Microsoft’s new Surface laptops are bursting with AI power

Microsoft launched its Surface Pro (2024) tablet and the Surface Laptop (2024) as part of a major coming-out party for both the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite as well as Windows on Arm, part of Microsoft’s evolution into an AI-centric company.

Both the Surface Pro and the Surface Laptop are the consumer versions of the Surface Pro 10 for Business and the Surface Laptop 6 for Business, which debuted in March. Those chips included more conventional Core Ultra chips inside.

The two new Surfaces use the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, a chip licensed from Arm. Nine PC makers signed on to use the Snapdragon X Elite chip, including heavyweights like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft. The X Elite has already proven to be extremely fast and even the new Snapdragon X Plus derivative still outperforms a Core Ultra, Qualcomm claims. Battery life was always the Snapdragon’s strong suit. Now Windows on Arm PCs have an opportunity to combine long battery life with competitive performance.

And what does this new Windows on Arm generation mean? For one thing, Arm executives are claiming that the days of laggy, incompatible Windows on Arm apps are basically over.

Microsoft is unveiling what it calls a new generation of “Copilot+” PCs with AI powered features. You’re getting Recall, an AI-powered, improved version of the Timeline feature to track down files and other information, the Live Captions feature that can generate AI captions of streamed video, and Windows Studio Effects, the Cocreator AI art feature in Paint and the Auto Super Resolution feature Microsoft debuted earlier this year.

Copilot+ PCs will require 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an integrated NPU.

Like its predecessors, but better

I reviewed the Surface Pro 9 (5G), the Windows tablet with the Microsoft-Qualcomm co-designed SQ3 chip inside of it and it was acceptable for office use. The Snapdragon X Elite promises to be faster. If there’s one knock against both the Surface Pro as well as the Surface Laptop, it’s that the hardware design looks essentially unchanged from the previous few generations. The real changes will be in what’s inside it like the components as well as the various features of the operating system.

Here are the specs of both the consumer versions of both the Surface Pro as well as the Surface Laptop. We’ll update them as we hear more details. Note that the only consumer versions have Qualcomm’s chip inside. If you want to buy one with an Intel chip, you’ll have to buy the business version.

One key addition for the Surface Pro will be the addition of an optional OLED display with HDR, providing inky blacks and infinite contrast for those who want an even better screen. The tablet will have an ultrawide webcam for Windows Studio Effects, and Microsoft has a new detached, wireless Flex Pro Keyboard to go along with it.

The Flex keyboard is pretty interesting — one of the issues with the Surface Pro platform is how awkward it is to place on your lap, balancing it with a kickstand. Detaching the Flex keyboard will allow you to place the Surface Pro tablet on a tray table and put the keyboard on your lap.

Microsoft will be providing the prices of the new Surface devices a bit later.

Surface Pro (consumer) detailed specifications

The consumer version will be available in either a 13.8-inch or a 15-inch configuration.

The Surface Laptop will come in four colors, including Sapphire. The displays have been widened, shrinking the bezels. There’s a new haptic touchpad too, which was previously on the Surface Laptop Studio.

Surface Laptop (consumer) detailed specifications: