From The Verge · Tom Warren · · 1m 30s
Microsoft's smaller Surface devices get pricier with new chips
The refreshed Surface Pro 12-inch and Laptop 13-inch pack faster Snapdragon X2 Plus processors and longer battery life, but prices jump significantly.
In brief
The refreshed Surface Pro 12-inch and Laptop 13-inch pack faster Snapdragon X2 Plus processors and longer battery life, but prices jump significantly. Microsoft's smaller Surface devices now cost $350-$300 more than last year's models, driven by mandatory 16GB RAM minimums and new Snapdragon X2 Plus chips that deliver…
Microsoft refreshes smaller Surface devices
The Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch now feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Plus chips, delivering faster performance and improved battery life.
Prices jump significantly
The Surface Pro 12-inch jumps from $799.99 to $1,149.99, while the Surface Laptop 13-inch rises from $899.99 to $1,199.99. Both now start with 16GB RAM instead of 8GB.
Battery life gets a boost
The Surface Pro 12-inch gains an extra hour of web browsing for up to 13 hours total. The Surface Laptop 13-inch adds two extra hours, reaching 18 hours total.
Performance gains across the board
The Snapdragon X2 Plus delivers 60 percent faster graphics and 95 percent faster AI inferencing on the built-in NPU, improving real-world performance.
Displays and ports stay mostly the same
Both devices keep their existing port selection and display resolutions, but brightness improves from 400 to 500 nits. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 are now standard.
No haptic trackpad upgrade yet
Microsoft didn't add haptic trackpads to these smaller models, despite Windows 11 supporting haptic feedback and the Surface Laptop Ultra already having it.
Here's the gist
Microsoft's smaller Surface devices now cost $350-$300 more than last year's models, driven by mandatory 16GB RAM minimums and new Snapdragon X2 Plus chips that deliver modest performance gains.
