As much as the $2,600 Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra makes you feel like a first-class individual if you have the chance to weigh the heavy sucker in your hands, the vast majority of the PC-buying public can’t possibly afford it. That and other high-end laptops with their Nvidia-made chips stand in stark contrast to the legion of sub-$1,000 laptops that hit the scene in 2026, all made to compete against Apple’s $700 MacBook Neo. Microsoft knows there’s prestige in dropping its first honest MacBook Pro competitor, but it needs something made for the rest of us.
That’s reportedly exactly what Microsoft intends, at least according to a report from Taiwan-based site Digitimes (via Notebookcheck and read with machine translation). According to these rumors, Microsoft could be cooking up a 12-inch Surface Laptop that would sit closer in price to a MacBook Neo. Currently, the Surface lineup is full of laptops and convertibles that cost $1,000 or more. Even the modern 2nd-gen Surface Pro 12-inch starts at $1,150, and that’s without buying the $150 Flex Keyboard.
What’s even more interesting is the rumored choice of chip. Digitimes suggests Microsoft is considering an AMD processor unlike any the chipmaker has released so far. Numerous leakers over the past few years have hinted that AMD is crafting an ARM-based chip that’s distinct from its usual x86 offerings. Last year, the mostly reliable chip leaker Moore’s Law is Dead previously claimed it would be a six-core chip with a beefy GPU and NPU (for AI tasks) built specifically for Surface devices. It seems these rumors are surfacing (pun intended) at the right time considering everything else happening with the ongoing memory pricing crisis and changes to Windows 11.
To save money on its cutesy, low-end laptop, Apple stuck a phone-ready A18 Pro chip inside its MacBook Neo. PC makers have had to look for other means to keep pace. The majority of today’s Neo competitors have opted for an Intel Wildcat Lake CPU, which is essentially a cut-down mid-range Panther Lake chip. Lenovo’s IdeaPad Vibe notebooks utilize last-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon X ARM-based processors. Microsoft may be making the smart choice by going with something bespoke and ready-made for lower-end laptops. Microsoft’s other options include a Qualcomm Snapdragon C processor, though from what we’ve seen, those chips are made for netbook-class devices, not something you would actually want to use for your everyday computing needs.
The other part of this equation is what kind of memory specs we can expect. Microsoft will certainly tie its budget device with just 8GB of RAM. In its current iteration, Windows 11 is terrible for low-memory PCs. The company has promised that will change, thanks to redesigned UX elements that no longer eat up your laptop’s memory headroom.
Microsoft may have a means to actually compete on price against Apple. Beyond the chip, Microsoft will need to implement some kind of trackpad design that doesn’t suck. The vast majority of cheap PCs from Dell, Acer, and Lenovo—among others—sport mechanical hinged pads that make clicking closer to the keyboard worse. Microsoft has been touting force feedback features exclusive to its own haptic trackpads. If it can minimize the tech to a 12-inch laptop, it could offer honest-to-god reasons to consider the 12-inch Surface above the Neo.
