These are Microsoft’s new Surface devices

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Surface series, Microsoft presented its new hardware lineup. Microsoft has probably made the biggest change to its Surface Laptop line of notebooks. The main difference between the Surface Laptop 4 and 5, besides the new processor, is the Thunderbolt 4 port, which has been added.

Surface Laptop 5

In the 5th generation, Microsoft forgoes processors from manufacturer AMD and only installs Intel CPUs in the devices. With the 12th generation Intel processors, a performance improvement of up to 50 percent has been achieved, Microsoft promises. Tests will show whether this is actually the case.

The appearance of the devices does not change. Like the previous models, the laptop is available as a 13.5-inch or 15-inch model. In addition to the well-known colors platinum, matte black and sandstone, another color has been added: sage.

Microsoft relies on Dolby Atmos support for the speakers in the notebooks. This should provide an “immersive experience in conference calls, but also while playing”.

The Surface Laptop 5 will be available on October 25, 2022. The price for the 13.5-inch version starts at 1069 francs, the 15-inch device starts at 1,385 francs.

Surface Pro 9

The 2-in-1 Surface Pro 9 device also has new processors. Buyers can choose between the classic 12th generation Intel CPUs and Qualcomm’s power-saving ARM processor SQ3, which is optimized for Microsoft’s Surface Pro 9.

Both processors have advantages and disadvantages. The Intel processor offers high performance. According to Microsoft, improvements over the previous model Surface Pro 8 of up to 50 percent have been achieved. This also requires more power, which shortens battery life.

The ARM processor offers an advantage here. The Surface Pro should last up to 19 hours with the Quallcomm. The Intel model is 15.5 hours. “Optimized applications for Windows on Arm provide fast, energy-efficient performance and longer battery life,” Microsoft writes.

The device must remain interesting for professional use due to its flexible application options. With its 2-in-1 function, it can be used as a laptop as well as a tablet. It can be operated from the screen using touch and pen input.

The Surface Pro 9 should be available from early November. The variant with the Intel processor costs 1175 francs in the basic version. The ARM version in the smallest variant with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage costs 1490 francs.

Surface Studio 2+

Microsoft’s all-in-one PC Surface Studio is also getting an upgrade. The Surface Studio 2+ is equipped with the Intel Core H-35 processor and is said to accelerate the device by 50 percent compared to its predecessor.

With the GeForce RTX 3060, Microsoft has installed a fast graphics card in the Surface Studio 2+, with which even complex graphics calculations can be performed quickly.

Features such as the flip-down screen, which allows you to operate the computer like a large tablet, are retained in the Surface Studio 2+.

The Surface Studio 2+ for business users is available from CHF 5019. The scope of delivery includes a matching keyboard, mouse and Microsoft’s Surface Pen.

Microsoft Audio Dock

Microsoft showed yet another product in its presentation: the Audio Dock. It is a speaker with microphones, USB A and C ports and an HDMI 2.0 port. The device has a mute button for use in online meetings.

The audio dock costs 260 francs and has been on sale since October 12.

(t-online/sha)