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Is my Surface Pro 5th gen Compatible with W11?

Anonymous
2021-06-24T23:26:39+00:00

I was wondering if my Surface Pro 5th Gen is compatible with Windows 11. I have installed the device health tool, and it states I am not compatible with it. My TPM appears to be 2.0 and my DirectX version appears to be 12. I have more than enough space on my SSD and enough RAM. Is there anything I can do to become compatible with Windows 11 or will I need to buy a new PC to?

Surface | Surface Pro | Install and update

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  1. Barb Bowman 80,700 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-06-26T09:37:02+00:00

    I’m sorry to report that Microsoft suddenly changed their online documentation on 6/26/2021 around 3pm EDT on Windows 11 requirements and removed all references to hard and soft floors on Compatibility for Windows 11- Compatibility Cookbook | Microsoft Docs. The original document showed

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    Which indicated that devices with a TPM 1.2 and a processor lower than 8^th^gen Intel (etc.) that met the other specs MIGHT be able to install Windows 11 but MIGHT receive a warning. The revised document, as of 6/26/2021 5am EDT shows the following:

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    The list of supported processors at Windows Processor Requirements | Microsoft Docs appears to detail all CPU’s that can install Windows 11 and it appears there is nothing below an 8^th^ Gen Intel CPU that will be allowed to install Windows 11.

    I’m personally dismayed at this news. I apologize for posting anything earlier that provided hope that older processors might be able to install with a warning, but that was based on the documentation online at that time. That version of the documentation is currently available at the Internet Archive at Compatibility for Windows 11- Compatibility Cookbook | Microsoft Docs (archive.org)

    I’m a customer, just like you and I'm an unpaid volunteer and do not work for Microsoft. If you want background on what a Microsoft MVP is, see https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/Overview and for Volunteer Moderators see https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/page/faq#faqWhosWho1

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-06-28T01:03:37+00:00

    It seems absurd to not have Win 11 support the Surface Pro 5 (2017 model) which is just under 4 years old.  Even though it is a 7th Gen Intel processor, it has more capability than the Atoms and Celerons listed in compatible processors.  If Microsoft sticks to this, then it is just creating more e-waste.  Also to drop OS support on a device about four years old is poor practice.

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  2. Barb Bowman 80,700 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-06-28T18:01:22+00:00

    they updated the blog post--

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  3. Barb Bowman 80,700 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-06-28T17:33:45+00:00

    MAYBE... this is from their blog post - it offers a little hope for SP 2017 5th gen devices running INtel 7th gen Core processors. It's 74% installed on MY 2017 LTE..

    There is some hope now for 7th gen Intel CPU's (but not 6th gen), etc.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-06-28T17:26:03+00:00

    Nice that we can download the Insider Dev preview, but will have to downgrade back to Win10 after official release or be stuck at the last dev version we downloaded per this website:

    https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2021/06/24/preparing-for-insider-preview-builds-of-windows-11/ 

    I still can't understand why 8th gen Intel processors were the cutoff seems very arbitrary to me as there is no major architecture change from 7th to 8th gen.

    Hopefully, Microsoft reads this thread and looks at how to include Surface Pro 5's in the acceptable devices for Win 11.  Many people are up in arms about the decision to drop Surface Pro 5's from Win 11 support.  If this remains then it might be time to switch to Linux and this Surface will be the last Microsoft hardware product I ever buy.

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