The time is ripe for a new era of Microsoft’s Surface devices. South Africa might have been late to the party where the Surface Pro 9 was concerned in 2023, but that wasn’t the case for the rest of the world. Globally, Microsoft skipped entering double-digits for the Surface Pro line-up last year — but that’s set to change later this month according to a new report from Windows Central.
If Central’s (unnamed) sources are correct, the OS King is hooking the world up with a new, kitted-out Surface Pro 10 later this month, joined by a new Surface Laptop 6. Both devices are expected to be unveiled as Microsoft’s “first AI PCs,” sporting AI features that are supposedly heading to Windows 11 later this year. The rumoured date being thrown around is 21 March, but they’ll probably take a little longer to arrive in South Africa (if they arrive at all).
Surface-level artificial upgrades
What makes these artificially intelligent, then? That’ll be Intel’s new Core Ultra chips or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite-based processors coupled with “next-gen NPUs” (neural processing units) — all aimed at making these far more powerful than their predecessors, especially in the realm of on-device AI. Windows Central reckons both devices will be sold in Intel and Arm variants.
In terms of efficiency and performance, Central’s sources believe these upgrades will put the Surface devices on the same level as Apple’s iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, far exceeding previous Surface iterations, though it didn’t mention specific models.
Read More: Microsoft Surface Pro 9 review – Making laptops ever more nervous
The Surface Pro 10 won’t be getting a makeover in the looks department, repping a mightily similar design to the Surface Pro 9. It will, however, receive a new OLED display, an ultrawide front-facing webcam, NFC reading capabilities, and AI Studio effects built-in.
The Surface Laptop 6, on the other hand, will see a larger design departure from the Surface Laptop 5. That means a selection of ports worthy of 2024 (2x USB-C and a singular USB-A), a new haptic touchpad, a Copilot key, along with slimmed-down bezels and rounder corners. We’re guessing Microsoft is aiming to pull a Samsung and make minor changes — with AI capabilities being the main selling point.
Microsoft’s Marco Polo
As for what’ll set Microsoft’s “AI PCs” apart, it’ll be the AI features that ship with it. Onboard Copilot, real-time caption, live translations, frame rate smoothing and videogame upscaling, improved Windows Studio effects and the real kicker — “AI Explorer”.
AI Explorer is described as an “advanced Copilot”. It will have access to your PC’s documents, web pages, images and chats so users can search through their files using “natural language.”
“For example, you could type, “Find me that list of restaurants Jenna said she liked,” and Windows can bring up the exact conversation you were having when Jenna mentioned those restaurants. Even vague prompts should work, like “Find me that thing about dinosaurs,” Windows will pull up every word, phrase, image, and related topic about dinosaurs that you’ve previously opened on your computer,” Windows Central says.
Microsoft is expected to unveil its new Surface devices on 21 March 2024, though both are only meant to begin shipping in April and June. Intel models should get an earlier release, while Arm variants will have to wait slightly longer.