At its Surface event scheduled for May 6th next week, Microsoft is expected to unveil two new compact offerings under its Surface Pro and Surface Laptop families, according to WinFuture. It's important to note that these smaller variants are not a new generation, but rather expand the existing Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 product lines. Information about technical details, pricing, and availability remains in the dark, but Microsoft is expected to reveal more on Tuesday.
Microsoft offers a range of Surface devices, designed for various use cases. The Surface Pro family features 2-in-1 tablets that can function both as a tablet and a laptop with the detachable keyboard (purchased separately). The Surface Laptop series, on the other hand, sticks to the basics with a traditional clamshell laptop form factor.
Starting in June 2024, Microsoft revealed the Surface Laptop 7 (15-inch and 13.8-inch) and Surface Pro 11 (13-inch) families, initially equipped with Qualcomm's Arm-based Snapdragon X chips, for the mainstream. Variants with Intel's Lunar Lake followed, targeted towards business users.
12-inch version of the Surface Pro 11
Microsoft is reportedly extending these product lines with compact offerings, starting with a 12-inch version of the Surface Pro 11. In terms of display, we're looking at a PixelSense Flow LCD panel (likely IPS), though the refresh rate has not been specified. Under the hood, it reportedly features the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 SoC with 8 Oryon cores, along with a 45 TOPS capable Hexagon-based NPU.
The SoC is connected with 16GB of LPDDR5x memory (likely 8448 MT/s), which is non-expandable. The laptop is expected to be available in 256GB and 512GB storage capacities, supplied by a UFS-based solution, which, unlike SSDs, is not upgradable. Microsoft claims 16 hours of local video playback, but real-world usage will vary. The leaked press slides only mention two USB Type-C ports for data transfer, charging, and hooking up external displays.
13-inch version of the Surface Laptop 7
Similarly, the Surface Laptop 7 lineup is reportedly expanding with a 13-inch variant, complementing the existing 13.8-inch and 15-inch options. Display-wise, Microsoft will continue to use a PixelSense Flow LCD panel, but the refresh rate has reportedly been lowered from 120 Hz to 60 Hz. Just like the new Surface Pro model, this device also, allegedly, uses the same 8-core Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 SoC from Qualcomm, with 16GB of RAM and 256GB/512GB of UFS-based storage.
These laptops are said to use an Island-style keyboard with a glass trackpad. Windows Hello login is facilitated by a built-in fingerprint reader next to the keyboard. The port selection is quite limited, with two USB 3.2 Type-C ports, a single USB Type-A port, and a 3.5m jack, with no Surface Connect port.
According to the source, neither of the two new offerings will come with a charging brick included. Users will need to use their own PD-compliant chargers capable of supplying at least 27W of power. We can expect to learn more about pricing and availability from Microsoft at their Surface event on Tuesday.
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