Microsoft kicked off this week with two major hardware announcements. The tech giant unveiled its new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop (officially known as the Surface Pro 11th Edition and Surface Laptop 7th Edition, respectively). Both PCs run on Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X processors, which are Arm chips. Those processors come with a plethora of benefits, including longer battery life. They also power AI features that differentiate PCs powered by Snapdragon X processors from competing systems.
Our Senior Editor Zac Bowden is at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and he went hands-on with the Surface Pro 11th Edition and Surface Laptop 7th Edition.
Bowden starts his video with a run through of the Surface Laptop's hardware, which has several improvements when compared to its predecessor. The display has thinner bezels than what we've seen in previous Surface Laptops and the laptop's screen has rounded corners. We then get a close look at the new color options for the Surface PCs and which ports are on board.
The video shows the hardware of the new Surface Pro as well and its new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard that can be used wirelessly or attached.
But the new Surface PCs aren't just any PCs. They're Copilot+ PCs. That means they have AI features like Recall, Live Captions, Auto Super Resolution, and Advanced Windows Studio Effects. Bowden breaks these down and shows some of them off. Cocreator in Paint is also demonstrated. That feature lets you draw in Paint and have AI create an image alongside you.
Copilot+ PCs
If you're working your way through coverage of this week's Microsoft events, you've likely heard the term Copilot+ PC quite a few times. New AI PCs that meet certain requirements get to be dubbed Copilot+ PCs, and Microsoft is leading the charge with its new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro. Copilot+ PCs are built around AI and have exclusive features that are not available on other types of computers.
Arm-based computing and AI are at the heart of what our Editor-in-Chief named a "great reset" in the Windows PC industry. The evolution of Qualcomm's processors and new features for Windows 11 dovetailed together to create the largest shift in personal computing since Windows 95.
Microsoft is not the only company that's part of the Copilot+ PC push. Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer, ASUS, and Samsung all announced new Copilot+ PCs this week. But Microsoft's new Surface PCs stand as an example of what a Copilot+ PC can be.
Microsoft announced "a new era" of the Windows PC, and the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop are the flagbearers of the lineup of Copilot+ PCs on the way. Copilot+ PCs, including the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, start shipping in June. Many are already available for preorder.
