Microsoft Needs to Make Affordable 5G Surface Laptops a Reality

Microsoft didn’t launch its 2025 lineup of Surface devices with a 5G option. Instead, it waited a few months for interest to die down enough to release its business-end version with a starting price nearly twice that of the one built for the average joe. It shows that if users want a laptop that can connect to the internet without relying on spotty public or Starbucks Wi-Fi, they need to pay through the nose. Hopefully Microsoft’s new tech will get cheaper later, though only if laptop makers recognize users want a mobile PC to actually be usable while on the move.

As revealed last week, the 14-inch Surface Laptop for Business with a mere 512GB storage goes for $1,600. If you want the version with 5G, those start at $1,800. But that’s if you go for the version with the least viable specs. All the Surface Laptops are using Intel Core Ultra Series 2 chips, but a version with an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD will cost $2,700 before tax. That’s before add-ons like a Microsoft 365 subscription or a protection plan. Any 5G laptop will also require you to pay for a wireless internet plan, which only puts the cost of the Surface Laptop for Business beyond prohibitive and into the stratosphere, where only silly business execs would ever consider it.

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Microsoft explained in its blog post that 5G was “one of the most requested features from our business customers.” I’m certainly not a business customer, but I would be first to raise my hand and squeak out a “please, sir, may I also have 5G?” There have been innumerable situations where I would like to sit out in a park and work and not have to rely on a spotty phone hotspot. Mac users have been begging Apple for a 5G option for years to no avail. Last year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claimed that Apple was testing the waters of 5G on its laptops, but if it happens at all, it wouldn’t come until 2026 at the earliest.

The reason for the cost is probably down to the extra parts needed to add this cellular connectivity. The 5G Surface Laptop for Business includes a nano SIM slot for hooking up your data plan. Otherwise, Microsoft said it completely reengineered the device with all-new material to allow radio signals through. The inside of the device sports six different antennas that will automatically adjust the signal depending on how users hold it. Remember the reception controversy with the iPhone 4, where users eventually forced Apple to admit it put the wireless antenna where people held onto the phone, resulting in poor connectivity? The new Surface Laptop for Business supposedly fixes that issue and, at the same time, makes the computer way more expensive.

The extra cost is a far cry from the $150 you need to spend to give an iPad Air with 5G. New technology will always come at a premium, but maybe there’s hope for the rest of us. Microsoft coming over to the land of LTE laptops could mark a turning point for how we see portable computers. Past 5G laptops were often few and far between, such as the 2022 ThinkPad X13s sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip or an HP EliteBook like the 1040 G11. The 2024 Microsoft Surface Pro first retailed with a 5G model as well.

Microsoft relying exclusively on Intel chips for its 5G Surface Laptops is interesting, considering that the ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip sports wireless 5G or 4G LTE internet connectivity by default, though so few laptops make use of it. The new Surface Laptop for Business price shows that we’re only getting started. What if the next era of devices with 5G sports a unique look to prove they’re different than your traditional gray slates? There’s a lot of promise here if the Surface maker or other laptop makers can copy, shrink, and cheapen Microsoft’s design. Or else, this kind of feature will remain exclusive to laptops made for execs with bottomless pockets.