Twelve years ago, the world’s leading computing company, Microsoft, finally sold their first computer. For decades, Windows had been the leading operating system, making Microsoft a household name, but they’d never actually built desktops or laptops, leaving hardware to third-party providers.

However, with Windows 8, they wanted to put the touchscreen computing experience front and center, and to push it, they felt it was about time to make and sell their own hardware. The Surface line was initially just Windows tablets but soon expanded to include a MacBook-competing Surface Laptop, the tablet-to-laptop two-in-one device called the Surface Book, two unsuccessful two-screen folding products, and the business-focused Surface Hub.

However, in 2016, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Studio, and though they never meaningfully updated or supported the line and have just discontinued the second version, it was by far the most interesting product in the Surface line-up.

The concept is relatively simple: a premium, Windows all-in-one to compete with the iMac and iMac Pro. That should be uninteresting; many third-party Windows computers already fit that description.

Only the Surface line was entirely built around touchscreens, so their all-in-one had a 28-inch touchscreen, which pivoted down on a folding easel hinge. Not only could you use the Studio like a standard all-in-one, but its smooth “Zero Gravity” hinge allowed you to pivot it down to just 20 degrees off the table, perfect for drawing, photo editing, and other creative tools. All its computing power came from its small puck base, containing the RAM, CPU, GPU, motherboard, SSDs, and so forth; and it was so small that the Studio came with a laptop-style charging cable. There was nothing quite like it on the market, and it remains an incredibly compelling computer; albeit, one that very few people bought.

The design and concept were highly compelling, but there were two fundamental problems: the power and the price. Because every component had to fit in the slim, small puck base, it was always underpowered compared to other professional all-in-one rivals, including the iMac Pro; and it had to compete in that lane because the Studio started at $2,999.

2018’s Studio 2 — and updated 2 Plus in 2022 — had more power, but there still was a severe limit to the storage and RAM available, even if you spent $4,800 for the fully equipped version. Also, inexplicably, they removed the full-size SD card reader on the 2 Plus despite editing photography being such an obvious use case for the Studio. And now, Microsoft has discontinued Studio 2 Plus, with no plans to introduce a replacement.

It was a great design ahead of its time, but the biggest issue is that they tried to make it a computer at all instead of leaning into its strengths — the screen and hinge — and selling it as a monitor. They could have sold a standard Surface Studio monitor for people like myself, who would have paid a premium for a stylish, touchscreen monitor, and then a color-graded, higher resolution Surface Studio Pro monitor, which could have competed with the Mac Studio Display and other industry displays for color grading films, photography, graphic design, and so forth.

It is possible to turn a Studio into a monitor by removing the computer components, but it takes a lot of work, and given the age and price of these devices, it’s just not worth it.