Microsoft Needs To Bring Back The Surface Neo As A Windows 11 ARM Device

What's the biggest problem with Microsoft's Surface Pro X? Aesthetically and functionally it hits the sweet spot for a mobile Windows device to compete with the iPad. It's of a similar price to the iPad Pro too, so no problems in either of those departments. So what's the biggest problem? Mis-managed expectations.

Its form factor is so close to the Surface Pro, which Microsoft is very clear about being a full computer with the ability to do double duty as a replacement, that customers buy in the expectation that it will do everything a regular laptop can do.

It can't.

Yes, it can get pretty close, and the number of apps which can't run (games aside) is being reduced as Microsoft continues to develop Windows on ARM. But what this has meant is that instead of being the halo device for the new version of Windows Microsoft likely envisaged, the Surface Pro X has become a byword for Microsoft's problems executing solid ideas.

There is a simple fix for this. The Surface Neo, previously announced, then postponed by Microsoft, would neatly fill the space the Pro X might have been planned to occupy. Its smaller, folding tablet form factor, married to an ARM processor and Windows 11, would mark it out as a completely different option for those looking for a Windows competitor to the iPad Pro. All of the benefits of an iOS device, with none of the downsides. And no weighty expectations of being a full computer either.

We know from the Surface Duo that Microsoft can build this sort of device and build it well. Now imagine one without all the drawbacks of Android and which doesn't have to carry the weight of also being a phone. Now imagine that as well as running almost all Windows software, this same device can run Android apps too.

Bringing the Surface Neo back could disrupt the tablet market completely. It's the surprise device I'd like to see Microsoft launch this week, but have no expectation of them doing so.