Microsoft may be going back to its hardware roots on October 2 by introducing the next-generation Surface Laptop in black. Black was originally used on the Surface RT and the first two generations of the Surface Pro series, but Microsoft eventually switched to silver for its tablet lineup. The Surface Laptop, similarly, had a silver model, but Microsoft also added several color options — burgundy, platinum, cobalt blue, and graphite gold — for the laptop to make it more appealing to students and home users.
The black Surface Laptop variant was initially reported by Windows United, and an image of the the black laptop was shown on MySmartPrice. Thurrott is backing up this claim, and the publication added that the Surface Pro may also get a black color when it gets refreshed next month. “Along with updated internals, Microsoft plans to offer a new color for the Surface Laptop and will return to a classic color for the updated Pro,” Thurrott writer Brad Sams reported. “Microsoft is going back to black. A black Surface Laptop is on the agenda and the updated Pro will also be offered in black as well.”
Aside from a new color choice, it’s rumored that these devices will also ship with updated processors. Originally, it was reported that the Surface Pro may undergo a larger redesign, but it’s been suggested recently that Microsoft may not introduce a new Surface Pro design until next year. Instead, this year’s Surface Pro refresh may be more modest. Both current generations of the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop only ship with USB-A ports, and it’s unclear if the refreshes introduced early next month will add the USB-C port that’s found on many modern laptops. Microsoft did squeeze in the port when it refreshed the Surface Book earlier this year, but unlike its rivals, the USB-C port did not come at the expense of the laptop’s USB-A port or the magnetic connector used for charging and docking.
If Microsoft keeps its current color choices, black would represent the fifth color available for the Surface Laptop, and the new color could help increase the notebook’s appeal among Microsoft’s business customers. The current Surface Pro, on the other hand, is only available in a singular silver finish. We’ll likely learn more about Microsoft’s plans for the Surface Laptop and the Surface Pro along with the planned black option early next month during a scheduled press event.
