Microsoft Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 announced with Snapdragon X Elite — everything you need to know

Microsoft Surface Pro and Surface Laptop
(Image credit: Future)

In a rather secretive media-only event the day before Build 2024, Microsoft has just announced the laptops we were waiting for — Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 with Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chipsets. The only surprise is that they're actually branded the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7.

It would be fair to say we were left a little disappointed in March to see these debut with Intel Core Ultra for business customers only. But as it turns out, Redmond has been sitting on something special with what the company is calling a range of "Copilot+ PCs."

Microsoft says that this new generation of Copilot + PCs is up to 58% faster than the MacBook Air M3, and that GPT-4o capability is coming to Copilot within Windows 11. As you would expect, this new AI-focused initiative is being spearheaded by the new Surfaces — both starting at $999 and launching on June 18. Let's take a look at what these offer.

Specs

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SpecSurface Pro 11Surface Laptop 7
CPUSnapdragon X Plus or X EliteSnapdragon X Plus or X Elite
RAMUp to 32GB LPDDR5x RAMUp to 64GB LDPPR5x RAM
StorageUp to 1TBUp to 1TB
Display13-inch PixelSense Flow Display - upgradeable to OLED with 900 nits peak brightness13.8- or 15-inch PixelSense flow display, 3:2 aspect ratio, up to 600 nits peak brightness
WebcamQHD Surface Studio camera with Windows Hello, 10MP rear-facing camera1080p with Windows Hello
BatteryUp to 53 Whr - up to 14 hours of local video playbackUp to 66 Whr - up to 22 hours local video playback
Dimensions11.3 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches11.9 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches (13.8-inch) 13 x 9.4 x 0.7 inches (15-inch)
Weight1.97 pounds2.96 pounds (13.8-inch) 3.67 pounds (15-inch)

On the lap

Meet the new Microsoft Surface Laptop - YouTube Meet the new Microsoft Surface Laptop - YouTube
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This is Microsoft's next big jump into making Arm-powered laptops a thing in the Windows space, and the performance speaks for itself. Microsoft claims it is "80% faster than our previous generation," and in terms of battery life, it can pack up to "22 hours of local video playback." That is mightily impressive when you put it next to the M3 MacBook Air's claim of "up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback."

On top of that, Microsoft has confirmed that the Surface Laptop will support three 4K monitors, as well as its own display — clearly a glancing blow at Apple's restrictive monitor support.

As for options, you've got a choice of four colors, and either a 13.8- or 15-inch screen in the Surface Laptop. Pricing starts at $999 and you can pre-order right now for its June 18 release. To potentially save some money on your next Microsoft laptop, make sure you check out our Microsoft discount codes for the latest deals.

Going pro

Meet the new Microsoft Surface Pro - YouTube Meet the new Microsoft Surface Pro - YouTube
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Meanwhile, turning our attention to the Surface Pro, you've got one size in that 13-inch display, but this is the first Surface ever to feature a gorgeous new OLED display with HDR. 

On top of that, the Flex Keyboard has received some big updates too — including a 14% larger touchpad with haptic feedback, and more carbon fiber to reduce flex and improve the keyboard's performance/durability. Plus, the slim pen is implemented into the keyboard cover itself, and you can use it while disconnected from the Surface Pro itself.

Up top, you've got a new QHD ultrawide webcam built into the bezel, which I'm definitely keen to try out and see whether the resolution lives up to the hype in that small sensor.

For the Pro, you've got a choice of four colors: Sapphire, Dune, Platinum or Black, and you can pre-order one now for $999 — ready to launch on June 18

What these unlock

Microsoft Build 2024

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Of course, Qualcomm's NPU inside these devices (capable of up to 45 trillion operations per second) is used to unlock some key functionality in the form of a vastly improved AI-centric experience in Copilot. Features like Recall give you an impressive device-wide and network-connected contextual search that you can give simple prompts too to gather information.

For example, if you lose a powerpoint presentation in your sea of files, you can ask for "the powerpoint with a purple chart" and it'll know which one you mean. 

Elsewhere, Cocreator is the AI image generation portion of this, where you can sketch and Microsoft will generate what you're trying to create with whatever level of detail you're looking for.

And there is even integration with Xbox too, so if you get to a point of a game where you're stuck, you can query Copilot to help walk you through a particularly difficult section!

Jason England
Managing Editor — Computing

Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.