The rumors are true. Microsoft is launching Intel-powered versions of its Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7. Available on February 18th, both of these new Surface devices are Copilot Plus PCs, but instead of using Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon X series of chips, they’ll use Intel’s Lunar Lake processors.
Microsoft is targeting these models at businesses, much like how it released Intel-only versions of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 last year. Business customers will now be able to pick between Intel or Qualcomm inside Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 designs that are identical.
The Surface Laptop 7 for businesses will be available starting at $1,499.99, which is $500 more than the starting price of the Qualcomm variant. Two different screen sizes will be available: 13.8-inch and a larger 15-inch model, and both can be configured with Intel Core Ultra 5 or Ultra 7 chips, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. Microsoft is promising up to 14 hours of battery life (based on active web usage) on the 15-inch model and up to 12 hours on the 13.8-inch variant. These estimates are only an hour behind the same figures Microsoft provides for the Qualcomm versions of the Surface Laptop 7.
The ports on the Intel-powered Surface Laptop 7 are largely unchanged, with Microsoft opting for a USB-A 3.2 port instead of the USB-A 3.1 that ships on the Qualcomm version. There are also two USB-C 4 / Thunderbolt 4 ports, the Surface Connect charging port, and a headphone jack. Microsoft is also using the same PixelSense displays on the Intel variant of the Surface Laptop 7 as the Qualcomm version.
Much like the Surface Laptop 6 for businesses, Microsoft is shipping an optional smart card reader in certain markets. Microsoft is also launching a 5G version of the Surface Laptop 7 later this year, and the company plans to share more details on this model “in the coming months.”
The Surface Pro 11 for businesses is also largely identical to the Qualcomm version, but it starts at $1,499.99 instead of the $999.99 starting price of the Qualcomm version. You can pick between a 13-inch LCD or OLED panel, with both displays the same as on the Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro 11. Businesses will be able to configure the Intel-powered Surface Pro 11 with Core Ultra 5 or Ultra 7 processors, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage.
Microsoft hasn’t made any changes to the ports on the Intel Surface Pro 11, so there are two USB-C 4 / Thunderbolt 4 ports and a Surface Connect for charging. If you want to use headphones on the Surface Pro 11, you’ll have to use Bluetooth-powered ones or connect a wired pair over USB-C. The Surface Pro 11 also has a built-in NFC reader to support security keys like the YubiKey 5C NFC.
Both of these Intel-powered Surface devices come just months before Windows 10’s end of support on October 14th. Microsoft is now pitching these Copilot Plus PCs as upgrade devices for businesses that are transitioning from Windows 10 to Windows 11. As they both include NPUs capable of Copilot Plus features, they’ll be able to access the latest Windows AI features including Recall and Microsoft’s AI-powered Windows Search.
Microsoft is also tempting businesses with a new USB 4 dock that will also be available on February 18th, priced at $199.99. Designed to work with all Surface devices with a USB-C port, the dock supports two 4K displays at 60Hz and includes 65-watt passthrough charging and up to 40Gb/s for data transfers. Front-facing ports include a single USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port and a USB-C 4 Gen 3 port, while at the rear, there is a single USB-C 4 Gen 3 port, an HDMI 2.1 port, an ethernet port, and a USB-C connector for the 100-watt power supply.
Microsoft is opening up business preorders for the Intel-powered Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 today, and both devices ship on February 18th.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
