Microsoft updates smaller Surface Pro and Surface Laptop with new Qualcomm chip

Microsoft has announced updated versions of its smaller Surface devices — the 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop now feature Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Plus processors. Both devices largely retain their previous design and hardware features, but prices have climbed considerably.

Price changes

The new 12-inch Surface Pro, arriving October 13th, will start at $1,149.99, up from last year's starting price of $799.99. The 13-inch Surface Laptop has similarly risen from $899.99 to $1,199.99. Part of the increase stems from the removal of the base 8GB memory configuration — both devices now start at 16GB of RAM, configurable up to 24GB.

Performance improvements

The six-core Snapdragon X2 Plus chips promise up to 18 percent more efficient battery performance, over 60 percent faster graphics performance, and up to 95 percent faster local AI processing on the built-in NPU. In practice, this means the Surface Pro 12-inch Second Edition offers up to 13 hours of web browsing battery life, an hour more than before. The Surface Laptop 13-inch Second Edition gets up to 18 hours, two hours more than its predecessor.

Displays and ports

Displays remain largely unchanged — the Surface Pro 12-inch keeps its 2196 x 1464 LCD panel running at up to 90Hz, while the Surface Laptop 13-inch retains its 1920 x 1280 display at 60Hz. Both have been upgraded from 400 to 500 nits of brightness. Port selection is unchanged too, with both devices offering two USB-C 3.2 ports, while the Surface Laptop adds a USB-A port and a headphone jack. Both support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Microsoft is also bringing back the black color option for both devices, alongside platinum silver and violet. Both models will be available to commercial customers, and the Surface Pro 12-inch offers an optional 5G configuration.