14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s Surface devices are truly premium devices, and while they’re great computers to run Windows, they come with one major shortcoming: they’re very expensive.
And what this means is that Microsoft is missing a lot of potential customers, including those in education.
The company knows the education sector could bring home the bacon, so it’s now willing to fight Chromebooks with a super-affordable device that would be launched under the Surface brand.
According to a report from Windows Central, this device is currently codenamed Tenjin, and could eventually land as the Surface Laptop SE.
And while a really affordable Surface laptop is good news for so many people out there, not everything is so impressive.
First and foremost, it looks like the device is made from plastic, so while Microsoft will probably struggle to create a premium build, there’s a chance this material will still show its limits. Then, it’s the hardware that will be available on the device.
Launch later this year
Since it’s a cheap product, you really shouldn’t expect latest-gen specifications, so the device could be powered by an Intel Celeron N4120 processor. The screen wouldn’t be larger than 11.6 inches, and the amount of RAM will be limited to 8GB RAM.
Once again, this is a device aimed at students, so Microsoft clearly wants it to get as affordable as possible. The new Surface laptop could hit the shelves at about $400, so essentially, it’ll be a worthy alternative not only to the Chromebooks already winning big in education but also to the Surface Go itself.
Microsoft has remained completely tight-lipped on this new device, but rumor has it the company could take the wraps off it by the end of the year. It remains to be seen, however, when and who will be allowed to actually buy the new laptop.