Surface Pro Copilot+ review: Microsoft finally solved the Windows on Arm dilemma.

It's taken 12 years, but Microsoft has finally made an Arm-powered Surface tablet that senior editor Devindra Hardawar doesn't want to toss out of a window.

The new Surface Pro, one of the company's first Copilot+ AI PCs, is astoundingly fast and power-efficient, thanks to Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite chip. It can run native Arm apps well — but even better, it can also emulate older apps without much fuss. Basically, Microsoft has finally managed to do what Apple did with its M-series MacBooks four years ago.

[webweaver]

The built in kickstand is one of the best features of the Surface and what sets it apart from the competition; the fact that it's your biggest con is baffling.

[billschannel]

The kickstand is a great feature. If you don't want it you have a lot of competitors to chose from.

[jayb]

If your criticism is that the kickstand makes it hard to use in your lap, I think that what you want is the Surface Laptop... It's right there in the name.

[israelramirez]

Not sure why you said the Surface Pro has no tablet mode. Windows 11 introduced the tablet UI a while ago. when you detach the SP11 from the keyboard, the taskbar should autohide and turn into a smartphone-like gesture bar and the UI elements get larger touch targets, including Edge browser if you have the tablet mode enabled. I've been using my Surface Book 2 like this for about 2 years now and it's a large improvement compared to W10's janky and inconsistent tablet mode.

[thomasskytte]

I completely disagree with your opinion about the build in kickstand. This is the big saling point to me because it makes it's so perfect for media consumption where you don't want a keyboard in front of you - only the screen. When you connect it to an external monitor including a desktop keyboard it's also very nice to be able to remove the attached keyboard from the surface pro and use the kickstand. It's such a nice setup. If you want a perfect lap-top (without a kickstand), then go with the surface laptop.

[oddevenify]

You just got a new follower from Nigeria. You've answered my questions on the Surface Pro. Thanks

[luketan]

Does the translated captions work with Microsoft Teams Video calls?

[vertigev]

Can't believe how expensive the keyboard is..

[jnagator]

I bought the OLED version. As far as computing on the Surface that has been fine so far. Only my Yeti X mic is not being recognized within the Logitech software. I had to keep playing with my monitor connections through my hub to get the right resolutions. The graphics output from the new Surface has been a disappointment. I haven't traveled yet to see if the OLED was worth the few extra hundreds. One thing nice is all those chargers and hubs I had with my old Surface pro 6 all still work :)

[ballistik_coffee_boy]

i have the base model surface laptop 7 and love it! its truly all i need as a writer... if you dont play hardcore new games, i think the base model SL7 is the perfect choice, great battery and speed, its truly awesome and beautiful looking too, the surface pro here also seems cool, but pricey! for a smaller screen and i feel too many compromises, unless youre an artist on the go ;)

[pyrosnineActual]

On the up, upside if this thing has quirks, and the newest ones don't do too well, then might be able to get a price drop and some more ARM in the wild for tinkering around with.

[parthsethia]

lots of mixed reviews on this. need to let the dust settle

[zynan]

Panos Panay left the Surface team at Microsoft before the launch of this device, which I thought felt weird at the time of departure. Now, after they pulled/retracted the Recall feature, then, maybe, perhaps, Panos would have been less “pumped” about it… maybe even ‘deflated’. He’s settling in at Amazon now so, maybe we’ll see an awesome new Kindle with a kickstand running Android, with a keyboard cover and a pen.

[parthsethia]

do old drivers for printers and all work?

[Redgyart]

The kickstand is okay, it would be cool if they blended the kickstand design with the microsoft surface book design. Id buy that!

[theredmonkey]

You can get a lower tier Surface Pro. It starts at $999 and you can choose the keybaord. It has an LCD screen and tests have shown its not much slower.

[GGg-icku]

<$ 100 msft Spro keyboards everywhere - Amazon etc. New … less for used. Actively sold by msft for $135 or less. Mystifies me how reviewers are so lazy knowing that there are older model Spro keyboards, but completely leave out hundreds of dollars of savings and you make the device look much more expensive that way.

[woofinu]

I think $1599-2000 is too high a price for a laptop with those limitations. There may not be many, but even one no-go is too many. I'll take slow but it has to work.

[travissmarion]

Honestly Microsoft needs to create a bundle option. Give you say $200 off for bundling the new "flex" keyboard with your device and give us another 50% off for adding the new stylus pen as well. So the low end Microsoft Surface Pro 11 with LCD would be $1250 and the higher end with OLED would be $1750. And they're pricing these at a premium. They should drop the base prices IMO by $100 by default and start at $899 (LCD version) and $1349 (OLED version). But what do I know... 🤷🏻‍♂️

[memnon]

"Don't want to throw it out the window", give it a year or two and you'll still want to throw it out the window. They don't care about the quality of their products, all they do is chase the next hype cycle.