What a difference a year makes. When Microsoft announced the Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 for Business last March, it almost seemed as if the company was giving up on the consumer PC market entirely. Of course, just a few months later, we got the new Surface Pro and Laptop Copilot+ systems, which was also the debut of Microsoft's AI PC initiative. Now, the company is rounding out its Surface family by updating its Business machines — those meant for corporate customers — with Intel's new Core Ultra 200V AI PC processors. Say hello to the new Intel-equipped Surface Pro (11th Edition) and Surface Laptop (7th Edition) for Business.
If you've been eagerly awaiting a cellular-equipped Surface Laptop, Microsoft also says it'll launch a 5G model later this year. Aside from that, the big change with Intel's new Core Ultra chips is their larger 48 TOPS NPU, which will allow them to handle more complex AI tasks than before. In comparison, the original Core Ultra chips had much smaller 10 TOPS NPUs. The upgrade will particularly relevant for advanced AI features like Windows Recall, which requires a 40 TOPS NPU at the very least (the minimum requirement for all Copilot+ systems).
Aside from better AI performance, you can expect Intel's Core Ultra 200V chips on the Surface Laptop 7 to be around 26 percent faster than the Laptop 5 when it comes to multitasking, while also delivering double the graphics performance and three times better battery life. We haven't seen performance metrics for the new Surface Pro, but Microsoft claims it offers double the battery life in Teams calls compared to the Surface Pro 9.
Just like other Copilot+ systems, the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop also come with Microsoft's Pluton chip for security. The company says Pluton hardware will also get an update with a Key Storage Provider (KSP) feature later this year. It will "allow for more secure storage and management of cryptographic keys," according to Microsoft.
As for accessories, there's also a new $200 Surface USB 4 Dock, which includes two USB-C connections, USB-A, Ethernet and HDMI. It also supports fast charging for both new systems — and for that price, it damn well better.
The new Intel Core Ultra 200V-equipped Surface Pro and Surface Laptop will be available on February 18, starting at $1,500. And if you're looking for better battery life, you can opt for the Qualcomm Snapdragon variants as well (though be ready to deal with slower emulated apps and potential software and driver incompatibility).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/microsofts-surface-pro-and-laptop-for-business-are-getting-intels-new-ai-pc-chips-150001906.html?src=rss
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