There is room for Intel and Qualcomm processors in the 2026 Surface catalog, and Microsoft is ready to add NVIDIA solutions. However, despite having collaborated with Microsoft on two generations of the Surface Laptop series, AMD was nowhere to be seen.
This choice dates back to 2021, when the Surface Laptop 5 ditched the AMD configurations introduced with the Surface Laptop 3. The company no longer offers Ryzen processors in its computersno precise explanation was provided. Now Microsoft has clarified at least part of the reason.
Surface and AMD: Microsoft focuses on limited product catalog
In an interview with Windows Central, Brett Ostrum, corporate vice president of the Surface division, explained that Microsoft still appreciates the cooperation with AMD, but changes must be made. Choose the components used in your device very carefully. The executive attributed the absence of AMD processors to the limited size of the Surface product catalog.
AMD’s relatively short history in this product line explains this. The 2019 Surface Laptop 3 is the first model to feature both Intel and AMD processors. The Surface Laptop 4 kept the same setup before Microsoft chose to stop working with Surface PCs.
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This decision seems odd considering that Microsoft continues to work closely with AMD in other areas. In fact, the company uses AMD chips are used in current production Xbox game consoles And once again chose the manufacturer of the next generation of gaming consoles. In 2025, there are also rumors that Surface may be equipped with AMD chips based on Arm architecture, code-named Sound Wave. This processor was originally scheduled to be launched in 2026, but so far no official products using this processor have appeared.
As such, it’s unclear whether the project has been canceled, postponed, or simply destined to be pushed to a later stage. Even the hypothetical characteristics of the sound wave do not allow us to determine the position it could occupy within the present extent of the surface. The current official explanation is still provided by Ostrum: Microsoft’s Surface portfolio is relatively small And you must choose the hardware platform to use. So while collaborations with other products in the Microsoft ecosystem continue, AMD remains outside the scope of PCs, at least for now.
