Microsoft Refreshes its Entry-Level Surface Pro and Surface Laptop with Snapdragon X2 Plus Chips

Microsoft is using Qualcomm’s ongoing Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii to introduce refreshed versions of its 13-inch Surface Laptop and 12-inch Surface Pro with Snapdragon X2 Plus chips. The two new devices start at $1,149, and they will start shipping on October 13 in select markets.

“Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch are two of our most versatile Surface devices, designed to deliver the performance and battery life people need in PCs they can comfortably carry all day. This generation brings up to 18% more efficient battery performance, over 60% faster graphics, and 95% faster on-device AI — all in the same lightweight design,” said Brett Ostrum, Corporate Vice President, Surface Devices.

In June, Microsoft had already refreshed its flagship 13-inch Surface Pro and 13.8-inch and 15-inch Surface Laptop with Qualcomm’s latest PC chips. However, the company offered the choice between a 10-core Snapdragon X2 Plus or a 12-core Snapdragon X2 Elite chip, with a $1,499 starting price.

The Snapdragon X2 Plus chip on the 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop, however, only has six CPU cores. That’s actually two fewer cores than the Snapdragon X Plus chip used on previous-gen devices. The new Snapdragon X2 Plus chip is coupled with a Qualcomm Adreno GPU and Hexagon NPU with 80 TOPS, and the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop offer either 16GB or 24GB of memory and up to 512GB of storage.

Microsoft emphasized that its new 12-inch Surface Pro comes with a 25% brighter, 500-nit PixelSense touchscreen, as well as a new Microsoft Ink Canvas app that will let users sketch, annotate content, and summarize text with the help of Copilot. This app will also become available to download from the Microsoft Store on other supported PCs starting October 13.

The new Surface Pro 12-inch offers up to 13 hours of active web usage and up to 15.5 hours of local video playback. Connectivity doesn’t change, with two USB-C / USB 3.2 ports, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4, and the tablet remains compatible with the existing Surface Pro 12-inch keyboard and Surface Slim Pen (2nd Edition).

With a $1149.99 starting price, the 12-inch Surface Pro with Snapdragon X2 Plus is $100 more expensive than the previous model with 16GB of RAM. As a reminder, Microsoft launched an $849.99 version of the 12-inch Surface Pro with Snapdragon X Plus with just 8GB of RAM in June, but that cheaper 8GB option has been eliminated on the new generation.

Let’s move on to the new 13-inch Surface Laptop, which uses the same six-core Snapdragon X2 Plus chip as the refreshed 12-inch Surface Pro. Besides the more powerful chip, customers can expect a 25% brighter 500-nit display, up to 22.5 hours of battery life, and the same memory and storage options as the new 12-inch Surface Pro. Compared to the previous model, the port selection is also unchanged, with two USB-C/ USB 3.2 ports, one USB-A 3.2 port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The new 13-inch Surface Laptop with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Plus chip starts at $1,199, and it’s just $50 more expensive than the previous model with a Snapdragon X Plus chip and 16GB of RAM. It will also be available in a new black color, just like the new 12-inch Surface Pro.

Lastly, Microsoft also announced today a new Surface Mouse with haptic feedback and a redesigned ambidextrous shape. You can learn more details about it in my separate post.