- Microsoft has launched new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices
- They are built around the Snapdragon X2 processor
- The OLED screen is back for the Surface Pro, but prices are steep, even at the entry-level
Microsoft has revealed new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 processor.
There’s a new Surface Pro 13-inch, alongside fresh Surface Laptop 13.8-inch and 15-inch models, all of which pack the Arm-based Snapdragon X2, with a choice of the X2 Plus (10-core) and X2 Elite (12-core) CPUs.
These consumer devices follow the launch of versions of the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop targeted at businesses which were unveiled a month ago.
The new Surface Laptop offers what Microsoft claims is up to 58% faster graphics performance than the previous generation of its notebook.
The company also tells us to expect up to 20 hours of battery life with the more compact 13.8-inch model, and up to 19 hours with the 15-inch laptop (with local video playback).
The Surface Laptop is available from today in platinum, black, and dune colorways, with the 13.8-inch offering a new color: jade. The device starts at $1,599 in the US (around £1,190 / AU$2,260) for the 13.8-inch model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Pricing elsewhere is yet to be announced — although outside of the US, it’s worth noting that the entry-level storage will start at 256GB for the 13.8-inch device.
As for the Surface Pro 13-inch, it’s a very similar bump in graphics performance courtesy of the Snapdragon X2 processor, with a claimed 53% leap over its predecessor. You get up to 15.5 hours of battery life here based on Microsoft’s internal testing (again for local video playback).
The new Surface Pro 13-inch is available from now in platinum, black, and dune colors, with this hybrid starting at $1,499 in the US (around £1,120 / AU$2,120) for the configuration with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Other than the major move in upgrading the Snapdragon chips, there’s one other notable change to the core specs here, namely that Microsoft has brought back an OLED option for the Surface Pro (so you can choose that as an option, or the basic LCD screen).
The OLED gives you vivid colors and deep blacks, as you’d expect, and a better level of HDR peak luminance, boasting 900 nits of brightness versus 600 nits for the LCD.
Analysis: Snappier but not happier?
While the upgrades to the Snapdragon X2 chips are very welcome in terms of the additional performance for these Surface machines, the price tags are eye-watering — certainly if you compare them to the previous generation of these respective devices. If you recall, the previous Surface Laptop 13-inch started at not far off half the price tag we see here ($900 in the US, versus $1,599 now).
However, we knew this was coming because not so long ago, Microsoft announced some big price increases across the whole Surface range (and rumors insisted these would be applied to these new consumer offerings, which only made sense).
So, there’s no surprise in seeing such major increases, but they remain disappointingly hefty compared to the hikes seen elsewhere from other laptop makers.
The Surface Laptop starting at $1,599 isn’t easy to stomach, frankly, although at least you’re getting 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for that money (as opposed to 256GB, although there will be an international version of the laptop that does drop to this level of SSD capacity).
The Surface Pro 13-inch kicking off at $1,499 with 256GB of storage is a real wallet worrier, too. There is, however, a sweetener of sorts for the remainder of June in the US, whereby buyers get a free Surface Pro 13-inch Keyboard bundled by Microsoft (or there’s a free Surface Arc Mouse with the new Surface Laptops).
While these Microsoft devices have generally been very well-received over the past few years, that wasn’t quite so much the case for TechRadar when we reviewed both new models last year — and with these prices hikes, the Surface is starting to look a dubious value proposition I’m afraid. Especially in light of Apple launching the MacBook Neo with a surprisingly affordable price tag in this RAM-starved climate.
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