ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Microsoft introduced its refreshed Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, along with a new mouse and app.
- The Surface Pro and Surface Laptop now come with Snapdragon X2 processors.
- The mouse adds haptics to Windows, and the new app is a whiteboard app with integrated AI.
Microsoft introduced its latest lineup of Surface devices, along with a few other goodies, at the Snapdragon Summit in Maui this week. Both new devices are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Plus processors, which sit in the midrange of Qualcomm offerings. I got to go hands-on with the 12- and 13-inch Surface Pro and Surface laptop, and I have some thoughts.
Also: I tested the Surface Pro with 5G, and it’s Microsoft’s most complete business 2-in-1 yet
These laptops bolster the current Surface lineup, which includes larger screens and more powerful processors. Both the Surface Pro and the Surface Laptop introduce a new black colorway to the lineup — though Jade is still my favorite. The Surface Laptop has a nice aluminum build that looks and feels premium, but it was the Surface Pro that caught my my eye.
The Surface Pro is a 12-inch tablet with a cover keyboard that’s become pretty familiar to fans of the lineup. Unlike its larger sibling from this past summer, this keyboard cover lies flat on the table. I’m not a huge fan of this decision — I prefer a keyboard that folds up and magnetically attaches to the front of the screen to give the keyboard a bit of height. But the keys still have nice pitch and travel, so the type cover itself is delightful, except for that one qualm.
The interesting part is that the laptop only weighs 1.5 pounds without the keyboard. Add in the keyboard cover, and it inflates to around two pounds, which is just lovely for someone who travels frequently.
Adam Doud / ZDNETAs is typical of the Surface Pro, the 165-degree hinge on the back lets you tilt the device back for drawing and writing. That’s still here, but Microsoft also introduced haptics to the Slim Microsoft Pen, which is a nice additional touch. I’m not an artist by any stretch, so my use of the Surface Pen is typically limited — as are the haptics built into it. But Microsoft thought of that as well, and released the Surface Mouse to go along with this lineup.
New mouse in the house
The Surface Mouse has been redesigned, and now works for both lefties and righties. The ambidextrous shape is great in either hand — I’m right-handed — and Microsoft also added haptics to the mouse. This typically shows up in first-party Microsoft apps, but the company opened the API to developers, allowing them to add haptics to their apps to take advantage of the feature.
Also: I test business laptops for a living: 5 features I’d pay more for
Additionally, the new mouse comes with an action button. It’s programmed by default to execute Copilot commands — because of course it is! — but beyond that, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the action button can be reprogrammed. The bad news is that reprogramming can’t be dialed down app to app, as other mice can. Logitech, in particular, is really good at letting you configure programmable buttons with app-specific actions. This mouse doesn’t allow for that, which is disappointing.
Adam Doud / ZDNETAnother new feature Microsoft introduced is Ink Canvas. This is another one of those apps that lets you create a large document, seemingly without borders, like a giant whiteboard. It gives you tons of space to work and create where you can type, handwrite, import photos, and more.
There’s also AI involved. You can handwrite a message and have AI convert it to text, and you can make out a list and have AI re-create it, typed and formatted. You can also sketch out an idea and have AI create an image from the sketch, then later alter images by writing the modifications you want next to the photo.
Also: Microsoft gives Copilot a ‘real talk’ upgrade
All of these are done intentionally. You need to select the images, comments, and lists with the Surface Pen (or the selection tool) and then invoke Copilot to make the requested changes, it’s not an automatic process. In other words, you don’t have to use the AI if you don’t want to, which is nice. Microsoft Ink Canvas will ship with the Surface Pro 12 and the Surface Laptop 13 out of the box. It’ll also go out in the Microsoft App Store next month for all other Windows users.
Overall, Microsoft introduced some neat concepts to the Surface lineup. The 12-inch Surface is my favorite by far because of its lightweight and Slim Pen functionality. The laptop is a powerful little machine — the Snapdragon X2 Plus is an underrated processor that doesn’t get the credit it deserves. The Surface Pro 12-inch starts at $1,150, the Surface Laptop starts at $1,200, and the Surface Mouse starts at $80. The new laptops will be available on October 13.
