Microsoft has announced the latest additions to its Surface line of laptops in a soft launch, and from what it looks like, the devices are worth the wait. Chief among them is the Microsoft Surface Pro 9, the new 2-in-one is an update on its predecessor – the Surface Pro 8 – and combines several exciting features. These features encompass both hardware and software – consumers can choose between Intel’s 12th Gen Core processors or a Microsoft SQ3 Arm-powered processor that brings in support for 5G, while they can avail the device’s enhanced camera and audio features, and longer battery life.
The Surface Pro 9 retains the 13-inch display of the Surface Pro 8, although it comes with a 2880 x 1920 resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio. Its storage options have gotten a boost, and the storage options on the Surface Pro 9 are 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB of RAM with 128GB, 256Gb, 512GB, or 1TB SSD.
Both the Intel 12th Gen Core processors and the SQ3 Arm-powered processor are powerful additions to the Surface Pro 9 and will come depending on the price. If you want built-in support for 5G (which has already rolled out in India and is set to come to iPhones in India in December), then you will have to go to Arm for that to get the Surface Pro 9 with SQ3. The SQ3, according to Microsoft, is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, and offers “great performance and Secured-core capabilities,” something that Intel’s processors offer as well.
If you choose to get the Surface Pro 9 with the Intel 12th Gen Core processors, then you can choose between the Intel Core i5-1235U and Intel Core i7-1255U, depending on the pricing, both of which have a total of 10 cores (two P-cores and eight E-cores) and 12 threads, up from four cores and eight threads in the Surface Pro 8. Either way, the processor is built on the Intel Evo platform with Thunderbolt 4, and offers incredible power and performance.
The Surface Pro 9 also comes with Dolby Vision IQ support (only on the Intel model) and a neural processing unit (NPU) on the SQ3 model, which is capable of more than 15 trillion calculations per second. The camera and microphone hardware on the Surface Pro 9 has remained mostly unchanged, but with a more powerful NPU than ever, the Surface Pro boasts a new suite of features known as Windows Studio Effects. The suite includes a new Voice Focus feature (which does exactly what its name suggests – it filters out background noise to focus on your voice), and other enhanced camera and audio features such as automatic framing and portrait background blur. It also supports Windows Hello face authentication, and the connectivity options include two USB Type-C ports (USB 4.0/Thunderbolt 4).
The device will hit the shelves from October 25 – the Intel model starts at $999.99, while the SQ3 model starts at $1299. The Surface Pro 9 will also come in four colour options – Platinum, Sapphire, Forest, and Graphite.
