Surface Laptop Go 2: Price, release date, and everything we expect

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Surface Laptop Go 2: Price, release date, and everything we expect



Microsoft’s Surface family includes some of the most iconic premium laptops on the market. From the original Surface Pro to the most recent form factors like the Surface Laptop Studio, the company has always made very interesting devices. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen Microsoft invest more in more affordable laptops including the Surface Laptop Go released in 2020. This was a great budget laptop for students, so it’s natural to expect a Surface Laptop Go 2 at some point, and as it turns out, it may be coming soon.

The Surface Laptop Go is the Surface device that’s in the biggest need of an upgrade – of course, excluding the Surface Book and Surface Studio, which have been collectively replaced by the Surface Laptop Studio. It’s been well over a year since the original Surface Laptop Go launched, and while it had decent specs, hardware has definitely evolved since then, and it’s set to evolve even more now that Intel has announced its 12th-generation mobile processors. So what can we expect from the Surface Laptop Go 2?

Navigate this article:

• Release date
• Price
• What’s new
• What we’d like to see

What is the release date of the Surface Laptop Go 2?

Right now, Microsoft has yet to announce a Surface Laptop Go 2, but recent reports have given us an idea of when to expect it. It’s likely coming this spring, and that’s a pretty common timeframe for Microsoft to launch new refreshed versions of its products, so it makes total sense.

A first-generation Surface Laptop Go


We don’t know a specific date yet, but it could very well happen in April or around this year’s Build event, which is taking place in late May. It’s a guessing game at this point, but we have good reasons to believe it’s coming soon.

What will the price of the Surface Laptop Go 2 be?

If Microsoft’s history with the Surface Go line is any indication, the Surface Laptop Go 2 will likely keep the exact same price tag as its predecessor, and that’s weha we’ve heard, too. Affordability is the big draw of these devices, and it wouldn’t make sense to bring them closer to the more premium Surface devices. As such, you can probably expect a Surface Laptop Go 2 to start at $549, with a couple of upgrades available from there. That will likely include 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, along with an Intel Core i5 processor.



The mid-tier configuration will upgrade to 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, and that should cost about $699, while the top-tier model will go up to $899 with a 256GB SSD. The rest of the specs should be the same across the different models – as far as performance goes, at least.

What new features will the Surface Laptop Go 2 have?

Being that it’ll be over a year and a half since its predecessor, you might expect some notable changes with the Surface Laptop Go 2. However, it’s also worth keeping in mind Microsoft doesn’t usually make huge changes to its products with the second iteration. On top of that, these are low-cost devices, so they’re not going to get big upgrades as often as the more premium ones.

According to what we’ve heard, there won’t be a ton of changes, but the ones we’re getting are certainly welcome.

A spec bump

With Intel’s 12th-generation processors starting to roll out now, you may have been hopeful that we’d see them in the Surface Laptop Go 2, but that likely won’t be the case. Of course, this is a laptop that’s meant to be affordable, and using the latest processors would be costly. Instead, we’re expecting to see an 11th-generation Intel Core i5, and frankly, that’s already a very big upgrade.

That’s because the Surface laptop Go used an Intel Core i5-1035G1, which was a solid processor, but it still had weak integrated graphics. Around this time was when Intel introduced the Iris Xe integrated GPUs, but Microsoft opted out of models with it. However, in the 11th-generation lineup, all of the Intel Core i5 mobile processors have Intel Iris Xe, specifically with 80 execution units. That’s going to be a big boost to graphics performance, and it could make some games actually playable. Of course, the CPU is also upgraded quite a bit, so you can expect more performance across the board.



However, RAM and storage configurations are expected to be the same. That means the base model will likely have 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, then the mid-tier model will upgrade to 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, and the top-tier model gets 256GB of storage. It’s possible that the base model will also have a 128GB SSD, but that’s not something we’re confident in yet.

A new color option

Something else we’ve heard about is the possibility of a new color being added to the lineup. That new color will apparently be called Sage, which is a shade of green. That would be a completely new color for the Surface family, and if you want something that suits your personal style, this might be great news.

If you liked the previous models, you’ll be happy to know that all the existing options will also be available. That includes Platinum, Ice Blue, and Sandstone, which is already a solid lineup of colors to choose from.

What we’d like to see in the Surface Laptop Go 2 (but probably won’t)

The Surface Laptop Go is a great budget device, but it made some compromises that many weren’t ok with. While we would have liked these to be addressed, the reports we’ve heard suggest some of those things won’t change. Here’s what’s likely to stay the same with this new iteration:

Windows Hello in the base model

Since Microsoft introduced Windows Hello in 2015, the Surface Laptop Go was the only one of the company’s devices too not ship with Windows Hello facial recognition, and the base configuration doesn’t have Widows Hello at all. The higher configuration tiers add a fingerprint reader, but you have to spend $700 to get it, and even then it’s not as convenient as an IR camera. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change with the Surface Laptop Go 2, and you’ll have to pay extra for that fingerprint reader.

Fingerprint reader on the Surface Laptop Go


A sharper display

Most Surface devices have very sharp displays, and while the Surface Laptop family has the lowest pixel density of the family, the Surface Laptop Go arguably took things a little too far and stepped below Full HD resolution to 1536 x 1024. It’s probably still sharp enough, and many laptops in this price range do still come with sub-1080p panels, but it would be nice to see a slightly sharper display since that’s always been one of the standout features of Surface. We haven’t heard anything specific about this, but it doesn’t seem like it will change, either. The display will also be the same size – 12.4 inches.

We also haven’t heard about the possibility of Surface Pen support – yes, the original model doesn’t support the Surface Pen, which makes some sense considering the clamshell form factor. Still, it would be a nice addition.

A backlit keyboard

The Surface Laptop Go 2 is expected to retain almost everything about the original design, so we wouldn’t expect any big changes in terms of features. That includes the lack of a backlit keyboard, which is one of the biggest criticisms some users have towards the original model. With that said, nothing has been confirmed either way, so don’t count this out just yet.

We’ll have to wait a while longer for official information from Microsoft regarding a potential Surface Laptop Go 2, but for now, this is what we expect. We’ll update this page as new information is available. If you want to buy a new PC and you can’t wait for new devices to be announced, check out our list of the best Surface PCs you can buy today.


The post Surface Laptop Go 2: Price, release date, and everything we expect appeared first on xda-developers.



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