Microsoft’s Surface Studio all-in-one PC received a lot of praise for its superb multi-touch display, and many Surface fans have been asking the company to release a monitor-only version to use with a powerful workstation. Well, according to a new book from Brad Sams about Microsoft’s Surface business, this may finally happen.
“Microsoft will finally deliver a Surface monitor in the 2020 timeframe,” wrote Brad Sams in his just-released book (via The Verge). This apparently won’t be a standard monitor as Microsoft is reportedly wants it to be modular. In a previous interview with The Verge, Surface inventor Panos Panay hinted at a modular Surface Studio. Microsoft seems to be iterating a bit slower on its Surface Studio line, as the first version was released in December 2016 and its successor (the Surface Studio 2) has just started shipping in select markets.
Brad Sams’s book also includes many interesting details about future Surface products, including the “Andromeda” foldable mobile device that showed up in many patents over the years. According to Sams, Microsoft is now considering a larger form factor for this device, though it’s not exactly clear if Microsoft is completely moving away from the idea of having a pocketable device that can transform into tablet when you need a bigger screen.
Last but not least, more Surface accessories could be on the way following the launch of the Surface headphones in the US and UK this month. According to Sams, Microsoft could be working on a Surface-branded intelligent device for the home or the office. Details are pretty scarce for now, but this could be related to the AI-powered prototype device that Microsoft unveiled at Build 2018 during a segment about the meeting room of the future.
With the exception of the Surface Go and the new Surface headphones, it’s safe to say that 2018 was a pretty unexciting year in terms of new Surface hardware. Fortunately, Microsoft apparently has a lot of exciting new products in the pipeline, and that includes a “heavily-redesigned” Surface Pro tablet for 2019.
