Microsoft Discontinues iMac Rival Surface Studio 2+

Microsoft has discontinued its Surface Studio 2+, marking the end of the company's only direct competitor to Apple's iMac, leaving a gap in the Windows ecosystem for high-end all-in-one PCs.

surface studio 4
Microsoft has confirmed to Windows Central that it has ended production of the Surface Studio 2+, a premium all-in-one desktop designed for creative professionals. With remaining stock now limited to retailers and partners, there is likely no successor to the Studio 2+ planned. This effectively ends Microsoft's efforts to compete in the high-end all-in-one market dominated by Apple's ‌iMac‌, a fixture of creative workspaces for decades.

First introduced in 2016, the Surface Studio formed an attempt to challenge Apple's hold on the creative professional market. Its standout feature was a 28-inch 4.5K PixelSense touchscreen mounted on a unique hinge that allowed the display to tilt into a flat, drafting-table position. Paired with accessories like the Surface Dial and Surface Pen, the Studio was designed to attract graphic designers, illustrators, and video editors. Despite its innovative design, the Surface Studio struggled to gain significant traction due to its steep price point, which started at $2,999 for the original model, and its reliance on hardware components that were frequently a generation behind current industry standards.

It's also notable that Microsoft has discontinued other Surface products such as the Surface Duo and Surface Earbuds. In recent years, Microsoft has pivoted toward productivity-focused hardware, such as its Surface Pro and Surface Laptop lines, and enterprise-oriented services like its Copilot AI tools. Meanwhile, Apple has continued to update the ever-popular ‌iMac‌ with new hardware, most recently with the M4 chip, new color options, a 12-megapixel camera with Center Stage and Desk View, and a nano-texture display option.

Microsoft's decision to discontinue the Surface Studio line could leave a void in the Windows all-in-one market. While companies like HP and Lenovo continue to produce all-in-one PCs, none match the Surface Studio's combination of touch capabilities, drafting-table functionality, and premium design.

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Top Rated Comments

Pezimak Avatar
9 weeks ago
At the time it was a very innovative product. And it had one of the best adverts I’ve seen:



When I see these in films etc they look a lot cooler then anything else.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrgrdn Avatar
9 weeks ago
When the Surface Studio was launched, I was amazed by what Microsoft had created. However, less than a week after the presentation, there was no marketing to be found. There was nothing targeted at the average consumer ... just some on-site demonstrations and similar efforts, but that was it. Microsoft is to blame for this lack of attention, and oddly enough, they just don’t seem to learn. Even the Surface Duo received no love from Microsoft.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
techyOS Avatar
9 weeks ago
used to be a microsoft fan, and i thought the surface studio was a really cool concept and product, was probably brilliant for artists, to be able to draw on that massive screen, and use the surface dial in tandem. sad to see it discontinued.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coffeemilktea Avatar
9 weeks ago

there is likely no successor to the Studio 2+ planned.
I'm not surprised the product line didn't work out, considering how underwhelming the specs were compared to how high the price was...

...but man, that thing looked SO good. ?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pezimak Avatar
9 weeks ago

On the day of the Surface Studio presentation, this was only a video for this event, no actual advertising.
Yeah they didn’t help themselves. Advertising has never been Microsoft’s strong point.

It was an amazing device, very clever, and looked futuristic with that puck thing on the screen, it truly made the iMac look dull. They just failed to invest in it or market it.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Big_D Avatar
9 weeks ago

used to be a microsoft fan, and i thought the surface studio was a really cool concept and product, was probably brilliant for artists, to be able to draw on that massive screen, and use the surface dial in tandem. sad to see it discontinued.
The problem was, the internals didn't match the screen, it was underpowered and the original version was tarred by a spinning rust drive as standard, instead of an SSD! Creatives, who this was aimed at, generally need powerful internals, so not being able to keep them up to date was a missed opportunity.

I think it would have done better if it had been a display that you could plug into a Thunderbolt or USB-C port, the PC side would be quickly outdated, whilst the display side would probably last 4-5 times as long. Having it as a glorified "docking station", where you plug-in a compute module would have been so cool & when the old internals are too slow, you just unplug the compute box and slap in a new, faster box.

It is also the reason why I learned to hate my iMac. It was a lovely piece of design, all integrated, just 2 cables (power & network). Perfect... For 2-3 years, after which it became slow and in year 4 Apple dropped support like a hot potato, I was left with a lovely screen that couldn't be connected to anything and compute internals that were too slow & too dangerous (no security patches) to use.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)