Microsoft has lowered the weight of its Surface Laptop to 13 inches

What Happened When Microsoft Made the Improvements to the Surface Pro 12-inch Model: A Case Study with the Surface Pencil, the Surface Keyboard, and an Improved Connector

You can pre-order the new Surface laptop at Microsoft’s store or at Best Buy starting at $899. The new Surface laptop and smaller Surface Pro will be available to consumers and businesses from May 20th through July 22nd.

The Surface Pro 12-inch is also a Copilot Plus PC because of that Snapdragon X Plus chip, so you get access to the new Recall feature as well as AI-powered Windows search, Click to Do, and a variety of other Windows AI features.

During a visit to Microsoft headquarters last month, I was fascinated by the changes that the company has made to the Surface Pro 12-inch model.

Disappointingly, Microsoft has also ditched Windows Hello facial recognition support on this smaller Surface Laptop, so you’ll have to use a fingerprint reader that’s positioned on the power button if you want to log into this laptop without a password or PIN code. Microsoft has kept Windows Hello facial recognition on its smaller Surface Pro 12-inch model though, and there’s still a 1080p front-facing camera on the Surface Laptop 13-inch.

Much like the new Surface Pro 12-inch, Microsoft has also removed the Surface Connect charging port from this device. There are now two USB-C 3.2 ports for charging, data transfer, or DisplayPort 1.4a support, as well as a single USB-A 3.1 port and a headphone jack.

I tried out the panel and it wasn’t really bad but if you are used to the smoothness of the 120Hz panel, then you will notice the drop to 60hertz.

Microsoft is using a resolution of 2196 x 1464 for the Surface Pro 12-inch display. The company has kept the 3:2 aspect ratio found on Surface devices, but this time it uses a 90hertz panel instead of the 120Hz found on the 13 inch Surface Pro 11. There is no option to choose from on the Surface Pro 12 inch.

Microsoft had to create a new Surface keyboard for this smaller Surface Pro, because older Type Covers would have simply been too big for this new 12-inch form factor. That’s led to a total redesign of the Surface keyboard and even how it connects to the Surface Pro 12-inch. It still magnetically attaches, but Microsoft is using a different connector, which means the keyboard is no longer angled and lays flat.

I also tested the Surface Pro 12-inch on my lap, and I think I ultimately prefer the angled keyboard on the larger Surface Pro 11 instead of the flat one on this smaller model. Both are good at reducing the bounce and flex that you’d find on older versions of the Surface Pro, though.