Microsoft has extended support for several of its Windows-running Surface PCs from four years to six, ensuring that many models launched since 2021 will be kept up to date for longer.
The US tech giant is promising to provide all Surface computers released in or since 2021 with firmware and driver updates that should help to keep machines running well and ticking over for longer than originally thought.
It means popular Microsoft Surface models such as the Surface Laptop 4 and Surface Pro 8 will now get firmware updates until 2027 where they’d previously have stopped in 2025. It also looks as though any new Surface hardware announced from now on will be guaranteed six years of firmware support.
In an official support page spotted by Windows Central, Microsoft said:
“For devices released on and after January 1, 2021: Surface devices will receive driver and firmware updates for at least six years from when the device was first released. In cases where the support duration is longer than six years, an updated end-of-servicing date will be published before the date of the last servicing.”
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Firmware updates are pushed out to all Windows PCs, including Microsoft Surface models, to improve things such as performance and battery life and to bring new, recently released features.
They are different from operating system (OS) updates, for example, an update from Windows 10 to Windows 11. So while Surface computers released before 2021 won’t get six years of firmware updates, that doesn’t automatically mean they won’t be able to receive an OS update to a newer version of Windows at some point – so it’s good news all round.
“OS version support defines the operating system versions Surface supports during the Device Support Period,” Microsoft says. “Surface devices will receive driver and firmware updates for Windows OS versions released in the prior 30 months. Surface will not support Windows OS versions earlier than those supported at device release.
“Once the device support period is concluded at the End of Servicing date, devices will continue to receive Windows OS feature and security updates per the Windows Lifecycle Policy.”
The Microsoft Surface computers getting an extra two years of firmware updates are:
- Surface Pro 7+
- Surface Laptop 4
- Surface Pro 8
- Surface Laptop Studio
- Surface Go 3
- Surface Pro X Wi-Fi
- Surface Laptop SE
- Surface Laptop Go 2
- Windows Dev Kit 2023
- Surface Laptop 5
- Surface Pro 9
- Surface Studio 2+
- Surface Go 4
- Surface Laptop Go 3
- Surface Laptop Studio 2
You can see Microsoft’s full breakdown of its recent Surface computer release dates and firmware support schedules here.
It’s a shame that slick devices such as the latest Surface Pro X or original Surface Laptop Go both released right at the end of 2020 won’t see extended updates. Though Microsoft is widely promising at least four years of firmware updates, it is proving it can manage six – more than the promised length of updates for most modern smartphones.