Microsoft Surface PCs that have shipped on or after January 1st, 2021 will get at least six years of driver and firmware updates, according to a Microsoft support document reported on by Windows Central. Previously, Microsoft had only said it would support devices with at least four years of those updates from when they first came out, as you can see in an archived version of the document.
The change means that, as of right now, the Surface Pro 7 Plus, Surface Laptop 4, Surface Pro 8, Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Go 3, Surface Pro X Wi-Fi, Surface Laptop SE, Surface Laptop Go 2, Surface Laptop 5, Surface Pro 9, Surface Studio 2 Plus, Surface Go 4, Surface Laptop Go 3, and Surface Laptop Studio 2 will all get at least six years of updates, per Microsoft’s support page. (You can see a chart with Microsoft’s end of service dates for all of its currently supported Surface devices there.)
Microsoft’s move isn’t quite as generous as Google’s recent decision to give Chromebooks released in 2021 or later 10 years of automatic updates. Still, I’m in support of any ways that tech companies can extend the life of their products, so I’m happy Microsoft made this change.
Microsoft’s former Windows and Surface chief, Panos Panay, left Microsoft for Amazon in September.