Thursday, March 21st 2024

Microsoft Introduces Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 Models for Business

We are excited to announce the first Surface AI PCs built exclusively for business: Surface Pro 10 for Business and Surface Laptop 6 for Business. These new PCs represent a major step forward in customer-focused design and are packed with features that business customers have been requesting - from amazing performance and battery life to more ports, better security and custom, durable anti-reflective displays. These are the first Surface PCs optimized for AI, with the new Copilot key being added to Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro keyboards that accelerate access to the best Windows AI experiences. In addition to the new Surface for Business products, we are pleased to announce the Microsoft Adaptive Accessories will now be available to commercial customers.

These new PCs are powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra processors. We partnered with Intel to deliver the power and reliable performance our customers depend on, along with compelling AI experiences for Surface and the Windows ecosystem. Surface has also been leading in Neural Processing Unit (NPU) integration to drive AI experiences on the PC since 2019, and the benefits of these connected efforts are evident. From a performance perspective, Surface Laptop 6 is 2x faster than Laptop 52, and Surface Pro 10 is up to 53% faster than Pro 9. The benefits of the NPU integration include AI features like Windows Studio Effects and Live Captions and the opportunity for businesses and developers to build their own AI apps and experiences.
Meet Surface Pro 10 for Business
Surface Pro 10 for Business is designed for teams that need a no-compromise device. It is our most powerful Surface Pro ever powered by Intel Core Ultra processors, and the first time we're bringing 5G to the Intel platform. It brings a new level of productivity and versatility - whether used as a powerful tablet for frontline workers out in the field, a versatile laptop in the conference room, or anywhere in between - Surface Pro 10 adapts to our customers' needs and to how they use technology.

With the power of AI assistance from Microsoft Copilot and the innovation in Windows 11 Pro, Surface Pro 10 unlocks the ability to be more productive than ever before. We've added the Copilot key to all of our new Surface Pro keyboards, including a new version with a bold keyset with a larger font, high contrast and backlighting that make the keys more visible and easier for everyone to type.

But our customers don't choose Surface Pro to interact with it using only the keyboard. They're choosing Surface Pro to use with touch gestures, voice commands and even with handwritten prompts with Surface Slim Pen. With Surface Pro, they are able to use all these natural input methods to make it even easier to use Copilot. And in Microsoft 365 apps like OneNote, Copilot will be able to use AI to analyze handwritten notes, saving time and keeping them in their flow.

This device comes with the best display we've ever shipped on a Surface Pro. Whether working under fluorescent office lighting or outside in the field, the display looks incredible in almost any lighting condition. We've made it 33% brighter and with a higher contrast ratio and have added a custom designed durable anti-reflective coating, all without making any sacrifices to the experience when using it with touch, and pen.

We focused a lot of attention on making the video calling experience on Microsoft Teams and other apps even better. With Surface Pro 10, we've put in a new Ultrawide Studio Camera that is the best front-facing camera that has ever been put into a Windows 2-in-1 or laptop. It's the first Windows PC with a 114° field of view, captures video in 1440p, and uses AI-powered Windows Studio Effects to ensure that the speaker is in frame and looking their best during video calls.

Surface Pro 10 is a Secured-Core PC that delivers the industry-leading security that our business customers need. We've added additional layers of security to keep customer and company data safe and secure with Enhanced Sign-in Security on by default and a brand-new NFC reader designed to make secure password-less authentication even easier with NFC security keys like YubiKey 5C NFC.

Meet Surface Laptop 6 for Business
Surface Laptop 6 for Business is the ultimate laptop that's built for business. It is powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra H-Series processors and designed with improved thermal capacity to deliver incredible performance. This allows your team to be their most productive with the least amount of downtime when crunching huge data sets in Excel, creating marketing assets in Adobe Photoshop, or building critical applications in Visual Studio.

Consistent with the legacy of Surface, Surface Laptop 6 has an industry-leading typing experience that is designed for quality, and confidence. Every element of the keyboard has been considered to ensure productivity when typing, with nothing to get in the way of self-expression. Also, the new Copilot key on Surface Laptop 6 makes accessing the power of AI even easier, with a quick button press to invoke Copilot in Windows to help customers to plan their day, find a document using natural text, analyze a website and more with commercial data protection built in.

Choose between 13.5" and 15" PixelSense touchscreen displays that are built for touch to help browse and navigate with ease. These vibrant displays also all come with anti-reflective and adaptive color technology that helps to clearly see the content on the screen in almost any lighting environment and reduces reflections by up to 50%.

We've designed a new Surface Studio Camera for Surface Laptop 6. The new camera captures 1080p video and uses AI-driven Windows Studio Effects to help everyone look their best on video calls. Windows Studio Effects are enabled by machine learning algorithms that run efficiently on the NPU leaving plenty of power to run other critical apps like Microsoft Teams on the CPU and GPU.

In the U.S. and Canada, customers will also be able to choose options on the 15" Surface Laptop 6 that include an integrated smart card reader. This helps customers in highly secure industries like government agencies and financial services login without a password simply by inserting their smart card.

Advances in accessibility, sustainability, security and modern tools for IT
In addition to the new products, there are advances in accessibility, sustainability, security and IT tools that will help our customers to empower all of their employees, advance their sustainability efforts, further secure their critical data and manage their devices over their life cycle.

Our Designed for Surface accessory partners are proud to offer a range of accessories specifically created to enhance the Surface experience in various commercial and industry scenarios. Our collection spans the Surface portfolio and includes everything from protective cases to mobile-kiosking retail solutions. One example is the ViewSonic ColorPro 4K Monitor, which offers Pantone Validation, stunning 4K Ultra HD resolution and calibrated color accuracy - making it a great option for Surface Laptop 6 customers. Our commitment is to ensure that your team can deploy Surface in any way and place you need.

Accessibility
Accessibility is core to Surface design and to Microsoft's mission to enable every person and every organization to achieve more. Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10 for Business bring the power of AI to accessibility, bringing together the latest hardware innovations from Surface with the software experiences designed to make it possible to use your device in the ways most natural to you.
We've made it even easier to turn on accessibility features through Copilot in Windows. Ask Copilot to "turn on live captions" or "turn on the magnifier" without having to navigate to settings in Windows. Live captions are now even better on these new products as the processing for this feature is offloaded to the NPU so the system operates with greater efficiency, freeing up the CPU and GPU to run other demanding applications.

Surface Pro Keyboard with bold keyset
We're also launching the first ever Surface Pro Keyboard with bold keyset, featuring a bold font change and brighter backlight, making it easier to read and reducing eye strain for everyone. And finally, we're very excited to launch our Microsoft Adaptive Accessories to commercial customers, empowering anyone with difficulty using a traditional mouse and keyboard to create their ideal setup, increase productivity, and use their favorite apps more effectively.

Microsoft Adaptive Accessories
All of these innovations in accessibility have been created to match the elegant design of our products and empower more people to be productive and efficient in the way that works best for them.

Sustainability
In 2020, Microsoft committed to becoming carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030. This commitment means that we are constantly working to advance the sustainability of our products, and we know that many of our customers are also pursuing their own ambitious sustainability goals. Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10 contain the most recycled content that we've ever put into our PCs with the Surface Laptop 6 enclosure being made with a minimum of 25.8% recycled content and the enclosure on Surface Pro 10 being made with a minimum of 72% recycled content. Both devices are even easier to service and repair with built-in QR codes that provide convenient access to service guides. In Surface Pro 10 we've also included internal markings that identify the number of screws and driver types needed for key components. This increased device repairability can offer significant carbon emissions and waste reduction benefits. We are also making trade-in more convenient and secure for our commercial customers in the U.S. to help limit device waste.

Security
Security is of critical importance to our customers, and we design devices with Zero Trust security principles to help keep their most sensitive data safe and protect all the way down to the firmware level. Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10 for Business have the highest-level security features and protections available in the ecosystem, are certified Secured-Core PCs, and have Enhanced Sign-In Security (ESS) on by default. We've made updates to the hardware itself with an optional smart card reader on Surface Laptop 6 and new NFC reader on Surface Pro 10. These new features combined with chip-to-cloud security deliver the ultimate in authentication and protection.

Modern tools for IT
At Surface we think about the entire lifecycle of the device, and how we can make customers' lives easier. Today we are excited to introduce innovation from Surface and Intune to create the most modern and comprehensive solution for IT. The Surface Management Portal delivers insights-based monitoring to bring value and efficiency to device management. Customers can also track the estimated sustainability improvements of their devices right in the management portal. We've also created the Surface IT Toolkit with features to help modernize deployment, security and data compliance. Read more on the Surface IT Pro Blog.

Our team works relentlessly to create and tune every detail of our products to help our customers be more productive and engaged in the work they do today and in AI workstreams to enhance creativity and collaboration going forward. Our new Surface for Business portfolio is a key part of a holistic offering that includes Copilot, AI enhancements across key applications, and innovation in Windows 11 to bring our customers into a new era of work.

Surface Pro 10 for Business and Surface Laptop 6 for Business are available for pre-order starting today, with product shipping to customers starting April 9. To learn more and pre-order your devices today, visit Surface.com/Business to find an authorized reseller or the Microsoft Store.
Source: Windows Blog
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19 Comments on Microsoft Introduces Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 Models for Business

#1
dir_d
Still Intel only...
Posted on Reply
#2
phints
dir_dStill Intel only...
Yea I find these to be great looking laptops, and compete with my ThinkPad. Microsoft is actually advertising them as more open and repairable too which is cool.... But Intel's ancient lithography is holding them back a ton in performance and power efficiency.
Posted on Reply
#3
AnarchoPrimitiv
dir_dStill Intel only...
I know it's insane...efficiency is the MOST important aspect for something like the surface pro, so it's crazy that they're using the least efficient option....I'd absolutely LOVE a surface pro with an Ryzen APU with the 780m iGPU....it would make an amazing OTG graphics tablet
Posted on Reply
#4
nienorgt
From a performance perspective, Surface Laptop 6 is 2x faster than Laptop 52
Did that typo was from the original PR?
No, it's not, come on, please don't turn exponent numbers used for reference as real number when copying stuff...
Surface Laptop 6 is 2x faster than Laptop 5²
Posted on Reply
#5
evernessince
dir_dStill Intel only...
Intel still has a ton of pull with it's partners. A lot of laptop models, particularly the one's with high end branding, are still Intel only.

It's anti-competitive plain and simple.
Posted on Reply
#6
Nostras
Always liked the surface products but felt since day one that the prices were 15% too high. I understand they're not designed to be value champions but the hw/$ is so poor I can't justify them.
Posted on Reply
#7
Darmok N Jalad
evernessinceIntel still has a ton of pull with it's partners. A lot of laptop models, particularly the one's with high end branding, are still Intel only.

It's anti-competitive plain and simple.
Yeah, you know this has got to be it. There are too many viable AMD options these days to not have them available in these MS devices that were once intended to influence the PC makers. There was an AMD option on Laptop some years ago, but that was before AMD really had the mobile segment worked out, of course.
Posted on Reply
#8
Cheeseball
Not a Potato
dir_dStill Intel only...
As long as the OEM implements their firmware/BIOS/UEFI correctly, the Intel CPUs and chipsets can get acceptable battery life (not necessarily better than AMD) without affecting performance. I don't know if Microsoft is up to the task since neither the Surface Pro 8 or 9 had good battery life, and the 8 was on a quad-core i7-1185G7.



I'm actually surprised it was ASUS who was one of the first to optimize their Intel platform. Usually its Lenovo with their slim line ups (e.g. Legion Slim 7 with 13700H & 12700H, Slim 7 Pro, etc.).
Posted on Reply
#9
Darmok N Jalad
CheeseballAs long as the OEM implements their firmware/BIOS/UEFI correctly, the Intel CPUs and chipsets can get acceptable battery life (not necessarily better than AMD) without affecting performance. I don't know if Microsoft is up to the task since neither the Surface Pro 8 or 9 had good battery life, and the 8 was on a quad-core i7-1185G7.



I'm actually surprised it was ASUS who was one of the first to optimize their Intel platform. Usually its Lenovo with their slim line ups (e.g. Legion Slim 7 with 13700H & 12700H, Slim 7 Pro, etc.).
My wife has a Lenovo laptop with a 7535U inside, and it's a solid performer. Under everyday light-duty tasks, the fan doesn't even kick on. Battery life is 7-8 hours, which is pretty good considering it's at the bottom-end of the middle tier for Windows laptops.
Posted on Reply
#10
Cheeseball
Not a Potato
Darmok N JaladMy wife has a Lenovo laptop with a 7535U inside, and it's a solid performer. Under everyday light-duty tasks, the fan doesn't even kick on. Battery life is 7-8 hours, which is pretty good considering it's at the bottom-end of the middle tier for Windows laptops.
Thats what I mean. As long as the OEM implements whatever platform they are buying properly, they can make it a good mobile device with considerable battery life.

My theory is that the junker/gaming laptops just have their chipsets and CPUs stuffed in without any proper optimization, which is why they have poor battery life despite doing any Windows tweaks on them. But you can then achieve good battery life if you hit it with Throttlestop (to modify PL1 and PL2) or RyzenAdj/UXTU (to modify sPL/sPT/fPPT) for tuning to appropriate levels, but the general user shouldn't need to do that.
Posted on Reply
#11
pressing on
Darmok N JaladYeah, you know this has got to be it. There are too many viable AMD options these days to not have them available in these MS devices that were once intended to influence the PC makers. There was an AMD option on Laptop some years ago, but that was before AMD really had the mobile segment worked out, of course.
Microsoft is using the Core Ultra 5 135U and Core Ultra 7 165U for the Surface Pro 10. I am not sure what the equivalent AMD Hawk Point processor would be to the 135U but it might be the Ryzen 5 8540U. The issue is that unlike Core Ultra 100s not all of the Hawk Point CPUs have a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). The 8540U does not. It makes it awkward if, like Microsoft, you want to market a range of laptops where an NPU is a standard feature. The other factor is that Intel claim a base power for the 135U and 165U of 15w, which may in part explain the claimed battery life for the Surface Pro 10 of up to 19 hours. The default TDP of the 8540U is 28w although it is configurable down to 15w.
Posted on Reply
#12
Darmok N Jalad
pressing onMicrosoft is using the Core Ultra 5 135U and Core Ultra 7 165U for the Surface Pro 10. I am not sure what the equivalent AMD Hawk Point processor would be to the 135U but it might be the Ryzen 5 8540U. The issue is that unlike Core Ultra 100s not all of the Hawk Point CPUs have a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). The 8540U does not. It makes it awkward if, like Microsoft, you want to market a range of laptops where an NPU is a standard feature. The other factor is that Intel claim a base power for the 135U and 165U of 15w, which may in part explain the claimed battery life for the Surface Pro 10 of up to 19 hours. The default TDP of the 8540U is 28w although it is configurable down to 15w.
The thing is, they could ask AMD for a custom SKU and likely get it, no problem. I wouldn't be surprised if they could tune something that covers all the bases. The last time MS used AMD in Surface Laptop, AMD did just that, featuring "Radeon Graphics Surface Edition." MS stopped using AMD right when they became a very viable mobile product with considerably better power management.
Posted on Reply
#13
Scrizz
Darmok N JaladThe thing is, they could ask AMD for a custom SKU and likely get it, no problem.
Funny that they don't need a custom Intel sku...
A big reason a lot of companies/enterprises use Intel is the support.
Posted on Reply
#14
NC37
NostrasAlways liked the surface products but felt since day one that the prices were 15% too high. I understand they're not designed to be value champions but the hw/$ is so poor I can't justify them.
Yep, I just had a client who wanted something like it for traveling. Surface = Right performance on the high ends but priced to high to justify, abysmal performance on the low-mid end with lots of competition that is much better for the price.

They ended up getting a Lenovo Yoga 2n1. Bigger but, for the money and the performance level, Surface just doesn't compete.
Posted on Reply
#15
Denver
It's just a dumb choice, Microsoft is not a backyard company to be in intel's hands. Any simple laptop with AMD 7nm APUs and newer runs cool, smooth and so efficient as to make relatively low capacity 35-45Wh batteries last 8hrs of light moderate use.

Totally the opposite of these ultra thin intel laptops that melt your fingers, I'm always amazed to think that the market is still in this sorry state.
Posted on Reply
#16
Darmok N Jalad
ScrizzFunny that they don't need a custom Intel sku...
A big reason a lot of companies/enterprises use Intel is the support.
Actually, they have used custom Intel SKU that were for Surface exclusive before (Surface 3 non-pro). Then there's the non-Intel ARM chip in SP-X that is custom. Even then, it's not like this is some complicated affair. AMD has made custom chips for various customers (like XBOX!) for at least a decade. And I'm not talking about a complete custom design, but just having the right feature set at the desired TDP. Considering the very nature of the Surface devices, it's really quite surprising MS isn't using more custom SKUs. Ironically, Surface Pro 4 was a mess (hot bag) due to MS implementing a 1.0 power management feature in Intel. All the other OEMs were fine because they said they knew better than to implement a 1.0 Intel feature.
Posted on Reply
#17
pressing on
NC37Yep, I just had a client who wanted something like it for traveling. Surface = Right performance on the high ends but priced to high to justify, abysmal performance on the low-mid end with lots of competition that is much better for the price.

They ended up getting a Lenovo Yoga 2n1. Bigger but, for the money and the performance level, Surface just doesn't compete.
Microsoft no longer report on Surface revenue in its financial reports but include it under a heading called Devices. That's partly because Surface revenue has dropped substantially. Microsoft acknowledge this but say its because they are now concentrating on "high-margin, premium devices". Various sources estimate that Surface will generate around $4 billion in 2024. So there is still a significant customer base despite the pricing but it's a small percentage of the total laptop market.
Posted on Reply
#18
Minus Infinity
dir_dStill Intel only...
I presume it will be Intel and Qualcomm eventually.


Pro 10 with Hawk Point would be nice. But I will wait for Strix Point and look elsewhere.
Posted on Reply
#19
ThrashZone
dir_dStill Intel only...
Hi,
Intel at work hehe
Posted on Reply
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