Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are now much faster and more affordable

Microsoft announced some Long awaited updates she has Surface Laptop and Surface Proboth of which are updated with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 chipset. The company has not given specific names for this new generation of devices, but this is technically the eighth generation Surface Laptop and the twelfth generation Surface Pro.

This new one Qualcomm The chips were slowly rolled out to different Windows Laptops throughout the first half of the year. Microsoft The company says the new chips offer “up to 53 percent faster graphics performance than the previous generation,” as well as up to 15.5 hours of battery life.

While these chips are certainly impressive in my testing (be it the Snapdragon X2 Elite or Snapdragon X2 Plus), the real story here is the bump that comes with the price.

The new Surface Laptop starts at $1,599, an increase of $600 from the starting price of $999 for the previous generation, which was known as Surface Laptop 7th edition when it launched in 2024. The initial price of $999 was then officially increased two months ago, to $1,499. This increase was shocking enough at the time, but the new price seems even worse, as the new Surface Laptop is not only more expensive, it only comes with 256GB of storage, half the size of the previous generation. Microsoft discontinued the 256GB version of the Surface Laptop late last year, but it appears to be back now.

All models still come with 16GB of RAM. But with the new The Dell XPS 13 goes back to 8GB As an initial configuration, I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft follows suit Budget class Surface laptop Later this year.

The new prices for the Surface Pro are also hard to swallow. This device also started at $999 last year, then rose to $1,199 in early 2026 when Microsoft cut the 256GB model. The new starting configuration costs $1,499 while storage space drops to 256GB. Of course, this does not include Detachable keyboard price.

Microsoft is not alone. last Windows laptops The latest silicon hardware from Intel or Qualcomm has been priced sky-high, while previous generation laptops have remained stuck in retail channels. Prices provide a snapshot of how strong the impact is Insufficient supply of components It continues to impact the PC industry, as RAM and storage prices remain wildly inflated.

Many of my favorite things about the Surface Laptop are still in place, whether it’s the taller 3:2 screen shape or the superior detachable keyboard. But the only other changes to this year’s Surface devices are some new colors. There’s a new green color option called Jade for the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop, while the Surface Pro now comes in Dune Gold.

The new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are available starting today.

The new Surface devices are a follow-up to Microsoft’s flashier announcement from earlier this month, the Surface Laptop Ultra. This depends on what is expected Nvidia RTX Spark chipwhich will be released later this year and will serve as a suitable replacement for the company’s MacBook Pro.