What started off with the Microsoft Surface back in 2012 has expanded to cover multiple form factors and devices over the years including Surface Pro, Surface Go, Surface Laptop, Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Hub, Surface Duo, and more. Now, it appears that Microsoft is working on yet another Surface device, this one geared towards the educational sector.
Windows Central reports that Microsoft is developing a low-cost Surface laptop to compete with Chromebooks in the education sector. It reportedly features an 11.6-inch 1366x768 display, an Intel Celeron N4120 processor, and up to 8GB of RAM. The device will pack a full-sized keyboard and trackpad, a USB-C port, a USB-A port, a headphone jack, and an AC port. The Surface laptop will sport a plastic exterior, likely to keep the cost as low as possible, given the target market.
According to the report, the Surface laptop is codenamed "Tenjin" and will be powered by "Windows 11 SE". Although we haven"t heard of this SKU of the OS before, it will apparently be optimized for schools deploying lower-end Windows hardware in bulk. It"s also unclear what the "SE" in the OS" name stands for, but it could mean "Student Edition" or "School Edition".
Tenjin is expected to be announced by the end of this year and will feature competitive pricing in the zone of $400 or below. The move certainly makes sense given that the K-12 education market usually utilizes low-end hardware that is affordable for students. That said, it is important to note that none of these plans have been confirmed by Microsoft yet, so could change or not materialize at all.