The Surface Pro X - 1 Year Later

The Microsoft Surface Pro X got an incomplete grade in my review lat year. With Microsoft updating the processor this year and announcing 64 bit emulation I thought this would be a good time to go back and see how things have improved.

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[trentgilliam]

“Pulling it off the shelve for the first time in months”.... Told me almost all I needed to know.

[PicmipPixel]

5:52 that is just some terrible lag lol

[Karthik-jznr]

Adobe be like: I can't hear you....all this money it's making me deaf!

[darthvader]

I just realized that "Brad *Cowboy"* is a badass name

[ankerhedemand]

9:57 there is actually an easy fix for those blobby lines in Krita, just go to configure krita > pen settings and choose windows ink instead of wintab and restart krita, the problem should be fixed. It worked for me when I had the same problem with another laptop.

[memecita]

Adobe was also on stage with Apple at iPad Pro 2018 unveiling, promising FULL Photoshop experience. That did affect my purchasing decision and I got the device at launch. Photoshop arrived year later than promised, being a far cry from the real deal and with 10 euro/dollar per month cost (not that I expected it to be free but..).

I don't believe for one second that they couldn't do it. They're swimming in money so they have the resources, they just don't want to. Not until ARM based machines become more common and the need becomes more apparent. Celsys made full Clip Studio on ARM and it's cheaper too, even though I still dislike the subscription model.

[fablewalls]

Adobe seem to be making a lot of unfulfilled promises to ARM manufacturers this last 3 years.... I just think if you go down the ARM route (except for the new ARM Macs coming in the next 18 months) forget Adobe. It could be that Adobe just can't port these Apps over to ARM touch software in any convincing way - maybe this is the clearest clue that Apple's new ARM Macbooks and iMacs won't support touch in any meaningful way compared to their big rivals.

[MageThief]

9:48 wait what, did you Brad just do a little "loading a program finger dance" right here? 🤣❤

[KyleHarrisonRedacted]

I'm always shocked at exactly how lazy Adobe can be. They're going to be forced to support ARM sooner than later as thats that Apple has chosen to go with for their computers going forward. But the fact haven't yet is genuinely super disappointing, at least for Photoshop and Illustrator at least. But they simply refuse to support any distro of Linux, despite the outcry from the Linux community for it :/

[kouroshm]

wait wtf it’s seriously been a full year?! wow- just. wow

[AnuragKSakharkar]

Great video, Brad! Super informative. I'd love to see something like this about the Pixel Slate - tons of the lag issues and stuff have been solved and I use (and like) it for notes and stuff every single day! :)

[TiagoMorbusSa]

8:54 yeah, they DID make purchasing decisions based on those promises, which is why it's important for media (that's you included, Brad) to not be like "oh, this is a better device now that they promised something or somesuch" because it's not a better device now. Like, I've been on this Earth long enough to know marketing bollocks when I see them, but the media needs to start calling the bollocks out! Like, this very video, Brad, you say "it's great that they promised to emulate 64 bit applications", and it is! It IS great that they promised, but that doesn't make the Surface Pro X a better device. It MAY make it a better device in the FUTURE, but NOW? It isn't. And in the future, you'll make a video about the new 64 bit emulation and MAYBE you'll say "now it's good!"
Most likely you'll say it's terrible, because 64 bit emulation will be even slower than 32 bit emulation, but let's not get technological shenanigans get in the way of my poiint.
My point is media needs to stop selling promises as if they were products.
nVidia sold the RTX cards based on the promise of raytraced games. There were no raytraced games for 6 months. After 2 years there barely are any raytraced games. But the media didn't let facts get in the way of marketing, they just say "oh, the future is great"
I don't care about the future. My money pays what I buy TODAY (and if I were like most people, it'd pay what I bought last year, because credit is how the world works), not what I will buy in two years.
Great video though. Very insightful as always! <3

[ccallaghan]

I don't do creative work such as drawing, but I do have a photography and videography workflow, and own an SPX. I'll start by saying that the SPX is exactly what Apple is trying to get to, software aside. It's the first tablet that I could actually work from and replace a computer with. A lot of folks take basic functions for granted, and when they look to a tablet, simple things can quickly become complicated or not ideal. I'm talking things like printing, NAS file access, USB devices, etc. The SPX is vastly closer to a desktop-like experience than iOS or Android. Yes, iOS has better creative apps that run natively, however, this goes beyond just finding an app to fit a specific purpose.

Ok, so what does this have to do with creativity? Well, in my instance, I have a NAS file server, VMWare Whitebox server, photo printer, and LoupeDeck, microphones, etc. I've tried Androids and iPads. I could not replicate a comfortable workflow on any tablet, until the SPX. I run a VM environment with a W10 VM that has Lightroom, Vegas, etc. on it - so I'm not running any of that natively on the device. But I can RDP and passthrough my USB devices to the environment as if it was native on the device. Plug in a camera and it shows up under My Computer on the VM. Access the full photo library on the NAS is just like any other windows machine - no special apps or workarounds. Printing? Just install the driver like any other windows machine. Leave the house? Use LTE and remote in. Not as fast, but can get the job done in a pinch with enough data speed.

Where the SPX shines well, well above its arm competitors, is its ability to provide a windows like experience for the supporting functions of a workflow. This is where iOS and Android fall apart. You can get closer with Android than iOS, but some of that is due to OS architecture and it's still not as fluid an experience as W10oA. This is just my 2 cents, because I never see youtubers mention any of the supporting elements. It's all just "Look iOS has better apps for tablets". It's true, but having a decent touch app for one function doesn't help me get everything done. Cheers.

[AdamJRichardson]

Great to see the shoutout for Leonardo! One of my faves. Surprised to see how laggy Concepts seemed to be just when drawing simple lines.

[Alex-mugf]

I have the Surface pro x and I must say it's amazing as a tablet and computer. Yes you can't run everything, but 64bit support is coming next month and almost everything working so smooth... And the battery is amazing as well. It has so much potential compare to Intel CPU anyways now there many essential apps running already natively such as browser, Teams, VLC, Microsoft office and so on.. Even for developers now supported visual basic and Linux subsystem. Can't wait for the day when everything supported natively on ARM.

[stephenfranklincreative]

Thanks for the update Brad!. Would love to hear your thoughts on the 64Bit emulation coming through on the Windows Insiders program this November. Also we have Adobe Max hitting tomorrow, maybe there will be some stronger commitment to ARM announced, especially considering Apples imminent move to their own silicon.

[pancakification]

Still no explanation for Cowboy. The controversy grows deeper.

[tristengrant]

I love sketching in Leonardo and a Surface Pro X sounds great. I still worry about speed and long-term support/issues. Plus the price.

[sskdev]

Love the review. I’m glad for hearing such great perspective different from always hearing from video editors

[joselizperez]

Hey Brad! I have a surface pro 7 with intel core 5. I really wanted to buy the surface pro X but it was too expensive for me. Honestly I think that it was the best decision I’ve made because I wasn’t aware of the performance problem with the new processor ( it was my first windows computer). The only thing that I really like about the surface pro x is the wider screen, the pencil, and the keyboard. Aside from that, the surface pro x doesn’t offer that much. I am someone that uses heavy softwares since I’m a engineering student and I am also a digital artist, so the surface pro x wasn’t going to work for me. I am surprised on how much I can do with the pro 7! It became my best device ever! I even forgot that the surface pro X existed until a week ago when they announced the new one. When I saw the comercial I immediately felt like I made the wrong decision but, thanks to this video, it reminded me that the 7 was the best option for me.