Microsoft has just announced its new Surface Copilot Plus PCs, with the Surface Laptop 13-inch (2025) and Surface Pro 13-inch.
While Microsoft promises to bring powerful Copilot Plus PCs to more people “at even lower price points”, we’re keen to see what’s really new with the laptop and two-in-one device. Both of which look like they will sit alongside the currently available Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 as cheaper, smaller alternatives.
We’ve looked through the specs of both the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro and highlighted the key features you need to know about the 2025 flagship computers.
There are some differences between the 2024 Surface models
For these two devices, Microsoft has ditched the Surface Connector, so USB-C is now the main method to charge. The Surface Pro 12-inch doesn’t have an expandable memory slot, like the larger version, and it can’t be equipped with an OLED screen either.
For the Laptop, the Windows Hello camera has been ditched, so the biometric unlocking it all done from the fingerprint sensor.
Both are available to pre-order now
The Surface Pro is the cheaper of the two, with a starting RRP of £799/$799, whereas the Surface Laptop starts at £899/$899. Either way, both are currently available to pre-order and should launch officially in the US on 20th May. At the time of writing, Microsoft has just said the Surface PCs will be available from June 2025.
Both run on the Snapdragon X Plus processor
Both the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus processor and include an integrated 45 TOPS neural processing unit (NPU), which enables the running of on-device AI tools.
Although it sits below the Snapdragon X Elite, X Plus still promises “exceptional performance, long battery life and industry-leading on-device AI capabilities”.
Launched back in 2024, Qualcomm explains that Snapdragon X Plus supports “intuitive AI productivity tools, advanced camera and audio features, and many other AI accelerated applications and experiences” and even claims it to be 10% faster than the Apple M3 chip too.
Surface Laptop 2025
Surface Pro 2025
Remember Recall? Microsoft’s photographic memory tool uses advanced processing power to take an image of your screen every few seconds and save it to the hard-drive. Microsoft says you can then ask Recall to bring up anything you’ve seen on your computer, and the tool will search for and show you the content from its hard drive.
While it sounds like a useful tool, Microsoft has delayed the launch multiple times in the past year, mainly due to security concerns. Well finally, nearly a year after its initial announcement, Recall is set to launch on both the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, although users will have the chance to opt-in to the service. Will it be worth the wait? We’ll have to wait and see.
Both are Copilot Plus PCs with a Copilot key
Microsoft released the first line of its Copilot Plus PCs back in 2024, and hailed the computers as “the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever”. Not to be confused with Copilot, which is Microsoft’s AI chatbot, a Copilot Plus PC is a computer fitted with NPUs for performing AI-based tasks on device.
Copilot Plus offers a range of experiences including the aforementioned Recall tool and Click to Do, which Microsoft explains can identify text and images on your screen and “take actions that take advantage of local and web-based AI models to be more productive while staying in your flow”.
There’s also Improve Windows Search, Live Captions with live translation and Windows Studio Effects which uses AI to boost camera and audio quality for video calls.
Both the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are also the first of their kind to be fitted with a dedicated Copilot key, although the Surface Pro’s key is on its detachable keyboard. The Copilot key offers instant access to both Copilot, the AI assistant, and all the PC’s AI features.
Surface Pro is a two-in-one device
Although not a first, the Surface Pro is a flexible two-in-one device that doubles as both a tablet and a laptop. It’s also easy to use too, as you simply need to connect the detachable keyboard and use its built-in adjustable kickstand to turn the Surface Pro into a tabletop device.
The full-sized, 12-inch keyboard features a palm rest for extra comfort and durability, while its touchpad is fitted with adaptive touch mode too. For extra portability, it also folds back completely flat against the Surface Pro.
While the Surface Laptop may feel less flexible in comparison, it’s worth noting that it does sport a touchscreen too, which is a useful addition.
