Microsoft Goes All-In on Ultra-Premium New Surface Lineup

Microsoft has just launched its premium new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop lineup powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 silicon, featuring massive graphics upgrades and longer battery life at a much higher starting price.

Buyers have looked to the base $999 Surface configurations for years as an accessible entry point into the premium Windows ecosystem. Those days appear to be over. The new Surface Pro now begins at $1,499 US, while the refreshed Surface Laptop demands a starting price of $1,599 US.

The massive price hike is tied directly to what is running under the hood. Both devices discard older architectures in favour of Qualcomm’s brand new second generation Arm platform, the Snapdragon X2. Consumers can choose between the 10 core Snapdragon X2 Plus and the more robust 12 core Snapdragon X2 Elite chips.

Microsoft is claiming massive performance gains with this new silicon. The Surface Pro boasts up to a 53% leap in graphics processing power compared to the previous generation, measured using standard industry benchmarks. Meanwhile, the Surface Laptop sees an even bigger jump, pushing out up to 58% faster graphics performance than its predecessor.

This processing grunt is paired with a minimum of 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, completely eliminating the old 8GB configurations that had been heavily criticized by tech reviewers. In an interesting move that mirrors Apple’s memory configurations, Microsoft has also introduced a new 24GB RAM tier for users who need more headroom but do not want to pay the premium for 32GB or 64GB setups.

The physical design of the hardware maintains the iconic look that the Surface brand has spent over a decade cultivating, but with several key quality of life improvements.

The Surface Pro retains its versatile 13 inch 2 in 1 form factor, complete with its built-in adjustable kickstand. The big news for the tablet hybrid is the return of the optional OLED display panel. Choosing the OLED configuration jumps peak brightness up to 900 nits and offers an incredible 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio for deep, ink-like blacks. The standard LCD version remains available for the entry tier, topping out at 600 nits.

The Surface Laptop comes in two distinct screen sizes: 13.8 inches and 15 inches. While these models stick strictly to LCD touchscreens, the 15 inch variant receives a massive resolution bump. The pixel density jumps significantly from 201 pixels per inch to a much sharper 262 pixels per inch.

Both models are available for purchase immediately. Stay tuned for Canadian pricing and availability.