Today, at a special press event, Microsoft announced a new Surface Pro and Surface laptops powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Series chips. The new processors mark a significant milestone in Microsoft's move to Arm-based devices and the company is referring to these as Copilot+ PCs in reference to their AI-powered features.
Surface Pro
The latest version of the Surface Pro drops the model number this time around. Microsoft claims that the new Pro is up to 90 percent faster than the Surface Pro 9 they dropped back in March thanks to performance jump from the Snapdragon X processors. This revamped Surface has a few key upgrades, including better battery life (Microsoft claims up to 14 hours), optional 5G support, Wi-Fi 7 support, and you can even get a version of the Pro with an OLED screen.
The base configuration of the Surface Pro starts around $999 comes with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a Snapdragon x Plus processor. If you want the maxed-out version, which comes with the Snapdragon x Elite chipset, or that OLED display, expect to spend closer to $2000 or more. The Pro comes in four color options: black, sapphire, platinum, and dune. A forthcoming keyboard attachment called the Surface Pro Flex is also available, which features a Precision Haptic touchpad and a dedicated Copilot key, as well as the Surface Pro Keyboard with Slim Pen 2 (or without the Slim Pen 2) and the standard Surface Pro Keyboard.
Surface Laptop
The Surface Laptop also received its fair share of updates. updates, including thinner bezels and a larger haptic touchpad. Connectivity-wise, the Surface comes with two USB-C ports, a single USB-A port, and a standard 3.5mm audio port. Similar to previous generations, it’s available in two size variants, 13.8" and 15". Microsoft claims these laptops have the longest battery life of any Surface device: up to 20 hours for the 13.8" version and up to 22 hours for the 15" model.
Like the updated Surface Pro, you'll be able to configure these new Surface laptops with Snapdragon X series processors. According to Microsoft's own testing, the new Surface Laptop is about 86% faster in performance compared to the Surface Laptop 5. These new chips have dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) that will power AI-based features like CoPilot.
The base configuration comes with a Snapdragon X Plus processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, but it can be configured with a Snapdragon X Elite processor and up to 64GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. As far as price goes, the 13.8” version starts at $999.99 and the 15” version starts at $1199.99.
The new Surface Laptop has been redesigned with thinner bezels and a larger haptic touchpad this time around. Connectivity-wise, there are two USB-C ports, a single USB-A port, and a standard 3.5mm audio port. It still comes in two size variants, 13.8" and 15". As far as price goes, the 13.8” version starts at $999.99 and the 15” version starts at $1199.99.
Expect the updated Surface models to be available to pre-order shortly, with availability expected sometime in June. What are your thoughts on the new Surface devices? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to be on the lookout for more in-depth coverage once we’re able to spend more hands-on time with them.
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