Microsoft is now selling new configurations of the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch with 8GB RAM in an attempt to quell the ongoing component pricing crisis that has seen the cost of Surface PCs skyrocket in recent months. These new affordable models will now start at $849 for the Surface Pro and $949 for the Surface Laptop.
Outside of the new RAM configuration, nothing else is new with these devices. These are still the 1st Edition models of the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch, powered by Qualcomm's now last-gen Snapdragon X Plus, along with 256GB of storage. These devices originally launched with 16GB RAM at $799 and $899, but saw price hikes to over $1,000 earlier this year.
Now that Microsoft has introduced models with less RAM, the company has been able to bring pricing back below $1,000. The company has been working to ensure Windows 11 is better optimized to run on devices with less than 16GB RAM, including disabling things like Widgets and other under the hood optimizations.
Of course, these new configurations also don't have any Copilot+ PC AI capabilities, as one of the requirements for that is a minimum of 16GB RAM. That means Windows 11 will be lighter right out of the gate, as it doesn't have to deal with all the advanced AI features that ship as part of PCs with higher RAM configurations.
Microsoft will continue to sell models with 16GB RAM for those who want to splash out on something a little more capable, but for many who just need a computer for basic tasks and workflows, the 8GB configurations should be fine enough. The good news is if you're not sure if 8GB is enough, the Microsoft Store offers a 60 day return policy, giving you plenty of time to buy the device and try it out before committing.
The new 8GB RAM options only appear to apply to the midrange Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch. The flagship Surface Laptop 8th Generation and Surface Pro 12th Generation are not currently available with 8GB RAM configurations, meaning they still start with 16GB RAM for $1,499.
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