Microsoft Bumps Up Its Smallest Surfaces to Snapdragon X2 Plus Processing

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Microsoft is set to release new versions of its Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch with a few performance tweaks.

With the Surface Go and Surface Studio now end-of-life, the Surface lineup has contracted in recent years. Microsoft now sells the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, and the Surface Ultra is expected this fall.

In June, Microsoft upgraded last year’s Surface Laptop and the 13.8- and 15-inch Surface Pro with Snapdragon X2 Plus and X2 Elite chips. The 12-incher is now set to get the X2 treatment.

Surface Pro, 12-Inch

Surface Pro, 12-Inch

(Credit: Eric Zeman/PCMag)

The new Surface Pro 12 gets a Snapdragon X2 Plus CPU upgrade. Configuration options include 16GB or 24GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage.

The 2-in-1 features a 25% brighter 500-nit PixelSense touch screen and comes in a new Black color, alongside Platinum and Violet. It launches on Oct. 13, starting at $1,149.

A new addition here is Microsoft Ink Canvas, an AI-powered sketching program that’s compatible with the $130 Slim Pen. It’ll be preinstalled on the Surface Pro, but will also be available in the Microsoft Store on Oct. 13.

Surface Laptop, 13-Inch

Surface Laptop, 13-Inch

(Credit: Eric Zeman/PCMag)

The new version of the 13-inch Surface Laptop also runs an X2 Plus CPU and features a brighter 500-nit display, plus a full-size backlit keyboard, precision touchpad, premium aluminum body, and taller 3:2 PixelSense touch screen.

It should last up to 22.5 hours for local video playback or 18 hours of active web usage. Last year’s model got top marks for battery life in our tests.

Configuration options also include 16GB or 24GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. The new Surface Laptop 13 configuration will also launch on Oct. 13, starting at $1,199.

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Surface Mouse

Surface Mouse

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft also has a new Surface Mouse with integrated haptic feedback, which “adds a small, purposeful physical response to the moment you usually only see on a screen,” it says.

The redesigned ambidextrous shape should be “comfortable all-day use,” Microsoft says. There’s also a customizable action button for Copilot and other shortcuts, and support for Bluetooth 6.0. It starts at $79.99 and will be available in Black and Platinum on Oct. 13.

The news comes after Qualcomm this week also unveiled its next-generation mobile chips, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, engineered to handle the complex workloads of agentic AI without draining the system.

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