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According to a tip, Microsoft's next generation of Surface PCs might have AMD Arm-based CPUs. They are believed to be the successors to the Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 versions. The company's 2026 device portfolio is expected to feature versions using Arm-based CPUs, which might be less expensive than its current PCs. Microsoft presently provides Surface devices powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X series CPUs and Intel x86 processors.
Microsoft will equip some Surface devices with AMD's 'Sound Wave' processors
In a post on the NeoGAF forums last month (via ITHome), member KeplerL2 stated that AMD is working on an Arm-based APU called Sound Wave that will be utilized in the 2026 Microsoft Surface series. AMD's new Sound Wave CPU is rumored to use TSMC's 3nm production technology.
According to prior rumors, AMD's upcoming Sound Wave APU would include two performance cores and four efficiency cores. It is planned to use a 128-bit LPDDRx-9600 RAM controller. Laptops equipped with this chipset are reported to have 16GB of RAM.
If these statements are correct, the quantity of Windows on Arm (WoA) computers is expected to grow next year. Microsoft currently sells Surface laptops with Snapdragon X series CPUs, and the inclusion of a new Arm-based processor could assist to give more customers more options.
It would also be the first time in years that Microsoft released a Surface tablet with an AMD processor. According to the alleged specifications, the AMD Sound Wave APU might power more cheap, low-power Surface devices.
Earlier this month, Microsoft introduced new Surface Pro (12-inch) and Surface Laptop (13-inch) variants equipped with Snapdragon X Plus processors. These laptops may provide superior performance than those equipped with AMD Sound Wave APUs.
