It's taken 12 years, but Microsoft has finally produced an Arm-powered Surface tablet that I don't want to chuck out of a window. The new Surface Pro, one of the company's first Copilot+ AI PCs, is incredibly quick and power-efficient, due to Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite CPU. It can run native Arm software well — but much better, it can also simulate older apps without any effort. Basically, Microsoft has finally managed to achieve what Apple did with its M-series CPUs four years ago: Deliver excellent laptops with power-sipping mobile chips.
Ironically, though, the Surface Pro's much-hyped AI features are significantly less appealing than the one-two punch of speed and decent battery life. At launch, the Surface Pro and other Copilot+ PCs may utilize the Cocreator in Paint to produce AI graphics with text prompts and doodles. They can also convert over 40 languages into English utilizing Windows 11's Live Captions function. The contentious Recall function, however, is nowhere to be seen (Windows Insiders will be able to test it in the coming weeks, according to Microsoft, but there's no official public release date yet.)
What’s Copilot+ Again?
Announced ahead of its Build developer conference this month, Copilot+ is Microsoft’s newest program geared at getting customers and device makers enthusiastic about AI PCs. Similar to Intel’s Evo PCs, Copilot+ systems need to fulfill a minimum range of specifications: They have to feature a neural processing unit (NPU) with at least 40 TOPs (trillions of operations per second) of AI capability, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. While both Intel and AMD have sought to drum up the notion of a “AI PC” over the last year, there wasn’t much to really do with them other from using Windows Studio Effects in video chats.
What’s up with Recall?
Recall is a clear example of Microsoft's reach surpassing its grasp. It was designed to help you find anything you were doing on your computer through a natural interaction with the Copilot AI assistant. But to do so, Recall continually captures screenshots of your system, which are then kept on your hard drive. It didn’t take researchers long to identify some clear security gaps: it wasn’t challenging for other accounts to get to your Recall data, and it was also simple pickings for distant hackers. Microsoft replied to the criticism by claiming it will make Recall an opt-in feature, making it only available with biometric Windows Hello login and encrypting your database by default.
Hardware: The Surface Pro Is Still Remarkable
We’ve had numerous concerns with the Surface family over the last few years, but the hardware has always been a step above standard PC laptops and tablets. That remains true for the new Surface Pro: It’s incredibly tiny and light, measuring 9.3 millimeters thick and weighing 1.97 pounds. Its recyclable aluminum casing makes it seem like a genuinely premium tablet, and the Surface Pro remains one of the most unique-looking computers on the market. I observed plenty of furtive glances and curious stares when I tested it out in public - folks were definitely captivated by the way it appeared. (Or perhaps they were just astonished to see one for the first time.)
Keyboard Offered Separately, As Normal
Since the Surface is merely a tablet, Microsoft doesn’t supply any of its keyboards in the package. So if you’re contemplating the Surface Pro, make sure to set aside at least $140 for the Pro Keyboard. If you’re interested in the Surface Slim Pen ($130 on its own), you can now purchase it paired with the Surface Pro keyboard for $280. The new Surface Flex keyboard – which can still operate when it’s disconnected from the tablet – prices a whooping $350, or $450 paired with the Slim Pen 2. That’s a hard price to stomach, certainly, but I’ll explain later why the Flex may be worth it.
Display: Finally, A Magnificent OLED
The PixelSense panels on all of Microsoft’s Surface PCs have always pleased us – but in the end, they were just nicely polished LCDs. The Surface Pro represents the first time Microsoft has offered OLED, which boasts higher contrast, richer colors and inky dark blacks. You’ll have to spend at least $1,500 to obtain the OLED screen, but in my testing it’s definitely worth the price, as it makes everything on the Surface Pro seem great.
The benefits of OLED were most obvious when I watched The Acolyte, a Star Wars episode that blends plenty of vivid colors amid black backdrops. I’ll never cease being astonished by witnessing genuinely pitch black scenes on OLED — on an LCD, they often seem more dark gray due to their backlights. The new display tech also pleased me while I was streaming Forza Horizon 5 or simply surfing websites, since it made text a bit easier to read and also made colors leap off the screen. The drawback of living with OLED? It will swiftly make every LCD in your life feel horribly old.
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Performance: Shockingly Quick
It’s not too often that I’m actually astonished when evaluating a gadget — chalk it up to writing about technology for 15 years and working in IT for eight years. But I’ll admit, I was swept away by the Surface Pro the second I started using it. As soon as I opened it up, it was ready to set up Windows and start to work. I didn’t detect any of the normal lag or app incompatibilities I had noticed with Arm-based Surfaces. Everything simply felt zippy. It was the same impression I experienced while evaluating the M-series MacBooks: The Surface Pro is so quick and snappy I forgot it was utilizing a mobile chip.
The Surface Pro Flex Keyboard Is A Dream
I won’t make any excuses for the Surface Pro Flex keyboard’s ridiculous $350 pricing. It’s $50 more than the current iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, and its cloth-like covering doesn’t feel quite as luxury as Apple’s slick metal casing. But, I’ve learned to adore yanking off the Flex Keyboard and typing my heart away. Instead of awkwardly holding the Surface Pro on my lap, like I did for the previous 12 years, I can merely prop the screen up on a table and keep the Flex keyboard on my lap.
Decent AI PC Features
As I noted at the opening of this review, none of the Surface Pro's AI features are intriguing on their own. It was enjoyable doodling with Paint's Cocreator, but I found the final AI images (a blend of your drawings, text input and generative AI engines) to be significantly less appealing than requesting Copilot to make DALL-E 3 visuals. Copilot+ PCs can now produce AI photographs using the Photos app, which also gives a little better UI for setting the AI's creative level and stylistic keywords.
Solid Battery Life, But Heat And Fan Noise Continue
The Surface Pro lasted 12 hours and 15 minutes on the PCMark 10 Applications battery benchmark, which is a touch less than we've seen on comparable PCs. The Surface Pro 10 for Business eked out a bit longer, 12 hours and 20 minutes, on the Modern Office test, while the Dell XPS 13 achieved 13 hours and 15 minutes. It's important mentioning that PCMark 10 was being emulated on the Surface Pro, yet its script runs native apps like the Office suite.
Pricing And The Competition
I’ll give Microsoft some credit for finally delivering its lowest Surface Pro device 16GB of RAM. $1,000 is a relatively reasonable entry point for the Surface Pro range, but remember you’ll have to spend at least $140 extra for the matching keyboard. If you’re considering it as your primary computer, it’s worth investing $200 extra for 512GB of storage. You may alternatively skip right to the $1,500 Surface Pro with the Snapdragon X Elite CPU, OLED screen, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD.
Wrap Up
The Surface Pro is speedy, elegant and, along with the Flex keyboard, helps me work comfortably practically anywhere. While I'd want to see a better kickstand design soon, and I think the keyboards should probably be cheaper, Microsoft has done the unimaginable with the Surface Pro Copilot+ PC: It's built an Arm-based Surface I don't detest. I dare say, I adore it.
