Microsoft's new Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 13 feature Snapdragon X2 Plus chips
There's also a new haptic Surface Mouse on the way.
Performance and Pricing
Microsoft is trucking along with 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 from the slower Qualcomm chips powering those devices last year. As Microsoft's smallest PCs, the key for both the Surface Pro 12 and Laptop 13 is portability over raw power. These devices have seen price bumps, with the Surface Pro 12-inch up to $1,150 and the Surface Laptop 13 to $1,199.
Design and Display
Design-wise, nothing has changed with either device. The Surface Pro 12-inch 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. The Surface Laptop 13 is the company's basic notebook design shrunk down to a 13-inch screen and 2.7-pound frame. Both systems feature new 500-nit displays, which are 25 percent brighter than before.
Microsoft claims the Snapdragon X2 Plus chips deliver 60 percent better graphics than the last generation, as well as 95 percent faster on-device AI and 18 percent better battery efficiency. As for basic Office productivity work, the company says the new chip is 18 percent faster. The upgrades sound compelling for anyone who was interested in these smaller Surface devices but couldn't stomach the major speed downgrade of previous models.
Software and Accessories
The Surface Pro 12-inch is also launching together with Microsoft Ink Canvas, an AI-powered, pen-first experience for sketching, annotating, generating images and summarizing text directly on the canvas. The app will also be available on the Microsoft Store on October 13th for other Surface devices.
Alongside the PC hardware, Microsoft is launching a new $80 Surface Mouse, an ambidextrous mouse with haptic functionality. Users will be able to feel certain Windows 11 interactions, like snapping a window or aligning objects, similar to what is seen with the Logitech MX Master series.
All of Microsoft's new Surface hardware will be available on October 13.
