Microsoft introduces Surface PCs that run AI models and cost less than earlier versions

CNBC

06-05-2025

From left, Microsoft's 2025 Surface Pro with optional keyboard attached and the company's 2025 Surface Laptop.
Microsoft on Tuesday introduced two next-generation Copilot+ PCs that can run artificial intelligence models without using the internet.
The devices will look familiar to users of earlier versions. One is a Surface Pro convertible tablet with a kickstand and a slot for an optional keyboard. The other is the more traditional Surface Laptop.
While Microsoft is mainly known for its software and doesn't rank among the top sellers of computers, the Surface line helps the company diversify and show off the capabilities of a PC that runs its Windows operating system.
The new models are less expensive than the ones Microsoft introduced last year, when it also unveiled the Copilot+ PC standard, powered by what the company calls a neural processing unit. The lower price is important as consumers and businesses prepare to deal with increasing costs following President Donald Trump's announcement last month of sweeping tariffs on goods imported into the U.S.
Microsoft's new Surface Laptop starts at $899, $100 lower than last year's edition. The latest base-model Surface Pro costs $799, $200 less than its predecessor. Each contains an Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip with eight cores instead of 10 last year.
Screen sizes are smaller, too, with 12 inches for the Pro and 13 inches for the Laptop. That compares with the Pro's 13 inches and the Laptop's 13.8 inches last year.
But Microsoft claims the new systems will have longer battery life. The Surface Laptop can accommodate 16 hours of web browsing, up from 13 hours in 2024.
Brett Ostrum, Microsoft corporate vice president, said in a blog post that the Surface Laptop outperforms Apple's 2024 MacBook Air containing an M3 Arm -based chip. In March, Apple announced a MacBook Air with a faster M4 chip.
With the new machines running Windows 11, consumers can use the controversial Recall feature that remembers what's previously been on screen, as well as enhanced file search and other elements that draw on AI.
Those with Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PCs in the Windows Insider Program will be able to try an AI agent in the Settings app that can make changes in response to a few words, such as "my mouse pointer is too small." And an update to the Snipping Tool in the testing phase will make screenshots that only show the most prominent information, to reduce editing afterward.
Copilot+ PCs haven't exactly been flying off the shelves.
"Checks suggest limited appetite for investing in AI PCs given the lack of clarity on the value-added proposition and as new business cases and tools develop," Raymond James analyst Andrew Marok, who has the equivalent of a buy rating on Microsoft, wrote in a note last month.
Still, Microsoft can benefit by having updated devices on the market. Windows is the world's top operating system. Support for Windows 10, the most commonly used version for well over five years, will end in October. At that time, Microsoft will stop issuing software updates, security fixes and assistance. However, the company has committed to offering a $30 program to get extended security updates for one year for those who aren't yet ready to upgrade.
Users tend to upgrade ahead of or soon after the end of support of a Windows operating system.
"We continue to see increased commercial traction as we approach end of support for Windows 10," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told analysts on the company's earnings call last week. "Windows 11 commercial deployments increased nearly 75% year over year."
Microsoft started accepting preorders for the new PCs on Tuesday, before their May 20 release date. They will come in platinum, ocean and violet.
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