Microsoft’s hardware business seems to be in disarray on all fronts, especially Xbox, but it’s still 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 were also ostensibly low-cost devices last year, with launch prices below $1,000, but as with everything else, the RAMaggedon has bumped the Surface Pro 12-inch up to $1,150 and the Surface Laptop 13 to $1,199.
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, as always, because Microsoft seems to hate smart consumer choices). The Surface Laptop 13, meanwhile, is the company’s basic notebook design shrunk down to a 13-inch screen and 2.7-pound frame. Both systems also feature new 500-nit displays, which are 25 percent brighter than before.
I thought the 12-inch tablet was absolutely adorable when I reviewed it last year, and I’m hoping the new internals alleviate my performance concerns. 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 the previous Snapdragon X chips. If you picked up one of these systems last year, though, it’s probably worth waiting a bit longer to upgrade. And if you need more power, the larger 13-inch Surface Pro and Surface Laptop 13.8-inch are also available with newer Snapdragon X2 chips (and much higher pricing of their own).
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,” as the company describes. That doesn’t sound particularly unique, but at least it’s something to do with the Surface Slim Pen. The app will also be available on the Microsoft Store on October 13th for other Surface devices.
Microsoft
Alongside the 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 certain Windows 11 interactions, like snapping a window or aligning objects. That’s similar to what we’ve seen with the Logitech MX Master 4. It’s an evolution of the previous Surface Mouse, which was notable for evoking Microsoft’s classic Intellimouse design.
All of Microsoft’s new Surface hardware will be available on October 13.
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