Microsoft’s hardware business appears to be in disarray on all fronts, especially on Xbox, but it continues to carry refreshed versions of its smaller Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 13. The big change is the new Snapdragon X2 Plus chip, which aims to be a solid update to the slower Qualcomm chips powering those devices last year. As Microsoft’s smallest PCs, the key to the Surface Pro 12 and Laptop 13 is portability rather than raw power. These were also seemingly inexpensive devices last year, with launch prices below $1,000, but like everything else, RAMaggedon pushed the 12-inch Surface Pro to $1,150 and the Surface Laptop 13 to $1,199.
Design-wise, nothing has changed with both devices. The 12-inch Surface Pro is still a small 12-inch tablet with a kickstand, and it can transform into a pseudo-laptop with the $150 Surface Pro Keyboard (sold separately, as always, because Microsoft seems to hate smart consumer choices). The Surface Laptop 13, meanwhile, is the company’s basic laptop design shrunk down to a 13-inch screen and 2.7-pound frame. Both systems also feature new 500 nit displays, 25% brighter than before.
I found the 12-inch tablet absolutely adorable when I reviewed it last year, and I hope the new internals alleviate my performance issues. Microsoft says the Snapdragon X2 Plus chips offer 60% better graphics than the last generation, as well as 95% faster on-device AI and 18% better battery efficiency. When it comes to basic office productivity work, the company says the new chip is 18% faster. The upgrades seem compelling to anyone who was interested in these smaller Surface devices, but couldn’t handle the significant speed degradation of the previous Snapdragon X chips. If you bought one of these systems last year, it’s probably worth waiting a little longer to upgrade. And if you need more power, the larger 13-inch Surface Pro and 13.8-inch Surface Laptop are also available with newer Snapdragon X2 chips (and at much higher prices).
The 12-inch Surface Pro also launches with Microsoft Ink Canvas, an “AI-driven, pen-based experience for drawing, annotating, generating images, and summarizing text directly on the canvas,” as the company describes it. It doesn’t seem particularly unique, but at least it has something to do with the Surface Slim Pen. The app will also be available on the Microsoft Store on October 13 for other Surface devices.
Microsoft
Alongside PC hardware, Microsoft is launching a new $80 Surface Mouse, an ambidextrous mouse with haptic functionality. The company says you’ll be able to feel some Windows 11 interactions, like slamming a window or aligning objects. This is similar to what we saw with the Logitech MX Master 4. It is an evolution of the previous Surface Mouse, which was distinguished by the classic design of Microsoft’s Intellimouse.
All of Microsoft’s new Surface hardware will be available on October 13.
