Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12 now come with Snapdragon X2 chips

The new X2 Surfaces are available today. The Surface Pro 12th Edition The convertible tablet comes in a 13-inch size with 10-core X2 Plus and 12-core X2 Elite chips, while Surface Laptop 8th Edition available in 13.8-inch and 15-inch sizes, each offering the same features as the X2 Plus / X2 Elite. The Pro starts at $1,499 with 256GB of storage (before adding a keyboard or stylus), and the Laptop starts at $1,599 with a 512GB SSD — each with 16GB of RAM, with configurations going even higher.

The starting prices for the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are $100 higher than the current prices for the last models, which are. saw an increase in prices in April thanks to Ramageddon. Microsoft is also announcing commercial versions of the X2 Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12, which will launch later. Surface for Business X2 models are expected on July 14, with prices starting at $1,649.99. It’s a bit higher than the consumer-facing X2 Surface models, but not as steep Intel Panther Lake Surface for Business models was announced last month – starting at $1,949.99.

Microsoft boasts that the new X2 Surface generation has a faster display while still maintaining excellent battery life, claiming up to 15.5 hours of home video playback on the Surface Pro and 20 on the Laptop. Apart from the new color variants – jade and dune for the 13.8-inch Premium Laptop and dune for the Surface Pro (with a matching Flex Keyboard) – most of the rest is the same as the previous generation.

The Surface Laptop 8th Edition is still LCD only, while the Surface Pro 8th Edition has an OLED option – and both still use the 3:2 aspect ratio to help sell the display. The ports are the same as the last models, including the Surface Connect charging port that is being left for the upcoming models. Surface Laptop Ultra. There’s no secret screen option like the new 13.8-inch Surface Laptop of Business.

Between the X2 Plus and X2 Elite chips for the new Surfaces, and the Nvidia RTX Spark for the upcoming Surface Laptop Ultra, Microsoft is leaving Qualcomm’s flagship X2 Elite Extreme chip that impressed me in the $1,700 range. Asus Zenbook A16. The way I like to use it is to try the cheap ones High-end 13-inch laptop last year, that model now starts at $1,150 instead of its original $900. The top hardware is one of the best on a Windows laptop, but the high prices make it uncompetitive – and without much change from two years ago except for the chip explosion and some nice features.