remains one of my favourite Surface devices when travelling on when on holiday (I just wish they had an ARM version to get more battery and performace):-)
Surface Laptop Go – a mini–Surface Laptop was launched in 2020. These weighed in at 2.45 lbs, were powered by 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 processor – 1035G1 making them really practical and supported up to 256GB SSD and 4 or 8GB RAM. These shipped with Windows Hello(r) with fingerprint reader and again TPM chip. They had a large trackpad, high quality keyboard, came in lots of colours and had a 12.4-inch 10-point multi- touch screen but no pen support.
Surface Laptop Go 2 and Laptop Go 3 (shown above) followed in each subsequent years with Laptop Go 3 being the current version. Surface Laptop Go weigh in 1.13 kg and claims up to 15 hours of battery (though I tend to get 7 to 8 of real usage)
These appeal to home users, students and info workers that favour portability and lightweight devices and tend to Dock to a screen when in the office.
2019 – Surface Pro X – Windows on Arm is back
In 2019, Surface Pro X was revealed. This was a super thin (thinnest Surface yet), modern (and in black) Surface Pro device, with up-rated keyboard, newly designed pen (Surface Slim Pen) and featured USB-C ports which for the first time supported both monitor connectivity and charging, along with the now standard Surface Connector port which still exists today in 2025 Surface devices.
Surface Pro X, brought back the Arm processor and an dmuch upgraded Windows on Arm (WoA) architecture which meant Surface Pro X could run both native Arm compiled applications as well as apps that were only available on x86 platforms using x86 emultion mode. Despite critisism, this actually ran really well most of the time and continued to improve as Microsoft enhanced the WoA architecture over the next few years.
The Surface Pro X, powered by Windows on ARM, represented a significant leap in mobile computing by blending the versatility of a tablet with the power of a full PC experience. Unlike traditional x86-based devices, ARM architecture offers remarkable efficiency, enabling longer battery life, instant-on responsiveness, and LTE/4G connectivity. This as important for anyone in a role that needed always-on seamless mobility and provided a far more secure way of connecting than coffee shop hot-spots and clunky VPNs.
The integration of ARM into Windows allows for optimised performance on custom silicon, reducing power consumption while maintaining productivity. This was different to the Surface RT days, as app developers were already making and optimising software for ARM, meaning the app-gap was less of an issue. As this gap in compatibility narrowed (and continues to), it makes the shift even more transformative and benefits more recognisable.
With its ultra-thin design, edge-to-edge display, and AI-enhanced performance, the Surface Pro X challenges the conventional notion of PC architecture and signals a future where portability and performance are no longer trade-offs but complementary strengths.
2019/2020: Surface Hub goes Slim with Surface Hub 2
The Surface Hub 2 was officially released in 2019. It introduced several key improvements over the original Surface Hub, which debuted in 2016. The Surface Hub 2 featured a much sleeker design (looked like a giant Surface Pro) was much, lighter weight, and a more versatile 50-inch display with 4K resolution, compared to the original’s larger and heavier models. It also supported multi-user login, allowing multiple people to collaborate seamlessly. A bigger 85″ inch version was also made available.
This device was designed to be modular, with removable processors for easier upgrades. These advancements made the Surface Hub 2 a more dynamic and adaptable tool for modern collaborative environments.
Additionally, the Surface Hub 2 was supposed to introduce (through a software update) the ability to rotate the screen between landscape and portrait modes, enhancing flexibility for different use cases – this unfortunately never came to Surface Hub 2, but did to Surface Hub 3 and to this existing version through a modular hardware upgrade transforming to the Surface Hub 3.
The Surface Hub 3 now has the option of running full Windows 11 or being configured as a Teams Room, running the full Teams Room OS.
2021: Surface Laptop Studio: Versatile & Powerful
In 2021, Microsoft introduced the Surface Laptop Studio, blending the convertible laptop concept of Surface Pro with a remixed version of the pull-forward display found on the gorgeous Surface Studio Desktop devices.
These were power horses, with the latest desktop class processors from intel (13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-13800H built on the Intel® Evo™ platform) and They were also the first Surface devices to feature their 14.4” PixelSense™ Flow Display with 2400 x 1600 resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate and featured NVIDIAFootnote® RTX™ 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU with 8GB GDDR6 vRAM
This product essentially split the difference between the Surface Studio and Surface Book. The unique display orientation was ideal for drawing and writing notes on-screen with something other than the usual laptop or tablet modes. However, it introduced some awkward issues in using basic laptop features, like the keyboard and trackpad, which required switching back and forth between drawing and laptop modes which we a little cumbersome in use.
Microsoft also shipped a V2 of the Surface Laptop Studio but discontinued it in 2024 as part of their simplification and rationalisation of the portfolio.
2024: The New Age of Surface: Copilot+ PCs
In 2024, The AI Powered PC was born.
Microsoft introduced the latest evolution of the Surface lineup with Qualcomm, followed by Intel powered devices which, along with Windows 11 24 H2 brought new AI-enhanced features and apps which continue to evolve.
Part of the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 range, these Copilot+ PCs showcase the latest AI capabilities and innovations, marking another significant shift for Microsoft as other OEM also are following with their own Copilot+ PCs.
Copilot + PCs have minimum specification of requiring a dedicated NPU capable of delivering more than 40 trillion AI operations per second (TOPS), 256 GB SSD storage and at least 16GB RAM (and Windows 11 24 H2).
This is the current generation of Surface devices…
What’s Next for Surface?
There are lots of rumours, but what we know is we are now in the era of the AI / Copilot+ PC. These next generation of devices are the only devices you will be buying in a few years time. If you are buying a new device today to last you for the next 3-5 years, make it a Copilot+PC.
From a form factor perspective, expect Surface Pro and Surface Laptop to continue to be mainstream from Microsoft. With regards the Laptop Go and Surface Go, I expect these to continue. You will see and hear lots of rumours this time of year new devices expected to be announced around May / June as usual.
Will we see the Surface Studio return, will we see Snapdragon chipsets in the Laptop Go or Surface Go family or will we see a new type of device emerge? One thing is sure – Surface contines to innovate the market. They may not be the number one OEM in terms of market share, but they innovate and set the stage for the best experience of Windows.
Microsoft are the only Windows device manufacturer that own the design, code stack and security layers from Chip to Cloud.
Surface has evolved from furniture to the tip of the spear of modern hybrid computing.
- Which Surface device holds the most nostalgic value for you?
- What innovations would you love to see in the next generation of Surface?