Microsoft Surface Pro 9 announced in Intel and Arm variants

[Shawn Knight]

What just happened? Microsoft on Wednesday unwrapped its new Surface Pro 9, a premium 2-in-1 that's stood atop the category for several years. The latest iteration packs a 13-inch PixelSense display with a resolution of 2,880 x 1,920 pixels (267 PPI), a 3:2 aspect ratio, a 1200:1 contrast ratio and a dynamic refresh rate up to 120Hz. The 10-point multi-touch panel also supports Dolby Vision IQ and is coated in Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Under the hood, buyers can opt for Intel or Arm-branded hardware. The traditional route will get you up to a 12th-gen Intel Core i7-1255U processor alongside Intel Iris Xe Graphics, up to 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a spacious 1TB SSD. The Surface Pro 9 with 5G packs a Microsoft SQ3 SoC based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8CX Gen 3. It utilizes Adreno graphics and can be configured with up to 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to a 512GB SSD.

Battery life is rated at up to 15.5 hours of typical usage on the standard Surface Pro 9 and up to 19 hours on the Arm variant. Both have the same measurements – 11.3" (287mm) length x 8.2" (209mm) width x 0.37" (9.2mm) height. The Arm model is a tiny bit heavier at 1.95 pounds (883g) versus 1.94 pounds (879g) on the Intel unit.

Both models feature dual 2W stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, dual far-field studio microphones, a rear-facing 10-megapixel camera with autofocus, a front-facing 1080p camera for Windows Hello face authentication, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, and come backed by a one-year limited warranty.

Pricing for an Intel-equipped Surface Pro 9 with a Core i5, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD starts at $999.99. Arm models with the SQ3 chipset start at $1,299.99 and also include 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, but it is only offered in silver. Models with an Intel Evo chip are additionally available in blue, green or black color schemes. They are available to pre-order now ahead of retail launch on October 25.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/96295-microsoft-surface-pro-9-announced-intel-arm-variants.html

 

[punctualturn]

Funny how they dropped AMD.

The mind wonders if Intel pulled another Dell agreement with MS.

In the end, we the customers ends up with less options and people wonder why I hate Intel.

 

[psycros]

You could have a decent laptop and a tablet for the price of this hybrid.

 

[Dimitriid]

Again Microsoft would rather hurt themselves by not including a 6800u version of the tablet which would dominate the intel counterpart, rather than just ditch intel exclusivity.

Whomever comes out first with a 2-in-1 6800u device in this form factor will probably make these new surface devices ridiculously outdated. In fact you can kinda already see how this would work if you look at something like the GDP Win Max 2 but that device is as thick as it is to accomodate the controller, keyboard, m.2 sockets, etc. And because it can be configured to go up to 35 watts (iirc) but if you just take the 6800u and put a hard limit of 15 watts and a 13 inch tablet form you can probably sneak in as much battery if you solder the storage and include SD card option.

Overall you could have a tablet basically replace your laptop and even dock via USB 4 to an external GPU and replace a modest (Around 3060 tops) full on desktop while docked.

Yet we're stuck with the crappy iris pro or ARM for like 80% less GPU performance: intel deal is a bargain with the devil: crippling devices by design.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Again Microsoft would rather hurt themselves by not including a 6800u version of the tablet which would dominate the intel counterpart, rather than just ditch intel exclusivity.

Whomever comes out first with a 2-in-1 6800u device in this form factor will probably make these new surface devices ridiculously outdated. In fact you can kinda already see how this would work if you look at something like the GDP Win Max 2 but that device is as thick as it is to accomodate the controller, keyboard, m.2 sockets, etc. And because it can be configured to go up to 35 watts (iirc) but if you just take the 6800u and put a hard limit of 15 watts and a 13 inch tablet form you can probably sneak in as much battery if you solder the storage and include SD card option.

Overall you could have a tablet basically replace your laptop and even dock via USB 4 to an external GPU and replace a modest (Around 3060 tops) full on desktop while docked.

Yet we're stuck with the crappy iris pro or ARM for like 80% less GPU performance: intel deal is a bargain with the devil: crippling devices by design.

the 680m isnt 80% faster then iris, especially not when limited by a hard 15w TDP. Literally everything you listed is already possible with the intel chip.

Funny how they dropped AMD.

The mind wonders if Intel pulled another Dell agreement with MS.

In the end, we the customers ends up with less options and people wonder why I hate Intel.

It's always a conspiracy.

You could have a decent laptop and a tablet for the price of this hybrid.

But then you'd have a tablet that runs a choked OS an a laptop that is not a tablet.

 

[punctualturn]

It's always a conspiracy.

The problem here is, there is history of Intel doing this and given how good current AMD offerings are, besides the fact that AMD can create custom APU's for anyone, are we really going to just call it a baseless conspiracy?

 

[CowsGotMilk]

The problem is that in monkey consumer level, Intel is preferred as "superior" option. Monkeys don't care which is better, they only care for the brand. It's all because 20 years ago, Pentium 4 was faster than AMD alternative...

It's kinda odd to see, that manufacturers likes to put AMD CPUs in lower grade laptops. Like dimmer screen or less RAM... And of course it's odd to see that AMD allows them to do it. But hey, it's how the dollars machine spins...

Intel is a sucker right now. And switching to it is worse than switching to Apple.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The problem is that in monkey consumer level, Intel is preferred as "superior" option. Monkeys don't care which is better, they only care for the brand. It's all because 20 years ago, Pentium 4 was faster than AMD alternative...

It's kinda odd to see, that manufacturers likes to put AMD CPUs in lower grade laptops. Like dimmer screen or less RAM... And of course it's odd to see that AMD allows them to do it. But hey, it's how the dollars machine spins...

Intel is a sucker right now. And switching to it is worse than switching to Apple.

AMD was doing that a lot more recently. As of last year AMD powered chromebooks from lenovo were still using construction core chips that were noticeably terrible. They couldnt handle a classroom google hangout without lagging out. Intel models? No issues.

The problem here is, there is history of Intel doing this and given how good current AMD offerings are, besides the fact that AMD can create custom APU's for anyone, are we really going to just call it a baseless conspiracy?

That history is from 15 years ago. At some point you have to move on.

 

[WhiteLeaff]

I don't understand what technical reason a company would ditch AMD's ultra-efficient APUs and include ARM models, known for their countless weaknesses... This stinks.

 

[punctualturn]

That history is from 15 years ago. At some point you have to move on.

Then how come Dell still doesnt include AMD CPUS on their high volume business class machines (optiplex, latitude and precision)?

 

[torchyear]

Does anyone actually choose the ARM option over x86 for Windows devices? For many it would mean sacrificing legacy hardware drivers and probably any software that isn't Office 365. Might as well go Chromebook/Android or iOS with such a major transition, if one cares so much about power efficiency.

 

[umbala]

Weak specs and astronomical pricing. Yeah, these will sell well.

If you want your fleecing to reach Apple levels you better make sure you have a very large following of sheep who will pay any price and that is not the case for Microsoft.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Then how come Dell still doesnt include AMD CPUS on their high volume business class machines (optiplex, latitude and precision)?

Because AMD still has no answer for intel's V-PRO system, which is a major selling point of those systems?

Because businesses like to buy from 1 vendor, and are hesitant to jump on the AMD train?

Because they just dont want to?

Because dell doesnt see the value in engineering additional AMD variants into systems that are much lower volume today then they were a decade ago?

Because AMD couldnt guarantee a certain volume of supply for business use cases and Dell went and signed with intel instead?

Because dell is run by nincompoops that cant design a laptop without them failing in 2 years (see this one at work ALL THE TIME)?

There's a lot of possible answers. Contracts for purchasing hardware span years. If there is some grand conspiracy to force AMD out of the market again, surely there would be some evidence?

 

[punctualturn]

Because AMD still has no answer for intel's V-PRO system, which is a major selling point of those systems?

Possible, but you will be surprised how little that its used.

Because businesses like to buy from 1 vendor, and are hesitant to jump on the AMD train?

One vendor yes, but the ones that makes these decisions dont have a clue about what Intel or AMD offer.

Because they just dont want to?

That would involve some kind of "feelings" and that doesnt apply to corporations, only profits and we know how Intel gave Dell money before, so which way would the shareholders go?

Because dell doesnt see the value in engineering additional AMD variants into systems that are much lower volume today then they were a decade ago?

They have plenty of resources to do that and they already pay some lip service with the home division selling some AMD system, so they can.

Because AMD couldnt guarantee a certain volume of supply for business use cases and Dell went and signed with intel instead?

Possible but are you really going to tell me that if Dell tells AMD give all of your chips! that AMD wouldnt? That is a guarantee sale for AMD instead of letting the regular Joes maintain their userbase.

Because dell is run by nincompoops that cant design a laptop without them failing in 2 years (see this one at work ALL THE TIME)?

That we can wholeheartedly agree.

There's a lot of possible answers. Contracts for purchasing hardware span years. If there is some grand conspiracy to force AMD out of the market again, surely there would be some evidence?

Perhaps, but there is a reason why we human beings look at the past even though plenty ignore the lessons taught by it.

 

[thewelshbrummie]

Interesting that no-one has said anything about the removal of the headphone jack. It's bad enough on phones but it's fatal on a laptop or tablet. Had thought about upgrading my Surface Go but it definitely won't be to a Pro.

The mind wonders if Intel pulled another Dell agreement with MS.

Intel would be foolish to try, regardless of the fact that the EU fine was eventually overturned earlier this year. The EU isn't something that forgets about monopoly abuse and despite the fine being overturned that appears to have been on a technicality, rather than because they weren't guilty of misconduct. Either way, I can't see Intel risking that tactic again.

I'm also not surprised that the comments on this website have again devolved to "why aren't there any AMD options." It is, in this case, an interesting question based on an objective look at the chips themselves. The cTDP of the 6800U is comparable to the Intel 1185G7 chip that's in the Pro 8, at 15-28W, so power draw isn't strictly a factor. Intel lists the recommended customer price at $426 for the CPU - annoyingly AMD doesn't list pricing so it could be that it's more expensive than the Intel option or something else. But I'd be interested to get some reasoning as to why - quantity would push me into thinking that Intel has more capacity and I get that having one model would reduce costs vs giving the consumer a choice. But it's essentially a guess without some hard evidence that isn't being provided. And an interesting question when the AMD chip has double the cores & threads of the Intel 11th gen chip with a comparable TDP.

 

[zamroni111]

Intel 1255u will be very slow compared to even amd 5800u