New Microsoft Surface Pro and Surface Laptop launching without high-end Intel Panther Lake processors

Microsoft is rumoured to be bringing multiple Surface releases to market this year. On the one hand, the company is expected to return to ARM chipsets via Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 platform. Please see our corresponding article for more details in this regard.

On the other hand, Roland Quandt and WinFuture reported that new Intel-powered variants are also in the works. Now, Windows Central has elaborated further, adding that no 'significant design upgrades are expected'. Instead, Microsoft's new 'for Business' Surface releases may feature new colour options and 'minor tweaks' like improved haptic touchpads.

While no 15-inch version of the regular Surface Laptop 8 is said to exist, new 13.8- and 15-inch versions of the Surface Laptop for Business are rumoured with Intel processors. Currently, both Windows Central and Quandt stress that we should expect to see 'Core Ultra' versions of Intel's Core 300 series.

The former adds that there will be no Core Ultra 9 variants though, which was also the case for their Lunar Lake-based predecessors (curr. $1,408 on Amazon). Hence, the Surface Laptop 8 is unlikely to feature the Core Ultra X7 358H or the Core Ultra X9 388H with Intel's Arc B390 iGPU. Likewise, Microsoft's two new x86 laptops will skip Intel's new Wildcat Lake processors. Recent Panther Lake laptop releases indicate that processors like the Core Ultra 5 325 or Core Ultra 7 366H will underpin these new 'for Business' laptops. Pricing remains unknown at this stage.