With Microsoft’s new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard, you can type and use the trackpad without the accessory being physically attached to the 11th edition Surface Pro.
Jordan Novet | CNBC
When Microsoft announced its new line of Windows PCs in May, the company said the computers were “designed for artificial intelligence” with new chips from Qualcomm that are more energy efficient than previous Intel processors.
Among the first devices — called Copilot+ computers — to hit the market is a convertible Surface Pro tablet. It can handle heavier computing tasks and has longer battery life than laptops with Intel processors. It’s a similar strategy to the one Apple launched in 2020 when it started shipping custom power-hungry arm-based chips in its MacBooks, a move that’s proven wildly successful.
But what Microsoft finally released with the Surface Pro amounts to a nice upgrade over its predecessor. To think it ushers in a new era of artificial intelligence computing is a bit of a stretch. At least for now.
The Surface PC line isn’t driving big business for Microsoft. The company reported revenue of $1.07 billion from devices, including Surface PCs, in the first quarter, a small portion of its total revenue of $61.86 billion.
I’ve been reviewing the Surface Pro for two weeks now. Here’s what you need to know about it.
What is good
Surface Pro hardware is high quality. Microsoft sent me a review unit with Qualcomm’s 12-core Snapdragon X Elite chip, a 512GB solid-state drive, 16GB of RAM, and an OLED display. The device starts at $999, but this model costs $1,499.99. Performance is excellent for web browsing — Google shipped an Arm version of Chrome for Windows in March — and productivity software and a few video games, including “Retrowave World” and “Poly Bridge 3,” ran just fine.
The screen is detailed and bright, with smooth scrolling thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate. The touch screen is responsive. The iconic bracket that supports the screen is still solid. Underneath the bracket, you’ll find a case that protects the SSD, making it easy to replace or upgrade the hard drive.
The Surface Pro delivered over eight hours of battery life in my early tests. Microsoft promises up to 10 hours of web browsing. The Surface Pro 9 with Microsoft’s Arm-based SQ3 chip, due in 2022, was billed as having up to 19 hours of battery life, but reviewers found that app compatibility remained problematic. And unlike previous Arm-powered Surface PCs like the The Surface Pro X from 2019, this model can run a wide range of apps, meaning buyers won’t have to make a big compromise on compatibility.
That’s because Microsoft introduced a new emulator called Prism to help these new PCs run programs designed for Intel and AMD chips.
The Surface Pro retains the familiar kickstand design.
Jordan Novet | CNBC
Almost every day, developers demonstrate intelligent software based on AI models for various purposes. Most of the time, programs use servers in data centers to perform difficult processing jobs. But increasingly, developers are outsourcing some processing to users’ phones and computers. A Copilot+ computer should be suitable for this emerging type of software, thanks to a Neural Processing Unit, or NPU. The architecture leads to longer battery life because the rest of the chip can do other work.
Microsoft includes some of its own AI features in Windows 11 that are based on the NPU. If you’re participating in video calls, you can open the Settings app on your Surface Pro Copilot+ PC and turn on an option called Eye Contact. It will make you appear to be looking directly at the webcam during calls, even when reading text. Apple has a similar eye contact simulation feature for FaceTime calls on the iPad.
In Paint, you can activate a Cocreator feature to create an image inspired by anything you draw on the screen and using a description you type. The computer’s NPU spits out the image, but only after Microsoft sends your text message to the cloud to make sure you’re not trying to create something harmful or offensive.
I found it fun to see how Cocreator would interpret my suggestions, but the results weren’t very impressive. I’d rather hit the Copilot key on the keyboard, which brings up a chat window with Microsoft’s Copilot and ask it to generate images in a text chat. But you only get so many free image creation credits with Copilot before it starts handling requests more slowly, while Paint mode is consistently fast.
An AC adapter in the box magnetically snaps into Microsoft’s exclusive Surface Connect port. It will be familiar to those who have bought Surface devices in the last decade. But you can also charge with one of the two USB-C ports, which is convenient.
The Surface Pro can connect up to three displays at 4K resolution, while the MacBook Air with an M3 chip can drive a single external display at up to 6K resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate.
There’s no headphone jack on the $999 tablet. Nor does it come with a keyboard, following tradition. After all, an iPad still doesn’t come with a keyboard.
A standard Surface Pro keyboard that magnetically snaps onto the bottom of the Surface Pro retails for $139.99, and if you also want a model with Microsoft’s Slim Pen stylus, you’ll pay $279.99.
Microsoft sent me its new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard with a Slim Pen, a bundle that costs $449.98. It is more expensive than the regular attached keyboard because it connects via Bluetooth. Microsoft promises 41 hours of continuous typing with the accessory. Charges while connected to Surface Pro.
For some users, it may be useful to pull out the keyboard and use it while holding the tablet at a short distance. I didn’t find the accessory to be much of an upgrade from the good old Surface Pro keyboard.
The Copilot key to the left of the arrow keys brings up a window to chat with Microsoft’s multipurpose virtual assistant.
Jordan Novet | CNBC
What a bad thing
The biggest AI feature coming to this new Surface Pro and other Copilot+ PCs isn’t available yet.
Meanwhile, some apps, including Google Drive and ExpressVPN, still won’t work on these new computers, at least for now. And as Windows on Arm gains early traction, there may be times when a traditional version of an app will be available in the Microsoft app store, but a native Arm version can be found on the developer’s website. (This is the case with the VLC media player, for example.) But generally, software is less of an issue now for Surface PCs that have long battery life.
And Microsoft has reduced Copilot’s powers to control your PC on this device, making it similar to just visiting the chatbot on the web. When the company brought Copilot to Windows 11 last fall, the assistant could open programs, go to dark mode, and turn off Bluetooth.
It’s easy to replace the solid state drive in the new Surface Pro.
Jordan Novet | CNBC
Should you buy it?
The Surface Pro 11th edition is worth a look, as long as you’re confident that the apps you need will work on an arm-based machine. This is more likely to be the case than it was five years ago.
Battery life is good, I love that it’s easy to upgrade and swap storage and the display is great. It’s a solid upgrade over previous models. Microsoft made the right decision to move to Arm-based processors. However, the company has been billing it as an “AI PC” but, for now, the bigger AI features aren’t here yet.
