During its “New Era of Work” virtual event focused on Windows Copilot and Surface devices for business customers, Microsoft introduced the new Surface Pro 10. While this is not the exact model that most everyday people can buy, some of its More notable features will probably be transferred. Although not a major upgrade over the Microsoft Surface Pro 9, the Surface Pro 10 looks promising.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 10 features the same design as its two immediate predecessors. That means you get a thin and light device that doubles as both a laptop and a tablet. The main draw here is the inclusion of Intel’s AI-enabled “Meteor Lake” chip, which should work well with Windows Copilot. The Surface Pro 10 also has a higher resolution webcam that uses artificial intelligence features to improve image quality.
With the Surface Pro 10 (for business) expected to launch on April 8, let’s detail its biggest new features and how they compare to the Surface Pro 9.
Meteor Lake Power
Microsoft is labeling the Surface Pro 10 (and Surface Laptop 6) as “AI PCs,” as they both feature the AI-enabled Meteor Lake chip. There has been a lot of hype around “AI laptops” since Intel introduced its Core Ultra processors. To that end, it makes sense that Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars in AI, would want the chip in its flagship Surface devices.
So what can Meteor Lake do for the Surface Pro 10? The chip’s Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is optimized for tasks that often fall under the “AI” umbrella, such as blurring the background during video calls. That particular feature (among others) will help when using the device’s “AI-enhanced” 1,440p ultra-wide webcam that supports Windows Studio Effects.
We have reviewed some Meteor Lake laptops in 2024 and have yet to see the daily benefits of “AI” for everyday use. But as I’ve always said, if AI becomes as revolutionary as the tech industry believes, machines like the Surface Pro 10 should be ready to take advantage of it.
While you can certainly use features like Windows Copilot on the Surface Pro 9 (via the cloud), Microsoft’s AI chatbot should, in theory, run faster on the Surface Pro 10 since Copilot can run locally on the device . Of course, we won’t know if that’s true until we’ve tested the Surface Pro 10 for ourselves.
Best webcam
The Surface Pro 9 featured a front-facing 1080p webcam that was reasonably sharp and colorful. I thought the webcam was fine but unremarkable. If you weren’t happy with the Surface Pro 9’s webcam, you’ll be happy to know that its successor now has a 1440p front-facing camera.
As I said above, the new webcam is compatible with Windows Studio Effects. The effects in question include auto-framing, eye contact, and background blur. The camera has a 114-degree field of view, which Microsoft says is the widest ever implemented on a Windows PC. There’s also a 10.5MP UHD rear camera, which is a slight step up from the Surface Pro 9’s 10MP rear camera.
Given the number of people working from home or doing hybrid jobs, it’s important to have a reliable webcam when conferencing with your team. The same goes if you frequently chat with friends or loved ones on apps like Discord. We’ll have to test the new camera to see if it’s noticeably better than the previous Surface Pro.
Copilot key on the keyboard
Some Surface Pro 10 models will have a Windows co-pilot key on the keyboard. This may not be a monumental feature, but it’s still worth discussing.
In January of this year, we learned that Windows 11 keyboards would get a new Copilot key. That was a big deal since a new option hasn’t been added to the keyboard since the introduction of the Windows key in 1994, making it the first new key in nearly 30 years. Laptops like the Dell XPS 14 feature the Copilot key and I must say it’s pretty cool to have a new key on the keyboard.
Since there is now a Windows Copilot button on the Windows taskbar (at least for most users), it makes sense to have a dedicated key for Microsoft’s chatbot. This is especially true for Microsoft’s Surface devices. As I said, if AI ever takes off like some believe (or hope), then having access to Copilot with the push of a button could be very useful.
Is the Surface Pro 10 worth the upgrade over the Surface Pro 9?
It’s hard to answer this question since right now we only know the Surface Pro 10 business model. It’s reasonable to assume that the consumer model will have the great features I mentioned above, but we also don’t want to assume that’s a guarantee.
That said, if the consumer model does indeed have a Meteor Lake chip, a better webcam, and a Copilot key, it should be a notable improvement over its predecessor. Surface Pros aren’t the most exciting Windows laptops, but people generally like them because they’re very portable and quite powerful. The Surface Pro 10 may be more of the same, but it’s not that bad.
- Microsoft introduces Copilot Pro for $20 a month
- Mistral reached an agreement with Microsoft for the GPT-4 level AI model
- How to remap the Copilot key in Windows 11
