Thoughts Unboxed

In the post Panos Panay world, Microsoft held its first major event centered around Surface products and AI updates on September 21st, 2023. While Panos's departure came as a surprise , the missing of many surface products from the rooster raised many eyebrows.  Does Microsoft's Surface Division fall prey to the company's recent cost-saving strategies? Is there a link between missing products and Panos's exit? Clarity is expected to emerge over time, however, it would be extremely short-sighted on Microsoft's end to kill-off Surface Division after all these years of building premium products. Surface devices, despite some imperfections, have earned recognition for their top-tier construction and have pushed industries forwards by introducing many creative innovations that were lacking in the past. Here is the list of all the Surface Products that were missing from the event and we don't know if they would ever be getting their successors or not...

Artifical Intelligence surely has been the hot selling point for tech giants since the rise of conversational AI. Microsoft held its September Surface and AI even on Thursday, September 21st. The event focused on hardware refresh to the surface product line alongside further integration of Microsoft's AI assistance named CoPilot into more products and features. Here are the major announcements happened during the event: HARDWARE ANNOUNCEMENTS Surface Studio Laptop 2 The star of the hardware was Surface Studio Laptop 2. This is the successor to the Surface Studio Laptop that was launched exactly 2 years ago. The original was a great idea but its 11th Generation Intel processors were already outdated. It also lacked port variety.  Surface Studio Laptop 2 builds on the positives of the predecessor and added 13th Generation Intel processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce 4060 dedicated graphics card. The laptop also added a USB-A port and a MicroSDXC card slot. Pricin...

Windows and Surface Division chief Panos Panay is leaving Microsoft after almost 20 years. The surprise news was shared on Monday by Rajesh Jha - Microsoft's VP of Experience and Devices in an email to the employees. He said: After nearly 20 years at the  company, Panos Panay has decided to leave Microsoft.  The timing of the news is really confusing. Microsoft is about to announce the next generation of surface lineup in an event happening on coming Thursday - September 21st. Panos would not take part in the event. Yousuf Mehdi - Microsoft Consumer Marketing Head - is set to succeed Panos Panay. In a statement by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, he thanks Panos for his services. He said: I’m grateful for your leadership, support, and all you’ve done for Microsoft and our customers and partners. As Rajesh stated, we remain steadfast and convicted in our strategy and Yusuf Mehdi will take lead on our Windows and Surface businesses and products externall...