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Microsoft announced two new Surface laptops today—the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro—but these aren’t replacing the models that debuted last year. Instead, they’re slightly more affordable and exist as new options within the Surface lineup. Microsoft says these Windows laptops are the thinnest and lightest Surface devices yet, with the longest battery life, too. On paper, they sound great, but choosing a Surface laptop is now more complex.
With an MSRP of $799 for the Surface Pro (12 Inch) and $899 for the Surface Laptop (13 Inch), they’re cheaper than the 2024 Surface Laptop (7th Edition) and Surface Pro (11th Edition), both of which started at $999. A lower price means some compromises—the new laptops are equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus chip, with no option to upgrade to the more powerful Snapdragon X Elite. The screens are smaller, with lower screen resolutions and refresh rates.
Here’s everything you need to know.
The New Surface Laptop
Photograph: Microsoft
Unlike the Surface Laptop (7th Edition), which comes with the choice between a 13-inch or 15-inch screen size, the Surface Laptop is only available in one size. The screen measures exactly 13 inches (instead of 13.8 inches on the 7th edition). It sports a 60-Hz refresh rate with up to 400 nits of brightness and supports up to two 4K monitors (at 60 Hz).
There’s a 1080p webcam, a fingerprint reader built into the power button, and a decent port selection: two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. Microsoft did away with the Surface Connect Port, but the USB-C port supports fast charging (with a 60-watt charger or higher).
Inside is the Snapdragon X Plus processor, which was unveiled alongside the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) and Surface Pro (11th Edition). However, this chipset has fewer cores in the newer laptop—eight versus 10—so there is a small performance hit. Microsoft says it’s up to 50 percent faster than the Surface Laptop 5, which the company anticipates most Surface buyers will be upgrading from. But this could also succeed the Surface Go line, which has always been the default choice if you wanted the most compact and portable machine. The new Surface Laptop has 16 GB of RAM, and storage starts at 256 GB but can be bumped to 512 GB.
Photograph: Microsoft
Microsoft says the Surface Laptop “delivers the longest battery life of any Surface,” with up to 23 hours of video playback and up to 16 hours of web browsing. That’s a little more than the claimed 20 hours of video playback and 13 hours of web browsing on the Surface Laptop (7th Edition). It accomplishes this feat despite being thinner and lighter, weighing 2.7 pounds, around 118 grams less.
It starts at $899 and is available for preorder, with official sales beginning May 20. What makes this machine perplexing? You can buy the Surface Laptop (7th Edition)—with 16 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, and a 10-core Snapdragon X Plus chip, for less money right now at retailers like Best Buy and Amazon. That’ll also net you a slightly bigger screen with a 120-Hz refresh rate and 600 nits of brightness (with a P3 color gamut), though you won’t get the lighter and thinner build.
The New Surface Pro
Photograph: Microsoft
The new Surface Pro (12 Inch) is not a follow-up to last year’s Surface Pro 11th Edition, but a slightly cheaper alternative. It retains the traditional 2-in-1 design, meaning you need to purchase the keyboard separately. The tablet comes with a built-in kickstand and a 12-inch LCD (with an up to 90-Hz refresh rate). On the front is a 1080p camera with Windows Hello sign-in authentication support, and on the back is a 10-megapixel camera. You can connect it to up to two 4K monitors. There’s no option to add 5G connectivity, but it supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard.
Like the new Surface Laptop, it’s powered by the Snapdragon X Plus (8-core) processor, which helps deliver what Microsoft claims is up to 16 hours of battery life for local video playback and 12 hours of web browsing. It has 16 gigabytes of RAM and the same storage options. It also has two USB-C ports and a 3.5-mm headphone jack.
Photograph: Microsoft
The Surface Pro keyboard has been redesigned specifically for this model. It includes a matte palm rest, full-size backlit keys (with a dedicated Copilot and lock key), and a customizable precision touchpad with adaptive touch mode. Microsoft says it now rests and folds back completely flat against the tablet, making it easier to type, draw, or write. It supports the Surface Slim Pen 2 (sold separately). Unlike the other Surface Pro Keyboards, which have a slot to store the stylus, you can attach it to the back of the tablet magnetically, where it will wirelessly charge.
The Surface Pro (12 Inch) is available for preorder and starts at $799, with retail sales kicking off on May 20. Once again, you can find the Surface Pro (11th Edition) for around the same price these days with 256 GB of storage, 16 GB of RAM, and the slightly more powerful 10-core Snapdragon X Plus these days, not to mention the bigger and higher-resolution 120-Hz, 13-inch screen. But you lose out on the slimmer and thinner chassis—the newer Pro is 1.5 pounds versus last year’s 1.97 pounds.
Presumably, the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro will see discounts during major sale events that will separate them from their flagship siblings and make them a better value.
Copilot+ PC AI Features
Photograph: Microsoft
The Surface Laptop and Surface Pro have the same artificial intelligence features as their pricier counterparts. That includes Windows Studio Effects, which offers creative filters; Eye Contact, which adjusts your eyes so they appear to look at the camera even if you’re looking off to the side; Portrait Blur, for a blurred background during video calls; and Voice Focus, to enhance audio and reduce background noise. There’s also CoCreator, a generative AI feature built into Paint that generates an image based on your drawing and the prompt you type in, plus Live Captions for instant real-time translation across video and audio calls.
They’re also privy to the recently launched Recall feature in Windows 11. The feature captures your activity as a screenshot every few seconds. That way, it can pull up anything you’ve seen or done on your PC with a simple search query. However, the company delayed the rollout after watchdogs called it a “privacy nightmare.”
Microsoft has a few new AI features too. A new agent tool in Settings lets you describe an issue you’re having with your PC and receive recommendations on how to address it. If you give it permission, you can also allow the PC to diagnose and repair problems. A Photos Relight feature in the Photos app lets you access lighting controls and built-in presets to edit your images.
You’ll also find a Snipping Tool for screenshots (that allows you to tightly frame the exact thing you want to screenshot), along with a new Paint Sticker generator (to create custom stickers from a text prompt) and Paint Object Select (where you can pinpoint certain elements on the canvas and make edits)—both of which are rolling out to the Windows Insider Program first.
