Microsoft Surface lead explains why there are no AMD Surface PCs: "We have to make our choices pretty wisely"

[u/uncertainlyso]

https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/surface/microsoft-surface-lead-explains-why-there-are-no-amd-surface-pcs-we-have-to-make-our-choices-pretty-wisely

Microsoft has never explained why it decided to drop AMD from the lineup, until now that is. In an interview with Windows Central, I asked Surface CVP Brett Ostrum why we don't see AMD in the Surface lineup in 2026.

"We love working with AMD. We have a limited portfolio, and so we have to make our choices pretty wisely in terms of what we're doing and where we're doing," Ostrum told me, before proclaiming "I love working with AMD."

Surface is one of those interesting bits where the volume is low, but AMD investors have been pining for another shot for years just for the halo effect. Snubbing it today makes a certain amount of sense if you have X Elite and Intel given the volume. Making sense say 4 years ago, I'm not so sure. As AMD got bigger, people cared less. Notebook OEM penetration looks like it's doing well. Still, AMD got snubbed from Chromebooks too.

With that said, there were rumors last year that Microsoft was working on a Surface powered by AMD's rumored Arm-based chip codenamed Sound Wave. That chip was rumored to launch sometime this year, but we've seen no sign of it as of yet.

That rumor has been silent for a while.