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Microsoft is announcing a new Surface Laptop Studio, along with the Surface Pro 8, Surface Go 3, a Surface Pro X with wi-fi and the second-generation Surface Duo smartphone.
Microsoft

Microsoft announced five new Surface products on Wednesday, including a laptop, three tablets and a new folding phone.

Microsoft doesn’t make a lot of money from hardware. Just 4% of the company’s revenue in the second quarter came from devices. The global PC market is led by Lenovo, HP, Dell and Apple, according to Gartner’s estimates.

While these enhancements might help maintain Surface revenue growth, it’s more likely they’ll promote the forthcoming Windows 11 operating system and Office productivity applications, both of which are more meaningful parts of Microsoft’s business, and inspire the work of fellow device makers.

Windows 11 comes out on Oct. 5, and the new PCs and phone Microsoft announced will launch at the same time. Pre-orders begin Wednesday in select markets. That means the devices are launching after the back-to-school shopping rush but will be coming in time for the holidays.

Here’s a rundown of the new Surface devices:

Surface Laptop Studio

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio has a display you can tilt easily.
Microsoft

Microsoft announced its first Surface Laptop Studio computer, which draws inspiration from its all-in-one Surface Studio 2 desktop, which still hasn’t been refreshed since 2018. The $1,600 Surface Laptop Studio will replace Microsoft’s existing Surface Laptop and offers a new design.

It has a special hinge that lets you tilt the 14-inch display at an angle that covers the keyboard, which brings the screen closer and makes it easier to write on. Or, you can flip it over and use the Laptop Studio like a tablet. Unlike the Surface Laptop, however, the screen doesn’t detach.

Microsoft’s Surface Slim Pen 2 can be securely nestled near the bottom of the Surface Laptop Studio.
Jordan Novet | CNBC

Customers can conceal and charge the new $130 Surface Slim Pen 2 beneath the Surface Laptop Studio’s keyboard. The new Surface Pen has a finer point than the model it replaces and contains a motor that gives haptic feedback in response to events in some programs. A haptic trackpad on the computer provides a more pleasant clicking experience than previous Surface machines.

Surface Pro 8

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8 has a new tray to securely store and charge the new Surface Slim Pen 2.
Microsoft

Microsoft also announced its flagship Surface Pro 8 tablet. The company reportedly delayed the release last year. The Surface Pro 8 starts at $1,100, compared with the $750 starting price of the Surface Pro 7, which came out in 2019.

The new model has a 13-inch display, which is larger than the 12.3-inch display on its predecessor, although the tablet is now slightly wider and heavier. The display has an adaptive color feature that adjusts the white balance to make viewing more comfortable. It’s been available on Apple’s MacBooks for years. The screen also has a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz, which can help save battery life and makes scrolling smoother.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 with optional detachable keyboard.
Jordan Novet | CNBC

An optional $180 detachable keyboard has a spot to stow away and charge the new Slim Pen. Consumers can configure the new system with 11th-generation Intel Core chips and as much as 32GB of RAM. Microsoft said Pro 8 gets as much as 16 hours of battery life, compared with up to 10.5 hours on the Pro 7.

Surface Duo 2 phone

Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2 has a three-lens camera.
Microsoft

Microsoft’s first Surface Duo smartphone was a flop. It launched last year with buggy software and specs that were behind similarly priced phones. The new Surface Duo 2 delivers some of the features missing from last year’s model, like several new cameras, 5G support, near-field communications for mobile payments and stereo speakers. And it comes with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip used in other flagship phones like Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices.

While the two screens of the Surface Duo are closed, the rounded edges of the glass can show the time, as well as the number of missed calls, Teams messages and text messages.
Jordan Novet | CNBC

Like last year’s version, the Surface Duo 2 opens up to reveal two 5.8-inch screens that can be used together. You might run one app on one screen and another on the opposite display, for example. Or, you can stretch a single app across both displays and take advantage of 8.3-inches of space.

The Surface Duo 2 features curved glass displays.
Microsoft

The displays have a 90hz refresh rate, which should make scrolling and moving around apps smoother. Another new feature: when closed, the phone will show small notifications along the hinge.

It still isn’t as water-resistant as other phones and doesn’t have wireless charging.

The Surface Duo 2 starts at $1,500, which is $100 more than the original. It will ship in white or black.

Surface Go 3

The Surface Go 3.
Microsoft

Microsoft refreshed its Surface Go 3, a miniature version of its Surface Pro tablet. It starts at $400, without the keyboard, and can be configured with up to an Intel Core i3 chip, which Microsoft says is 60% faster than the chip used in last year’s Surface Go 2.

The company said the Surface Go 3 gets up to 11 hours of battery life, while the older version got up to 10. A variant with built-in LTE connectivity will become available in the next few months but, notably, 5G support is missing.

Surface Pro X

Microsoft will release a wi-fi version of its Arm-based Surface Pro X.
Microsoft

Lastly, Microsoft announced a new Wi-Fi-only version of the Surface Pro X, a tablet that was first launched in 2019 with LTE cellular support. It’s the first version to come with just Wi-Fi and it costs $900, down just $100 from the original model, even though it has the same chip and lacks any other notable hardware changes.

But, Windows 11 will enable the device to run specific 64-bit apps through emulation. That could mean people will be able to run more apps than they could when the first model launched.

WATCH: Microsoft announced $60 billion stock buyback program

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AI-led tech slide extends into third day as Oracle, Nvidia, fall in premarket trading

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AI-led tech slide extends into third day as Oracle, Nvidia, fall in premarket trading

U.S. artificial intelligence names were in negative territory in premarket trading on Friday, extending losses into their third day.

Oracle was 0.9% lower in premarket trading, paring earlier losses which saw it fall 1.3%. Nvidia shed 0.7%, Micron fell 0.9%, and CoreWeave was down 1.3% at 5:16 a.m. ET.  

Broadcom, which reported a strong quarter on Thursday, was last seen down 5%.

The share price of cloud computing and database software maker Oracle plummeted on Thursday, ending the session around 11% lighter after revenue earnings missed analyst expectations on Wednesday.

Oracle plunges on weak revenue

It dragged other AI-related names down with it despite a record-breaking rally elsewhere on Wall Street, suggesting investors are rotating out of tech into other parts of the market.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.26% on Thursday, despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 hitting fresh records at the end of the session.

Despite booming demand for Oracle’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, it posted mixed results this week. Revenue came in at $16.06 billion, compared with $16.21 billion expected by analysts, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It followed widespread speculation around the long-term health of the company, with investors cautious about its reliance on debt to execute its AI infrastructure build-out. The broader industry’s circular dealmaking has also raised eyebrows.

“We think recent investor scrutiny on artificial intelligence’s potential and circular GPU deals can be overly punitive to key AI suppliers like Oracle,” said Morningstar Equity Analyst Luke Yang. “Oracle remains a respectable cloud provider that enjoys strong switching costs across its database, application, and infrastructure lineup.”

That said, the firm reduced its fair value estimate for wide-moat Oracle to $286 per share, down from $340. Morningstar’s moat rating refers to its assessment of a company’s durable competitive advantage.

“We lowered our long-term earnings outlook as delivering Oracle’s planned capacity on time now proved to be a harder task. However, we continue to view shares as undervalued,” Yang added.

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CNBC Daily Open: Record high U.S. stocks as investors rotate out of tech

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CNBC Daily Open: Record high U.S. stocks as investors rotate out of tech

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 11, 2025, in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced on Thursday, with both hitting fresh closing records. The Russell 2000 index also ended the session at a new high, following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s quarter-point cut on Wednesday.

But if investors analyze Thursday’s individual stock movements, they will see not all is well with the AI play yet. Oracle shares plunged nearly 11%, a day after it reported weak quarterly revenue, higher capital expenditure and long-term lease commitments. Oracle’s slide dragged down AI-related names such as Nvidia and Micron.

In extended trading, Broadcom shares fell 4.5%. The chipmaker beat Wall Street’s expectations for earnings and revenue, but CEO Hock Tan appeared to have failed to address worries that their largest customer, Google, might eventually make more of its chips in-house. Rising memory prices would also pressure margins, while the company’s chip deal with OpenAI might not be binding.

That’s why the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.26% despite other major U.S. indexes hitting records. Putting the two together, that means investors are rotating out of tech into other parts of the market. The S&P 500 financials sector, for instance, closed at a fresh record, buoyed by jumps in Visa and Mastercard.

Even though the AI theme seems to be under scrutiny, other sectors are performing well on the back of a resilient U.S. economy — as signaled by Fed officials on Wednesday — and buoyed by interest-rate cut. So long as nothing throws a spanner in the works, looks like we’re all set for a happy holiday season.

CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

New records for U.S. stocks. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average notched fresh highs on Thursday, but the Nasdaq Composite, weighed down by Oracle, underperformed and fell. Asia-Pacific markets advanced Friday, with several major indexes rising at least 1%.

Broadcom’s fourth-quarter results beat expectations. The chipmaker also saw its net income nearly double from a year ago, and revealed that Anthropic is its $10 billion customer. But shares slumped in extended trading.

Disney to invest $1 billion in OpenAI. The media giant will also allow Sora, OpenAI’s video generator, to use its copyrighted characters, under a $1 billion licensing agreement. “We think this is a good investment for the company,” Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC.

Reddit launches legal challenge in Australia. The county introduced a ban on social media for teens under 16, which came into effect on Wednesday. Reddit argues that the law is “invalid on the basis of the implied freedom of political communication.”

[PRO] Where will Oracle go from here? Analysts are re-looking their price targets for Oracle stock after the firm released a disappointing and confusing earnings report on Wednesday.

And finally…

Gen. David Petraeus, Former CIA Director, Fmr. Central Commander and American commander in Iraq.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Trump scared Europe with his national security strategy. That’s no bad thing, ex-CIA chief says

White House’s new national security strategy gave Europe a scare last week as it warned the region faced “civilizational erasure” and questioned whether it could remain a geopolitical partner for America.

The strategy was, “in a way, going after the Europeans but, frankly, some of the Europeans needed to be gotten after because I watched as four different presidents tried to exhort the Europeans to do more for their own defense and now that’s actually happening,” David Petraeus, former CIA director and four-star U.S. Army general, told CNBC’s Dan Murphy in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

Holly Ellyatt

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Reddit challenges Australia’s under-16 social media ban in High Court filing, says law curbs political speech

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Reddit challenges Australia’s under-16 social media ban in High Court filing, says law curbs political speech

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Reddit, the popular community-focused forum, has launched a legal challenge against Australia’s social media ban for teens under 16, arguing that the newly enacted law is ineffective and goes too far by restricting political discussion online.

In its application to Australia’s High Court, the social news and aggregation platform said the law is “invalid on the basis of the implied freedom of political communication”, saying that it burdens political communication.

Canberra’s ban came into effect on Wednesday and targeted 10 major services, including Alphabet‘s YouTube, Meta’s Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok, RedditSnapchat and Elon Musk’s X. All targeted platforms had agreed to comply with the policy to varying degrees.

Australia’s Prime Minister’s office, Attorney-General’s Department and other social media platforms did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Under the law, the targeted platforms will have to take “reasonable steps” to prevent underage access, using ageverification methods such as inference from online activity, facial estimation via selfies, uploaded IDs, or linked bank details.

Reddit’s application to the courts seeks to either declare the law invalid or exclude the platform from the provisions of the law.

In a statement to CNBC, Reddit said that while it agrees with the importance of protecting persons under 16, the law could isolate teens “from the ability to engage in age-appropriate community experiences (including political discussions).”

It also said in its application that the law “burdens political communication,” saying “the political views of children inform the electoral choices of many current electors, including their parents and their teachers, as well as others interested in the views of those soon to reach the age of maturity.”

The platform also argued that it should not be subject to the law, saying it operates more as a forum for adults facilitating “knowledge sharing” between users than as a traditional social network, saying that it does not import contact lists or address books.

“Reddit is significantly different from other sites that allow for users to become “friends” with one another, or to post photos about themselves, or to organise events,” the platform said in its application.

Reddit further said in its court filing that most content on its platform is accessible without an account, and pointed out a person under the age of 16 “can be more easily protected from online harm if they have an account, being the very thing that is prohibited.”

“That is because the account can be subject to settings that limit their access to particular kinds of content that may be harmful to them,” it adds.

Despite its objections, Reddit said that the challenge was not an attempt to avoid complying with the law, nor was it an effort to retain young users for business reasons.

“There are more targeted, privacy-preserving measures to protect young people online without resorting to blanket bans,” the platform said.

— CNBC’s Dylan Butts contributed to this story.

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