Microsoft working on successor to Surface 2 tablet running full Windows instead of Windows RT, and Intel Atom or Core M processor
EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft is building a successor to the Surface 2 (RT), here are the first details — The Surface 2 is currently Microsoft's latest iteration of its Windows RT based tablet line-up.
Context & Ripple Effects
At the time of this report, the Surface line was split in two: the Surface Pro ran full Windows on Intel Core chips while the cheaper Surface 2 ran Windows RT, a locked-down variant that couldn't run desktop software. This exclusive was the first signal that Microsoft planned to close that gap by putting full Windows on low-cost Intel Atom or Core M silicon in the next budget Surface.
Days later the report was confirmed: Microsoft launched the Atom-based Surface 3 at $499 in May 2015, effectively retiring Windows RT as a hardware platform. The budget Surface line that survived went on to cycle architectures again — Microsoft later shipped a first ARM-powered Surface Go 4 in 2023, and separately explored a stripped-down PWA-only OS with Windows Lite to challenge Chrome OS.
First-order effects
- Buyers of the sub-Pro Surface tier get a $499 device that runs full desktop Windows rather than the RT app ecosystem, removing the main reason to avoid the cheap model.
- Windows RT loses its remaining hardware roadmap — the Surface 2 was Microsoft's latest RT device, and its successor abandons the OS entirely.
Second-order effects
- Intel captures the budget-Surface socket that RT-era ARM chips held, making Atom and Core M the volume silicon in Microsoft's cheapest tablet.
- A full-Windows Surface at $499 pressures Microsoft's own Surface Pro tier on price, forcing clearer segmentation between the two lines.
Third-order effects
- RT's collapse established the pattern the Surface line still follows: the budget tier as a testing ground where Microsoft swaps architectures and OS strategies — from x86 full Windows, back to ARM with Surface Go 4, and toward lightweight PWA-first experiments like Windows Lite.
The trend: Microsoft's budget Surface line has become its sandbox for architecture and OS bets — killing Windows RT for x86 in 2015, then circling back to ARM and lightweight OSes years later.