Microsoft’s New Purple Surface Pro 12 Is Light Enough to Actually Use as a Tablet

A gadget’s terms for its size matters present much than ever. It seems much companies—including Microsoft—are starting to place with the request for much susceptible laptops astatine prices radical tin really afford. The Windows shaper just dropped details connected its caller 12-inch Surface Pro and thinner 13-inch Surface Laptop that look to acceptable the bill, astatine slightest connected paper. With prices starting astatine nether $1,000 (not including the Surface Pro’s Flex Keyboard), Microsoft’s ain marque of computers could deed the saccharine spot successful the Venn diagram connected looks, price, and performance.

The 2025 Surface household includes 2 precise acquainted devices. The $900 Surface Laptop with its 13-inch touchscreen (1,920 x 1,280) has a accepted clamshell design, portion the $800 Surface Pro 12 is Microsoft’s headline-grabbing Windows tablet that converts into a laptop-like instrumentality acknowledgment to a detachable keyboard. The caller Surface Pro is $200 cheaper than past year’s $1,000 11th-gen Surface Pro, but—and present comes the oculus roll—you inactive person to bargain a keyboard separately. The surface is besides smaller astatine 12 inches (2,196 x 1,464) compared to the 13-inch show connected past year’s tablet. The much compact tablet does person a perk: it weighs 1.5 pounds compared to the Pro 11’s 2 pounds.

Both the caller Surface Pro and Surface Laptop 13 tally connected the Snapdragon X Plus chip, Qualcomm’s eight-core, ARM-based CPU variant introduced successful the mediate of 2024. Last year’s Surface Pro renditions, alongside the 2024 Surface Laptop, included up to the Snapdragon X Elite chip, which is inactive Qualcomm’s astir almighty ARM-based processor. Otherwise, some the caller Surface Pro and Surface Laptop travel packed with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of retention astatine base.

Microsoft says this CPU is expected to connection a amended starting terms constituent and an upgrade way for those connected earlier devices similar the 2022 Surface Laptop. According to the company, the Snapdragon X Plus spot successful the caller Surface Laptop is 30% faster than the Intel Core i5-1235U successful the 2022 Surface Laptop. Microsoft further claims this CPU tin bushed the M3 MacBook Air successful immoderate benchmarks, but it stopped abbreviated of making the aforesaid claims astir the $1,000 MacBook Air M4. It’s much grounds these large tech firms are consenting to commencement competing connected pricing that much radical tin entertain.

The caller Surface Pro and Surface Laptop aren’t launching with immoderate x86-based Intel chips, though they could get later, similar with past year’s Surface Pro, which received an Intel Lunar Lake mentation earlier this year. Either way, Microsoft is sticking with Qualcomm’s ARM chips that connection amended artillery beingness connected average, though you’ll yet deed a partition with bundle compatibility, particularly with games oregon adjacent aging drivers.

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The 12-inch Surface Pro volition look precise acquainted if you’ve utilized immoderate older mentation of the hybrid tablet-laptop design. It inactive includes a built-in kickstand that opens up to beryllium astir level connected a surface. Other than the shrunken size, the large alteration this go-around is that the Slim Pen nary longer slots into the keyboard (again, sold separately). Instead, the Surface Pro tablet includes an indent successful the backmost for you to slot the stylus. It makes sense, particularly for creators who privation to usage the Surface arsenic a Windows tablet much than a pint-sized PC.

However, you whitethorn request to find immoderate adust world to excavation a shallow sedate to hide your hoard of Surface Connect powerfulness cables. The different large alteration is the nonaccomplishment of the age-old Surface Connect port. Now, the Surface Pro relies lone connected USB-C with enactment for 45W accelerated charging. The Surface Pro’s artillery should past astir 12 hours based connected Microsoft’s tests with progressive web browsing. The Surface Laptop should get person to 16 hours earlier requiring a charge.

Just similar past year’s Surface Pro, the caller exemplary paints a beauteous picture. The brilliantly bluish sapphire colour of the 2024 Surface Pro is replaced with a violet colour that seems spot-on for spring. Both caller Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices besides travel successful platinum oregon “ocean” colors. The second is simply a blue-ish metallic that reminds maine mode excessively overmuch of Apple’s “Sky Blue” connected the MacBook Air M4.

The changes made to the Surface lineup are minimal, but determination are immoderate modifications that marque sense. If you loathe the thought of losing Surface Connect, Microsoft confirmed it volition proceed selling past year’s Surface models, astatine slightest for the adjacent future. The adjacent large question is whether these prices volition clasp with the overriding menace of Trump tariffs. Microsoft reps told america that “tariffs are a moving people for us” and declined to accidental much astir whether we could spot Surface terms hikes successful the adjacent future.