Microsoft's Arm-powered Surface Pro gets an OLED display, serious AI processing power

Shawn Knight

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Better all around: Microsoft has introduced the first-ever Copilot+ PCs from its Surface line, and chief among them is the all new Surface Pro. Microsoft's refreshed Surface Pro is its most flexible 2-in-1 to date, with improvements across the board.

It starts with a new (optional) 13 inch OLED with HDR display: 2,880 x 1,920 resolution with a 3:2 aspect ratio, 267 PPI, and a dynamic refresh rate up to 120 Hz, and 10-point multi touch. That display is driven by Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors that Microsoft claims are up to 90 percent faster than Surface Pro 9. The display is said to be coated in Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for enhanced durability.

The Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, meanwhile, is able to generate up to 45 trillion operations per second for AI workloads, while a Qualcomm Adreno GPU handles traditional graphical tasks.

Systems can be configured with either 16 GB or 32 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and a removable solid-state drive in your choice of 256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB capacities.

Multitaskers will appreciate support for up to three external 4K displays as well as dual UBS 4 ports. Wi-Fi 7 support affords the fastest possible connection to Wi-Fi networks, and optional 5G connectivity (not ready at launch, but coming later) ensures a fast cellular connection on the go.

Up front is a quad-HD, front-facing camera that Microsoft claims is the best to ever find a home in a Surface device. Around back, you will find a 10-megapixel Ultra HD rear-facing camera with autofocus that supports up to 4K video recording.

Microsoft claims the new Surface Pro 11th edition is good for up to 14 hours of video playback on a single charge. It ships running Windows 11 out of the box, and the whole thing weighs just 1.97 pounds.

Also new for 2024 is the Surface Pro Flex Keyboard, which can be used while attached to your Pro or detached for additional freedom and flexibility. Microsoft said it is built with extra carbon fiber layers for enhanced stability, and features an oversized haptic touchpad.

A Surface Pro Copilot+ PC starts at $999.99 in your choice of sapphire, dune, black, or platinum color schemes. The base model gets you the Snapdragon X Plus CPU, an LCD display, 26 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD.

Those wanting to step up to the Snapdragon X Elite with OLED display will need to tack on an additional $500 out of the gate. Another $600 upsell gets you a model with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD.

Oh, and if you want the new Surface Pro Keyboard, it is going to cost you even more. The Surface Pro Flex Keyboard with Slim Pen will set you back another $449.98 when it launches on June 17.

Microsoft expects to start shipping its new Surface Pro by the middle of June 2024.

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I'd like to see how this new Snapdragons behave under Linux (So, probably some other device + some time before Linux can have proper drivers ready)

And that's mostly because I don't think they managed to change the equation here: Windows + Arm = Zero in terms of compatibility and things to do. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised but most 'reviews' are still on full on embargo to not talk about Windows + Arm and let's just say that doesn't exactly gives me pause to change my view that this will flop again.
 
Probably good if you don’t use any form of legacy software at all. The pricing for the keyboard is silly. They should shave that in two.
 
It's all about the software really. The whole pen setup is aimed at creative professionals but if you don't have pro-create there is no much point. It could be interesting to see how 45tflops could transfer into gaming and rendering... if there is any software that can work on it.
 
Nah. It is too large/heavy for a tablet and media consumption, to small for a productivity device, not suitable for gaming (steam deck would be many times better), and not compatible with x86 windows apps...
 
Is it faster than the new iPad Pro? That’s its competition… since it doesn’t have x86, the one selling point over iOS is compromised …
 
Is it faster than the new iPad Pro? That’s its competition… since it doesn’t have x86, the one selling point over iOS is compromised …
The selling point over an iPad is a real OS vs iOS.

Apple won’t sell a Mac tablet, so if you need to do more than what an iPad lets you do, Windows is the way.
 
Probably good if you don’t use any form of legacy software at all. The pricing for the keyboard is silly. They should shave that in two.
Keyboard pen bundle is pricey (although cheaper than Apple’s latest), but it's actually a few hundred cheaper for the maxed options that previous versions (I always max it my SP).
 
Not enough mention about Windows 11 on ARM. Perhaps a separate article is in order, when these emerge in stores.
Some commenters here fail to understand about the compatibility layer here. x86 and x64 now.
Apple manages to do well with Rosetta apparently in their closed eco system.
 
This one will have Qualcom's cpu+gpu though
Yes, but you were asking if it could compete with M3 and AMD APU graphics where the current devices have Intel graphics. Thus, my pointing that out.

I would love a Strix APU Surface Pro, but they haven't made one. I am hopeful the Snapdragon X Elite's Adreno 750 GPU will be great, I am fairly confident it will at least be as good as the sad Intel iGPU I've grown accustomed to while traveling.
 
Windows is Windows. You can wonder if Windows on ARM is not as fast as x86, but the amount of functionality provided by Win ARM and Win x86 is the same (and vastly more than iPadOS).
Not really… lots of applications won’t run on ARM Windows vs X86 Windows… especially legacy apps…
 
Headline is misleading in the extreme. It implies OLED pricing is from $999 when it is NOT. It starts at $1349.
 
Headline is misleading in the extreme. It implies OLED pricing is from $999 when it is NOT. It starts at $1349.
Headline doesn’t mention a price… and article has this…

“A Surface Pro Copilot+ PC starts at $999.99 in your choice of sapphire, dune, black, or platinum color schemes. The base model gets you the Snapdragon X Plus CPU, an LCD display, 26 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD.”

Why are you saying you’ve been mislead? Perhaps you didn’t read the article?
 
Headline doesn’t mention a price… and article has this…

“A Surface Pro Copilot+ PC starts at $999.99 in your choice of sapphire, dune, black, or platinum color schemes. The base model gets you the Snapdragon X Plus CPU, an LCD display, 26 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD.”

Why are you saying you’ve been mislead? Perhaps you didn’t read the article?
Directly underneath the headline and in large font and clearly not part of the main text, it's right there: pricing from $999. Are you legally blind?
 
Not really… lots of applications won’t run on ARM Windows vs X86 Windows… especially legacy apps…
Thus, the prism emulation of x86. Did you read the article?

Sure, there may be some extremely old apps that don't work with emulation, but those are typically enterprise legacy apps that only run on an old version of Windows, not something people would be running on a new laptop.
 
Thus, the prism emulation of x86. Did you read the article?

Sure, there may be some extremely old apps that don't work with emulation, but those are typically enterprise legacy apps that only run on an old version of Windows, not something people would be running on a new laptop.
But we don’t know how fast x86 apps run under emulation mode - hence my original comment. And those legacy apps might be important…

iPadOS also has emulation… depending on the apps you want to use, the new iPad Pro might be superior. I would love to see some real-time benchmarks of x86 apps on both devices.
 
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