Microsoft’s Revised Surface Laptop Is Cheaper—and Worse—Than Before

Here’s the good news: Microsoft is selling a Surface Laptop in 2026 that will once again cost under $1,000. The bad news: It only has 8GB of RAM (half as many as before) with the same performance as the previous generation.

As spotted by Windows Central, Microsoft quietly released an $850 Surface Pro 12-inch and a $950 Surface Laptop 13-inch with less-backed RAM, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chips, and 256GB of SSD storage. The company previously increased the prices of all its pre-2026 Surface devices, which start with 16GB of memory.

Of course, to make the Surface Pro 12-inch function as a convertible laptop, you still need to buy a separate $150 keyboard, bringing the actual total to $1,000.

These prices are higher than in 2025—for worse specifications. The Surface Pro 12-inch launched last May for $800. The Surface Laptop 13-inch originally released with the same chip and 16GB of RAM for $900, but then Microsoft raised it to $1,200 in April. This new 8GB model is cheaper than the new MSRP but still higher than its original price.

Each new Surface configuration seems like a poor value compared to other low-cost PC options coming to compete with the $600 MacBook Neo. For example, the new Dell XPS 13 starts at $700 with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

The ongoing RAM pricing crisis has already destroyed the entire PC pricing landscape. As AI data centers are gobbling up all that memory capacity, even the father of Windows isn’t outperforming other laptop makers. Ironically, Microsoft pushed the 16GB RAM on Windows 11 thanks to new AI integration like Copilot. Based on previous standards, none of these 8GB laptop models can be considered CoPilot+ certified.

Since the launch of Windows 11 in 2021, Microsoft has set 16GB as the standard for the OS. Now, it needs to make concessions for lower-tier systems. Windows Central reports that Microsoft is attempting to optimize Windows 11 for 8GB machines. It may also disable some widgets to ensure that these systems run smoothly. Gizmodo has reached out to Microsoft for more information about the 8GB Surface device and its plans for Windows optimizations, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.

Just last week, Microsoft launched new Surface Pro 13-inch and Surface Laptop models with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 platform. The new Surface Laptop 13-inch starts at $1,600 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Microsoft clearly knows it can’t sell low-end models at such obscene prices, but its Surfaces are struggling to make sense for consumers who can’t possibly afford a $1,000+ device.