It's been an interesting week for Microsoft Surface. For a product lineup that aimed to reinvent its own industry, it's been shaken up way more than usual. There was a big product launch this week with four new Surface PCs announced, but that wasn't even in the top two Surface stories.
The biggest was that the man who has been the face of Surface for over a decade, Panos Panay, was announced to be leaving Microsoft just three days before the event. Shortly after, reports started appearing that Panay was not only headed to Amazon but that Microsoft was killing various Surface product lines, like Duo, Studio, and Headphones.
So when we finally got to the product launch this week, everything felt different, and everybody here knew it. It felt like the disruptive Surface brand we've all come to know, love, and respect was gone.
Panos Panay is gone, but why?
Panay had been the face of Surface for years, steadily rising through the ranks to become in charge of both Windows and Surface at Microsoft. He's delivered a keynote at every hardware launch for around a decade, and the word "pumped" has become synonymous at Microsoft with his presentations. He's recognized for his energy, enthusiasm, and passion for the products he's showing off.
So when it was announced that he was leaving, effective immediately and just three days before a product launch, it was shocking. Love him or hate him, this was a surprising change. There were statements from Rajesh Jha (EVP of Experiences and Devices) and CEO Satya Nadella, but they were short, with Nadella only saying that the company remained "steadfast and convicted in our strategy" and expressing faith in Yusuf Mehdi, who will now lead Windows and Surface.
It's clear that Panay didn't walk into Nadella's office Monday morning and quit since succession plans were outlined in the press release. Still, what happened?
Reports started coming in soon after. The word is that Panay is heading to Amazon to work on Alexa devices. However, another report said that Microsoft was killing much of what Surface stood for, including niche lines like the Surface Duo and Studio, along with peripherals like the Surface Headphones. Panay allegedly didn't like that.
I have no reason to doubt any of that. Many of us who follow Surface have suspected that the writing was on the wall for a while, and those who have met Panos know how passionate he was about the products his team created.
Microsoft Surface started out because the PC market was stagnating. The company realized that the only way to spark innovation was to do it itself. Surface was supposed to be aspirational hardware, and it eventually grew into its own business. Now, that business seems to be downsizing and removing the elements that would still be considered aspirational.
For someone who's been so heavily involved since the beginning, it makes sense that Panay might not want to stick around with those changes.
The vibes felt off at this week's Surface event
Microsoft held a launch this week, where it announced its AI Copilot, along with Windows 11 version 23H2, the Surface Laptop Studio 2, Surface Laptop Go 3, Surface Go 4, and Surface Hub 3.
I get it. I call it a Surface event, but the spotlight was meant to be on AI technologies and the products and software that would utilize them. The fact that Surface was reserved for just the final 15 minutes of the keynote wasn't surprising, given the scope of the launch. Still, it felt like an afterthought. Out of the four products, presenter Brett Ostrum really only talked about the Surface Laptop Go 3 and the Surface Laptop Studio 2, even taking time to demonstrate performance gains over Apple's latest MacBook Pro.
Yes, it was a Surface presentation without Panos and the vibes were going to feel off no matter what. But it felt like something extra was missing.
The Surface hardware that was announced looked fantastic, and the team was enthusiastic as always. A few of them even casually said how "pumped" they were for the new products, something I suspect was an homage to their former boss.
I suspect their silence was because no one was allowed to address the fact that Panay had left. Even PR didn't come prepared with a statement, and no one stepped on stage to acknowledge what happened or talk about Microsoft's commitment to Surface. To me, it felt like an elephant in the room. Panay had left Microsoft, and here everyone was pretending like nothing happened.
Surface Go 4 is the first casualty
We knew what the products were going to be heading into the event. The leaks were plentiful. But what we didn't expect was the announcement the Surface Go 4 would be only for businesses.
The Surface Go has a bit of a strange history. The first one came out in 2018. Starting at $399, it was meant to be more of an entry-level Surface device. When we talk about aspirational hardware, it was worth noting that other OEMs weren't making any $400 PCs that were this thin and light. The product matured after that, with big performance gains in future iterations, offering a Core i3 as a tier above the Pentium Gold.
The Surface Go 4 is for businesses only, and there's no Core i3 model anymore. Instead, the only processor option is an Intel Processor N200, and it starts at $580. I was told that it's for frontline workers. If you're doing some kind of data entry in the field, you might see a Surface Go 4. If you're looking for a small Windows tablet for personal use, this isn't for you.
It feels like the product line has been killed off, and they just made a minor refresh for businesses that really wanted it.
Surface as we know it isn't coming back soon
If you're looking for the next innovative form factor from Surface, don't hold your breath. That's not what the brand stands for anymore. That foldable-screen successor to the Surface Duo seems to be going in the bin. Instead, there seems to be an increased emphasis on more mainstream products.
Again, I do want to reiterate how excited I am about the products that were announced and my respect for the team that was on-site. Those people are amazing, and they make terrific products. The upcoming products will be cool, too. But you should think about it more in terms of AI capabilities than hardware form factors. The next Surface Pro is going to include Intel's Meteor Lake chips and Qualcomm's upcoming Oryon chipset, both of which are going to pack some serious AI chops. Next year is still going to be a really exciting year for computing.
But this thing we knew as Surface is over. Panay's Surface is over. And that's the new normal.