Microsoft Surfaces New Competition with Snapdragon-Powered Laptops

Microsoft is launching new Surface Pro and Laptop devices powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Plus chips. The Surface Pro 12-inch tablet and Surface Laptop 13-inch will go on sale on October 13, 2026.

The new devices are built around a 6-core Snapdragon X2 Plus processor, offering up to 17% faster performance for Office workloads and up to 18% more battery efficiency. They also provide over 60% faster graphics performance.

The Surface Pro 12-inch features a 2196 x 1464 resolution display with a refresh rate of up to 90Hz, while the Surface Laptop 13-inch has a 1920 x 1280 resolution screen with a 60Hz refresh rate. The Surface Pro starts at $1,149.99 / AU$1,999 and the Surface Laptop at $1,199 / AU$2,099.

Brett Ostrum, Corporate Vice President, Surface Devices, announced the new devices at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit, highlighting their performance improvements and AI capabilities. However, some critics question whether these devices can compete with Apple's MacBook Air and Google's upcoming laptops.