When life closes a door, it tends to find a way to open a window. This week the tech industry may have tried a bit too hard to make that literally the case. Sony slammed the door shut on physical media while Microsoft extended the window of support for Windows 10.

Over the last seven days, we saw the Surface Go and Surface Laptop Go retired, PlayStation announced the end of discs, Sony revoked movies people paid for, and Xbox studios pushed toward a dissatisfying end. We also received new details on a potential disc-to-digital program for Xbox and gained another year of security updates for Windows 10.

A leaked video even gave us a glimpse of Copilot OS, though the door was never open for that AI-centered operating system to ship to consumers.

Biggest News of the Week

In a week full of things ending and rumors of shutdowns, it was refreshing to see that a disc-to-digital program could finally make its way to Xbox. Microsoft laid the foundation for that program with the Xbox One over a decade ago, but the company never rolled it out.

With Sony announcing plans to shut down its production of physical discs, Microsoft went in a different direction. While the next Xbox might not have a disc drive, it may support converting discs to digital licenses.

Microsoft has not made a final decision about the disc-to-digital program. With digital ownership under threat and Sony making such an unpopular decision, it would be a major miss if Xbox fails to take advantage.

Shopping with Sean

I'm happy to share that laptop deals remain strong and plentiful this week. Right now, you can get the Dell XPS 13 at a major discount. Both the Snapdragon X Elite and Intel Core Ultra 7 versions of that PC are on sale.

The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is $650 off despite the laptop launching recently. It's one of the first PCs with the Snapdragon X2 Elite chip and is the prettiest laptop of the year, according to our review from Zac Bowden.

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It looks like Microsoft's popular Surface Go and less popular Surface Laptop Go are on the chopping block. According to my sources that are familiar with Microsoft's hardware roadmap, these devices are no longer being manufactured, and no successors are currently planned

Just like the Surface Studio, Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Duo, Surface Hub, Surface Book, Surface Headphones, and Surface Earbuds before them, the Surface Go and Surface Laptop Go are the latest Surface PCs to reach the Microsoft graveyard, and completes the Surface portfolio culling that began in 2023.

Now, the Surface portfolio consists exclusively of Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, with varying screen sizes and power capabilities spread between them. Surface Pro features a 12-inch and 13-inch model, and the Surface Laptop features 13-inch, 13.8-inch, and 15-inch models with a special Ultra model coming this fall.

Sources say that Surface Go and Surface Laptop Go stock may still exist at certain retailers and in certain regions, but once that stock has depleted, it won't be replaced. When asked for comment, a Microsoft representative pointed me to the new Surface website, which notably doesn't include Surface Go or Laptop Go anymore.

Surface Go is a particularly surprising device to be killed off, as I understood that it was very popular with enterprise customers.

In fact, it was so popular with enterprises that Surface Go became a device exclusively for commercial customers with its final generation. Surface Go 1-3 were available for both consumers and commercial customers, but Surface Go 4 only ever saw a release for commercial customers.

Fascinatingly, I'm told Microsoft had planned to ship a Surface Go 5 at some point in the last couple of years, and it was going to be powered by a low-end Snapdragon chip. Unfortunately, when the company asked its enterprise customers for feedback, it found that most of them weren't interested in an Arm version of the device, and so that plan was scrapped.

Surface Laptop Go was pretty much replaced with the 13-inch Surface Laptop, which addressed the Laptop Go's biggest flaws such as the lack of a backlit keyboard and low-resolution display. Surface Go on the other hand hasn't really seen a replacement, as the 12-inch Surface Pro is significantly more expensive (and much larger) than the Surface Go 4 was at $579.

Of course, Surface Go originally launched at an astonishingly affordable $399 in 2018, albeit with very low-end specs that made the device hard to recommend. The Surface Go 3 and Surface Go 4 were the first versions with enough power to handle daily tasks without any noticeable performance loss, but their prices were much higher as a result.

I'm told that the decision to kill off these devices wasn't influenced by the ongoing RAMpocalypse, as the decision was made many months before memory prices became a problem for the company.

Now, the Surface portfolio is left with just two devices, Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. Many would argue these devices are no longer interesting or innovative from a form factor perspective, serving only to compete with whatever Apple is doing on their side of the fence. With Surface Laptop Ultra coming in the fall as a clear MacBook Pro competitor, this has never been more true.

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Two more Surface devices were announced this week, at least technically. The ongoing RAM crisis forced Microsoft to follow in the footsteps of Apple and Acer by making laptops with 8GB of RAM in 2026.

During a week full of deals through Amazon and other retailers, Microsoft took a different approach to make its Surface devices more affordable, at least for certain models. The Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch can now be bought with just 8GB of RAM.

Those versions with less memory start at $849 for the Surface Pro and $949 for the Surface Laptop. I'm happy to see more affordable options, but Microsoft's timing was poor. Raising Surface prices during Prime Day meant better hardware was at or near the same pricing as the cheaper Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. And with other retailers dropping prices to compete with Amazon, the new Surfaces are a bad value.

Dell’s XPS 13 with a Snapdragon X Elite, 32GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD is still $999.99, which means better hardware is sitting only $50 above Microsoft’s new “affordable” Surface models.

Deals, discounts, and rising prices were the focus of this week, but we also saw Windows 10 support extended and Bill Gates weigh in on AI. Here are the biggest stories from the week.

Biggest News of the Week

Microsoft is in a no-win situation with pricing. RAM and other components continue to go up in price, so manufacturers have to adjust to match. Even Apple, which was more insulated than most due to stockpiles of components, had to increase the cost of MacBooks, iPads, and other devices.

As a result of shortages, Microsoft has had to raise the price of hardware. Since people still need laptops at somewhat reasonable prices, models with 8GB of RAM can fill that gap.

8GB of RAM is better than many assume on a Windows 11 PC. Our Cale Hunt said using a device with that amount of memory is "Not only viable but quite enjoyable." Since that's the case, more affordable Surface devices are good news.

But announcing a Surface Pro and a Surface Laptop with lower price tags in the same week as one of the biggest shopping events of the year is a strange strategy.

A Surface Laptop with a Snapdragon X Plus, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage costs $949.99 through Microsoft's website. The Dell XPS 13 (9345) with a Snapdragon X Elite, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage is on sale for $999.99 through Dell.

Maybe Microsoft should have rolled out its cheaper Surface devices a bit earlier or held off until other sales ended.

Shopping with Sean

The best deal of the week is still up for grabs despite Prime Day ending, and it's the laptop I just highlighted. Dell's discount on the XPS 13 with a Snapdragon X Elite drops that premium laptop to $999.99. That discounted price looks even better after Apple raised the prices of its MacBooks.

If you want something newer, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is $650 off. That gorgeous laptop is powered by the Snapdragon X2 Elite. I'm jealous of our Senior Editor Zac Bowden because he got to review it (the OmniBook 14 Ultra earned a perfect score in that review).

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Microsoft just announced new versions of its Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch. But rather than a spec bump or a design refresh, the new PCs feature 8GB of RAM.

The ongoing component crisis has led several PC makers to offer laptops with only 8GB of RAM, and that group now includes Microsoft.

While the main focus around the new Surface configurations is pricing, there is a strange side effect to the systems only having 8GB of RAM: neither of them are Copilot+ PCs.

A lighter Windows 11

By having only 8GB of RAM, the new Surface PCs fall short of the Copilot+ PC minimum requirements. As a result, neither PC will ship with or support features like Recall or Click To Do.

I suspect some would view that as a blessing in disguise. Copilot+ PC features take up space on your system that's wasted unless you use the tools.

Here are the exclusive features that ship with Copilot+ PCs, as listed by Microsoft:

• Copilot on Windows
• Recall
• Live Captions with Translations
• Cocreator
• Windows Studio Effects
• Photos

Some of those features are genuinely useful. I recommend trying Windows Studio Effects if your PC supports them.

But some consider Recall and Copilot bloat and would prefer a PC free of those features.

The Copilot+ PC features don't take up that much room. In total, they'll occupy a few hundred MB.

Many Copilot+ PC features are resource intensive, which is why the PCs need more memory. By not including those features, Microsoft almost accidentally made a leaner, more efficient Surface experience.

8GB of RAM on Windows 11

Due to the ongoing memory crisis, PC makers have reintroduced laptops with 8GB of RAM. When Acer announced the Swift Air 14, many were quick to criticize its 8GB of RAM.

It's common to see people claim that a PC with 8GB of RAM is unusable or poor in 2026. Our Cale Hunt tested that claim by stripping down a PC.

Hunt's whole article is worth a read. I'll spoil it for you though: 8GB of RAM was fine.

"That's just not the case. Within reason, running Windows 11 on 8GB of RAM is not only viable but quite enjoyable. Assuming you're not attempting to run some specialized design software or a demanding game, there's quite a bit of memory runway to work with," said Hunt.

The new Surface PCs with 8GB of RAM are not going to handle heavy-duty game or workstation loads, but that's hardly a surprise. Many people could buy and use a Surface Pro or Surface Laptop with 8GB of RAM and never run into any issues.

Shifting away from Copilot+ PC branding

I probably spend more time thinking about Copilot+ PCs than most. The reality is that the brand is net neutral for many. When the ASUS Zenbook A16 earned rave reviews, none of them mentioned that the laptop is a Copilot+ PC.

Microsoft appears to be phasing out the Copilot+ PC brand. When the Surface Laptop Ultra was announced, Microsoft did not mention if it was a Copilot+ PC. The webpage for the Surface Laptop Ultra fails to mention "Copilot+ PC" at all.

The new Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 8 that were announced earlier this month are Copilot+ PCs, but the branding is not featured heavily by Microsoft.

You could take things one step further and say consumers don't care about AI PCs. That's what Dell's head of product suggested earlier this year.

I think most people are neutral toward AI features on their PC, whether those features are connected to the Copilot+ PC brand or not. If tools are out of the way or easy to uninstall, most folks won't mind. Complaints will pop up any time AI is forced onto users.

That being said, it still made me chuckle to see new Surface PCs lack the Copilot+ PC branding. Maybe Microsoft should market them as Copilot - PCs.

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