Microsoft Build 2025 is set to make a big return, giving us a taste of what the tech giant has up its sleeve when it comes to Windows 11, Microsoft Copilot, Surface laptops and plenty more.
The 2025 Microsoft Build developer conference is confirmed to take place from May 19 to May 22 in Seattle, Washington, and we already know there will be a keynote from CEO Satya Nadella to kick it all off.
As announced by Microsoft, we can expect this year’s big developer conference to focus on “AI, developer tools and .NET, cloud platforms, Copilot and agents, data and analytics, security, Windows, and skills.”
We’re building a new path forward. Come join us at #MSBuild, May 19 – 22, 2025. https://t.co/MflbdY5UAh pic.twitter.com/YbRLwmepK1February 4, 2025
But what else can we expect? Well, we may already have an idea about what’s to come, and if it’s anything like what was announced during Microsoft Build 2024, there will be a lot in store.
New Surface Pro and Surface Laptops?
Last year, Microsoft announced its Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7, and thanks to their Copilot+ AI status and help from powerful Snapdragon X Elite chips, they were the best Surface machines we tested in years.
Now, rumor on the street is that Microsoft is set to reveal new devices in 2025, namely a Surface Pro and a Surface Laptop. These aren’t expected to be a huge departure from current models, but they’re tipped to offer smaller, premium designs and come with Snapdragon X power.
According to Windows Central, these new PCs aim to be more travel-friendly. The rumored Surface Pro will be an 11-inch iPad Pro rival, equipped with stylus support and a detachable keyboard, while the Surface Laptop may come with a backlit keyboard and a higher resolution touchscreen — replacing the Surface Laptop Go.
Interestingly, they are set to be powered by Snapdragon X. Not X Plus or X Elite, just X. This is a new lower-end CPU made for more affordable laptops. They will still be AI-powered Copilot+ PCs, but possibly far cheaper, with prices reportedly ranging from $800 to $900.
Back at CES 2025, we saw the performance gains Snapdragon X series has over Intel CPUs, and if new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop models are in the cards, they’re sure to deliver great performance for the price.
We’ve also heard that Microsoft is reportedly developing Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 8 models with rumored Snapdragon X2 CPUs, which may launch this year.
No official announcements yet, but with Microsoft Build 2025 on the horizon, there’s a good chance we may see new Surface devices be announced.
Big AI announcements
Would it be a developer conference without any mention of AI, these days? I doubt it, and Microsoft is sure to deliver even more AI advancements to its Copilot ecosystem.
During Build 2024, Microsoft announced its multimodal model, Phi-3-vision, along with AI assistants known as agents, real-time video translation for Microsoft Edge and plenty more.
Now, we’re already seeing more AI features pop up. That includes Microsoft bringing DeepSeek R1 models to Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs and Microsoft 365 Copilot debuting new research tools for work.
The latter is a recent major update, with the AI companion now offering deep research tools, like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, to help business users dive deeper into topics or help them in specific, complex tasks. These tools include Researcher and Analyst.
Currently, this is only available for Microsoft 365 customers, but who knows, Build 2025 may make this more mainstream through Windows 11.
Will OpenAI CEO Sam Altman make another appearance? We’ve recently tested ChatGPT-4o’s enhanced image generator, and this could be a topic of conversation Altman brings up if he returns for the keynote this year.
Otherwise, I expect there will be even more Copilot AI features announced during the conference, including in Office products like Excel, Teams, Word, PowerPoint and more (we have seen 365 Copilot price hikes with more AI integration, after all).
Is Windows 12 coming?
This one is a long shot, as we have yet to hear any murmurings of Windows 12. Many believed it was set to arrive sometime in late 2024 or 2025, though, and the annual developer conference could be just the stage for a big announcement.
As we’ve reported, instead of Windows 12, we got the Windows 11 update 24H2, which introduced a host of new features. With such a major update, the next big version of Windows could be further down the line.
We know Windows 12 is expected to be heavily focused on AI, but seeing as the latest Windows 11 already has plenty of these types of features, there would have to be some massive updates to credit a move toward Windows 12.
Besides, with Windows 10 ending support on October 14, 2025, the bigger push will be to get more users onto Windows 11.
Outlook
If new Surface devices and big AI announcements are on the way, Microsoft Build 2025 is set to be an event to keep an eye on — especially if you’re interested in all things Windows PCs.
Since Copilot+ PCs are already out in the wild, I’m betting we’ll see further improvements and new features set to arrive on AI laptops down the line.
Of course, “AI” will be the buzzword once again, but it also means we may see fresh products powered by Snapdragon X (or X2), along with new Intel Core Ultra Series 2 chips, to manage more helpful AI capabilities.
In the meantime, we’ll have to wait and see what Microsoft has up its sleeve. We’ll be covering all the latest update once its time for Microsoft Build 2025, so stay tuned.
More from Tom’s Guide
