Former Neowin Managing Editor Brad Sams is releasing a book today called Beneath a Surface. The book tells the untold story of the beginnings of the Surface brand, from when Microsoft was developing Windows RT and had to make a big bet by competing with its partners, to becoming the successful brand that it is today that brings in billions of dollars in revenue every year for the company. It's come a long way from the original devices - which ended up being a $900 million write-down - and the book tells the inside story.
But Beneath a Surface also outlines the roadmap for the future of Surface. For one thing, Microsoft might be working on an AMD-powered Surface Laptop. This wouldn't be surprising given that AMD has made big strides with its Ryzen processors, and the new Laptop would be based on the Picasso architecture.
The AMD-based Surface Laptop is slated for the fourth quarter of 2019, as is a redesigned Surface Pro. This will be the first major redesign of the tablet since the Surface Pro 3, and it's been rumored for some time.
But another, more substantial hardware release for Microsoft could be Andromeda, which according to the book, is now slated for late 2019 as well. Unfortunately, it's not the pocketable LTE device that many had dreamed of though, at least for the time being. It's larger than what was initially rumored, and that original device has been scrapped for the time being.
On to 2020, Microsoft will be bringing the modular concept that it is using with the Surface Hub 2 to the Surface Studio. That means that the next Surface Studio could be the Surface monitor that many have been asking for. This is a huge shift for the all-in-one PC, which isn't very upgradeable at all in its current form.
And of course, there's Surface Book. According to Sams, this isn't slated to be refreshed until the first quarter of 2019, but for good reason. Microsoft is working on a new hinge design, so it seems likely that the infamous gap will finally be gone.
Finally, there also might be a spring 2019 event, where Microsoft could show off some type of ambient computing device. It's meant to solve some pain points with smartphones.
Naturally, everything Sams talks about as being on the roadmap is subject to change. These devices are all pretty far out, so they could be delayed, pushed up, canceled entirely, or changed in just about any way imaginable.
If you're interested in the story of Microsoft Surface, where it came from and how it ended up where it is now, check out Beneath a Surface. You can find it on Amazon here.
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