Microsoft Unveils Refreshed Surface Pro 12 and Laptop 13 with New Snapdragon Chips

Microsoft has unveiled refreshed versions of its Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 13 devices, featuring new Snapdragon X2 Plus chips. The upgrade aims to address performance concerns with the previous Qualcomm chips powering these devices last year.

The key for both the Surface Pro 12 and Laptop 13 is portability over raw power, and Microsoft has priced them competitively, with launch prices below $1,000. However, the RAMaggedon has bumped the Surface Pro 12-inch up to $1,150 and the Surface Laptop 13 to $1,199.

The design of both devices remains unchanged, but they now feature new 500-nit displays, which are 25 percent brighter than before. Microsoft claims the Snapdragon X2 Plus chips deliver 60 percent better graphics, as well as 95 percent faster on-device AI and 18 percent better battery efficiency.

For basic Office productivity work, the company says the new chip is 18 percent faster. The upgrades sound compelling for anyone who was interested in these smaller Surface devices but couldn't stomach the major speed downgrade of the previous Snapdragon X chips.