What you need to know
- Microsoft has announced that the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Pro 11 with 5G connectivity are now available to order.
- The company is putting emphasis on commercial customers, with the Pro 11 and Laptop 7 now being available via Microsoft’s commercial storefront.
- Microsoft is also launching a refreshed Surface Keyboard for desktop users today.
Microsoft has finally formally announced availability of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Pro 11 with 5G connectivity. After being made available for pre-order last month, the company now says devices are now ready to ship for consumer and commercial customers.
Sadly, it appears SKUs that include 5G connectivity are severely limited regionally. In the US, you can only configure a Surface Pro 11 with 5G if you opt for the Platinum colorway.
The Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 were launched back in June as the company’s first Copilot+ PCs powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X platform. These devices were announced just over a month after the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, which launched back in March exclusively for commercial customers.
Today, Microsoft is now making the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 available directly to commercial customers. Interestingly, Microsoft is not replacing the Surface Pro 10 or Surface Laptop 6 with these newer models, going so far as to introducing a new 5G variant of the Surface Pro 10 alongside the 5G Surface Pro 11 for customers who prefer the slightly older model.
Externally, the differences between the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Pro 11 are minor, with the Pro 10 featuring an anti-reflective display coating compared to the glossy display on the Pro 11. The Pro 11 is also available with an OLED screen, something the Pro 10 doesn’t have.
The biggest difference between the Pro 10 and Pro 11 is in the processor department. The Pro 10 is powered by Intel Core Ultra 1 series chips, whereas the Pro 11 is powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X platform. The Snapdragon X variants are more powerful and efficient than the Intel Core Ultra 1 chips, but that comes at the cost of some app compatibility.
The differences between the Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Laptop 7 are more notable. The Laptop 6 features Intel Core Ultra 1 chips in the same design as the first-generation Surface Laptop, which has thicker display bezels and an anti-reflective screen. The Laptop 7 has Snapdragon X chips with a new design that includes thinner bezels with rounded display corners, a 120Hz screen, a new haptic touchpad.
The Surface Pro 10, Surface Pro 11, Surface Laptop 6, and Surface Laptop 7 will now be available directly to commercial customers. The Pro 10 and Laptop 6 are remaining commercial only, meaning you won’t find them in retail stores like Amazon or Best Buy, like you can with the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7.
Microsoft is also launching an “all-new” Surface Keyboard for desktop users today. The device looks very similar to the previous Surface Studio keyboard, except it now has a dedicated Copilot key and a revised set of function key shortcuts to control mute and calling capabilities.
The new Surface Keyboard will begin shipping in October, and the new Surface Pro’s with 5G will begin shipping later in September.
