Surface Laptop inventory dries up ahead of Microsoft's October 2 event

Surface Laptop

In case you were wondering what Microsoft might have in store for its scheduled October 2 event, we just got a better idea. The Intel Core m3 model of the Surface Laptop is no longer available through the Microsoft online store, Neowin reports.

However, this lack of availability isn’t simply marked as ‘out of stock,’ but rather the option is grayed out and cannot be selected on the page. Furthermore, several more Surface Laptop color and configuration options are, in fact, out of stock.

Neowin has a convenient table that displays which Surface Laptop models are and are not available. Of the 10 Surface Laptop options you can normally choose from, only half of them are still available to purchase.

What could this mean? Historically, technology product retailers tend to phase out stock of a current product to make room for the next one, often without explanation. That’s obvious, because to explain would be to reveal the existence of a new product before it's ready.

We see Apple show this sort of behavior several times a year, just before a new product is announced. It’s more than likely that the same thing is happening here, as the Surface Laptop is now a little long in the tooth, having debuted in June 2017.

So, is this affirmation of a forthcoming Surface Laptop 2? No, but the timing couldn’t more coincidental. Stay tuned here on October 2 to see just what Microsoft is making room for.

Joe Osborne

Joe Osborne is the Senior Technology Editor at Insider Inc. His role is to leads the technology coverage team for the Business Insider Shopping team, facilitating expert reviews, comprehensive buying guides, snap deals news and more. Previously, Joe was TechRadar's US computing editor, leading reviews of everything from gaming PCs to internal components and accessories. In his spare time, Joe is a renowned Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master – and arguably the nicest man in tech.