Affinity Pre-Installed on New Microsoft Surface Devices

Microsoft announced that its new Surface and Surface Pro laptops, powered by Snapdragon X2 processors, will come with Affinity pre-installed. The partnership includes haptic feedback integration into the touchpad and Slim Pen, tailored for Affinity's editing tools. Affinity is pinned to the Start menu, ready upon sign-in. This follows Affinity's relaunch as a free application in late 2025, which garnered one million users in its first week and three million downloads within a month. The move is seen as a strategic blow to Adobe, which previously prioritized the PC market over its Apple relationship. Affinity CEO Ash Hewson expressed surprise at the rapid adoption, calling it a movement for change in professional design. The first free update in March added features and expanded RAW support. Canva, which owns Affinity, sees the Microsoft endorsement as validation of its mission to make design tools accessible.