Hands On: Microsoft's 2024 Surfaces Level Up With Copilot AI, Arm Silicon (2024)

SEATTLE—I went to the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., to get our first look at the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro tablet, but I found far more in the May 20 announcements than just new hardware. This was an opening salvo from Microsoft and Qualcomm, declaring not only the "era of the AI PC" but also the ostensible end of AMD's and Intel’s dominion over PCs. Whether either of these declarations proves true over time is yet to be seen, but you should not doubt that the Windows world is changing.

As a hardware guy, I'm most excited about the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, but first, let’s digest the big changes coming to the Windows 11 operating system. Microsoft has promoted ChatGPT-powered Bing for months, dubbing it Copilot, but this takes things to a new level, adding AI to system-wide features and powerful new capabilities that are run entirely on your device.

The biggest of these is Recall, an AI-powered system search tool that lets you describe what you're looking for, where it came from, or even just a description of the content or mention of a conversation to find the thing you need right when you need it. With a new semantic database that indexes everything you do on your machine—from individual files you've worked with to conversations in tools like Slack and Discord, it's an all-seeing eye turned on your files and organized on a timeline so that you can find exactly what you need. That's possible even when your best description is something as vague as "the report we talked about in the Wednesday meeting" or "the presentation with the purple chart, with a handwritten note."

(Credit: Brian Westover)

With Recall, Copilot understands what you're after, parses the context to zero in on the right thing, and finds the file you need.

Co-Creator is another tool that uses generative AI to turn your sketches into quality images. Using diffusion-based image generation and language prompts, plus your own sketches as you go, you can go from a simple doodle to useful art in moments.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Live Caption is even more mind-bending. It provides speech-to-text captions for any video call, streaming clip, or anything else—and in almost any language. With automatic translation in 40-plus languages, it should be a game changer for global teams and online communities.

Right now, all of this is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X processors, marking a seismic shift in laptop land. Both the new Surface Pro tablet and Surface Laptop are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors, and the AI features rely heavily on Qualcomm's Hexagon NPU for the on-device processing. Microsoft has gone all in with Qualcomm for this launch, claiming that the new Snapdragon NPU drives faster performance, with the capability to run 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS).

(Credit: Brian Westover)

While we've seen NPU-equipped processors from AMD and Intel, neither has been able to meet the 40 TOPS minimum requirements to run Microsoft Copilot natively on their processors. (Intel has already issued claims to beat back at Qualcomm with up to 100 total TOPS from its upcoming “Lunar Lake” Core Ultra chips.) TOPS are sketchy at best as a measure of true AI performance in any given situation, but it's clear: The AI number battle is on.

The New Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet

Microsoft’s latest Surface Pro tablet should look familiar to anyone who's seen a Surface tablet before, with the all-screen front face of the device, an integrated kickstand in the back, and an elegant magnesium-alloy chassis containing the hardware in a slim and light design. Also, if you're at all confused as to why this is just known as the "New Surface Pro" and not the Surface Pro 10, just know that we are, too. Regardless, those are the official names for these 2024 models: the New Surface Pro and the New Surface Laptop.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

However, you’ll find some major improvements this time around. The display now comes in OLED with better-than-ever contrast and HDR support. Surface products have never lacked sharp and vibrant displays, but this is the highest fidelity I've ever seen from Microsoft.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

The other awesome improvement is in the new Surface Flex Keyboard, the pen-storing screen cover and keyboard accessory that turns the tablet into a powerful 2-in-1 device. Microsoft has strengthened the keyboard with carbon-fiber backing and added probably my favorite new feature: Bluetooth connectivity, so you can use it separated from the tablet.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Attach the keyboard, and it will charge the internal battery and automatically pair it for wireless use. Pull it free, and you can keep typing even away from the display. One demonstration at Microsoft’s event showed the two used in tandem, with a user typing on the keyboard and drawing on the tablet, side-by-side.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Starting at $999.99, the new Surface Pro will start with the Snapdragon X Plus chip (the step-down of the initial two X chips) and an LCD screen at the same resolution as the OLED model: 2,880 by 1,920. Inside, 16GB of memory comes standard along with a 256GB solid-state drive. The Surface Pro also features Wi-Fi 7, a 1440p Surface Studio webcam, two USB4 ports, and a Surface Connect port within its 0.37-inch, 1.97-pound frame. The whole package is said to last for up to 14 hours of local video playback on the battery, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft’s OLED option is paired with the Snapdragon X Elite processor as well as higher RAM and SSD capacities, starting at $1,499.99.

The New Microsoft Surface Laptop Line

The new Surface Laptop models—available in 13.8 inches and 15 inches—may look a bit more pedestrian, but they’re the best they’ve ever been. Microsoft has ensured that their battery life is stretched to all-day, with up to 20 hours and 22 hours of local video playback for the 13.8-inch and 15-inch models, respectively, Microsoft says. The laptop can also handle a spate of external monitors, with the ability to drive three 4K displays in addition to the laptop display, as shown below.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Microsoft obviously wants its Surface Laptop models compared with Apple’s MacBook Air lineup, and it's not an inaccurate comparison. Their ultra-slim chassis, their thin light design, and their claimed all-day battery life seem aimed at Apple's ultraportable laptops. (And the multi-monitor scheme is definitely a dig at the Air.)

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Microsoft's ace in the hole is Windows 11, with everything from touch support to the new Copilot features exclusive to "Copilot+ PCs," what Microsoft is dubbing the coming PCs capable of sufficient local AI processing to run its AI services on the laptop. In my brief hands-on time with the machine, I was impressed by how deeply these features are integrated into Windows, complete with the same properties and settings panels you'd get on any other peripheral or system device. It's this deep integration and fine-tuned control given to the user that most people will appreciate about the AI features. For example, in Copilot Recall, you can edit what content is included, preventing the system from even recording certain activities to begin with.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

I'm most excited to see how the all-day battery life fares in our lab tests. We're quickly approaching what was once a holy grail for laptop users: a battery that genuinely lasts 24 hours no matter how you use the system. With Microsoft claiming up to 22 hours of video playback, this laptop could easily carry you through a workday, even as you engage in video calls and other demanding tasks, on battery.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Combine all of this with a beautiful PixelSense display, superb touch support, and an excellent ultraportable design, and the new Surface Laptops look to be at the forefront of this “next generation of AI PCs” we’ve heard so much about.

The new 13.8-inch Surface Laptop starts at $999.99, with the base model featuring the same Snapdragon X Plus processor, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD as in the starting Surface Pro tablet. It measures just 0.69 inch thick and weighs only 2.96 pounds, qualifying as an ultraportable laptop. You can upgrade the laptop from there with the Snapdragon X Elite chip, which starts at $1,399 and includes double the storage.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

As for the 15-incher, its pricing begins at $1,299. That model uses the Snapdragon X Elite exclusively, along with the same starting RAM (16GB) and SSD capacities (256GB) as the other starting models. It measures just a bit thicker, at 0.72 inch, and weighs 3.67 pounds. From there, you can spend as much as $2,499.99 to pump things up to 64GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

Both Surface Laptop models feature similar connectivity options to the Surface Pro, with an added USB Type-A port—the 15-inch version has a microSDXC card reader, too. Pre-orders for all models are open now, with retail availability beginning June 18. Expect full reviews and testing from PCMag in time for that release.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Of course, the new Surface devices are only two in a whole slew of new Copilot+ PCs launched today. We’ve already seen first-hand Qualcomm-powered products from HP and Lenovo, with several others presenting many of these same advanced features and capabilities in various packages. Those will also launch on June 18, so expect lots of Copilot+ PC coverage from PCMag this summer.