The big news of the week in the Microsoft space so far has been the return to in-person events with Microsoft Ignite. It will be the first time since 2020 that Microsoft is hosting in-person attendees, but there is an underlying secondary topic with the news. Could Microsoft use Ignite 2022 as the chance to reveal new Surface devices and even the Windows 11 22H2 update?
According to Tom Warren from The Verge, the answer to that question could be yes. Nothing is official just yet, but with this year being the 10th anniversary of the first Surface (Surface RT was available for the public to buy on October 26, 2012,) his sources believe that Microsoft could mark the moment with “new products this fall.”
The Fall season starts in the U.S. on September 22, so an October product launch at Ignite could fit in the timeframe. This is just a wild guess, however, as Microsoft usually launches new Surface devices at a separate press event in New York. Adding to the doubts is that Paul Thurrott is hearing that no press will be invited for Ignite’s in-person events. Also worth keeping in mind is that Ignite is heavy on IT-centric news, and isn’t really the place where we typically see consumer news and products. This is all despite Microsoft’s interesting tagline on the Ignite webpage mentioning the conference will showcase “the best of what’s next.”
Microsoft, though, has been testing Windows 11 22H2 for a few months now and moved it over to the Release Preview channel for final tweaks. With Tom Waren believing that Microsoft is planning to deliver the 22H2 update in late September, it would be great to see some new rumored hardware to pair up with that software. As a reminder, that includes a possible Surface Go 4, Surface Laptop 5, a refreshed Surface Pro X and Surface Pro, and even Surface Studio 2.
It also would be great to hear Microsoft finally detail all of the new features in Windows 11 22H2 or the rumored changes to the way it updates Windows 11. They’ve been quiet on both those topics. We’ll just have to wait and see, but for now, keep the rumors coming!
