- Microsoft has cut the price of last year's Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch models
- The freshly introduced entry-level models have 8GB of RAM and provide some relief from recent major price hikes
- This isn't a compromise that some people are happy about, and they're arguing that 8GB isn't enough for a laptop these days
Microsoft has given us some more affordable Surface devices, models that are back under a grand in the US due to price cuts – but there's a catch, and that's the compromise made to achieve this pricing.
Windows Central reports that Microsoft's chosen tactic here is to push out new variants of the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch from last year with just 8GB of RAM to cut the cost. Previously, the baseline models had 16GB of system memory.
These new 8GB versions are priced at $849 for the Surface Pro and $949 in the case of the Surface Laptop on the Microsoft store in the US.
Note that there aren't fresh 8GB models for the recently introduced new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, which remain with a 16GB loadout at the entry-level.
The new prices for last year's models follow major price hikes for those devices in April 2026. The Surface Pro 12-inch (with 16GB of RAM) was jacked up to $1,049 in the US, whereas previously it started at $799. And the Surface Laptop 13-inch rose to $1,149 versus the original base MSRP of $899.
Analysis: A Neo approach some are questioning
While the new prices are a fair old drop down from the painful hikes that happened a couple of months back, Microsoft has sacrificed half the system RAM to get that reduction. This means these Surface devices are no longer Copilot+ PCs with exclusive AI features, as 16GB of RAM is required for that (although not everyone will miss these AI trimmings).
What else is a bit of a downer here is that the new low prices for half the RAM loadout are still $50 more than the original MSRPs for these Surface products back at launch, when they packed 16GB of RAM.
The other potential aggravation for would-be buyers here is the worry over whether 8GB of RAM is enough these days, a concern that looms ever larger. I've written about this in the recent past, and while yes, you can get by on 8GB for everyday computing duties, I am worried about how future-proofing is going to pan out for Windows 11 laptops (or indeed MacBooks, by which I mean the Neo with 8GB).
Okay, granted, Microsoft is working to make Windows 11 more performant in general, and to ensure the OS is happier with a low allocation of RAM like 8GB — and it is low these days, if you were in any doubt — but what about in five years? I don't know about you, but I expect my laptop to last half a decade, if not longer, and a non-upgradable 8GB is, I fear, going to feel wonky before too long.
Still, I take the point that the option for a more affordable Surface is good to have, and more choice is good — plus that 8GB may remain tenable for longer than you expect if you're sticking to basic computing tasks.
As Windows Central's Zac Bowden points out on X: "Microsoft tells me that it's working behind the scenes to optimize Windows 11 to run better on 8GB RAM, and these devices will be more than capable enough for day-to-day productivity workflows, internet browsing, and media consumption tasks."
Other people are a lot more doubtful, though, as you can see in the replies on that thread, which range from: "8GB of RAM in Windows isn't going to run well regardless of optimizations. You can't stop modern software bloat" to the far more blunt: "8GB RAM in 2026 is a scam."
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