Microsoft refreshes Surface Pro X tablet
What’s new is on the inside, with a new SQ2 ARM chip and revamped code.
Microsoft is taking the unusual step of refreshing its existing Surface Pro X tablet line-up by adding premium options built upon a second-generation Microsoft SQ2 ARM processor. In addition, Microsoft has reworked some of its key applications, delivering more performance and longer battery life on Windows on ARM.
Microsoft’s SQ2 will be featured in the new, high-end Surface Pro X options. Besides the new CPU, there are no significant changes to the Surface Pro X design, save for new cosmetic options: a
new Platinum finish, and three new Surface Pro X Signature Keyboards in Platinum, Ice Blue and Poppy Red.
Microsoft’s nifty, rechargeable Surface Slim Pen, which resides within the Signature Keyboard’s cubby, will still be sold separately. The Slim Pen and the Surface Pro X Signature Keyboard are currently bundled together for £259 at fave.co/36T6Ql3.
Microsoft debuted the Surface Pro X less than a year ago, significantly revamping the Surface tablet hardware with additional USB-C ports and the rechargeable pen cubby. But as our Surface Pro X review showed, it failed to deliver even a working day’s worth of battery life, in addition to the usual compatibility challenges Microsoft’s SQ1 ARM chip brought with it.
PERFORMANCE
Fortunately, Microsoft continues to make progress on both fronts. We know the Microsoft SQ2 is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G, a 7-watt chip that Qualcomm believes will trounce a 15-watt 10th-gen Intel Core i5 by 39 per cent. Microsoft likely upclocked the SQ2 in the same way that its SQ1 was essentially an upclocked Snapdragon 8cx, with SQ1 speeds reportedly reaching 3GHz. (Officially, Microsoft isn’t saying how fast the SQ2 runs.)
Historically, however, processors like the SQ1 have faced another hurdle: compatibility. By now, it’s a familiar story for anyone who’s followed Windows on ARM: ARM processors and devices like the Surface Pro X can run 32-bit and 64-bit ARM code natively. Code written for traditional PCs that runs in 32-bit X86 mode can be interpreted by ARM processors, but with a performance penalty. The vast majority of traditional PCs can also run 64-bit code written for X86 chips. Currently, however, this code doesn’t run on ARM chips at all. This incompatibility remains a significant weakness for Windows-on-ARM PCs.
Microsoft said that it’s solving that particular problem, announcing plans to release code to allow 64-bit X86 apps to be emulated by Windows on ARM beginning in November. That code will be distributed to members of Microsoft’s Windows Insider beta programme first. Running 64-bit X86 apps on top of ARM would still introduce a performance hit, however, and Microsoft’s answer to that has been to work to develop more optimized versions of popular apps specifically written for the ARM architecture.
Those applications apparently include a long-awaited version of Google Chrome written on top of ARM64, as well as the existing, optimized versions of the Firefox browser and WhatsApp. Microsoft also said that it’s continued to work with its Edge browser to optimize it for ARM processors, and announced plans for a version of Microsoft Teams specifically coded for ARM. Visual Studio has been optimized for Windows on ARM. All
told, ‘thousands’ of existing Windows apps now run on Surface Pro X, either natively or via emulation.
Via these changes in software, Microsoft is now saying that the Surface Pro X will deliver up to a theoretical 15 hours of battery life “across all configurations”. The Surface Pro X, by comparison, lasted anywhere from six hours to a bit over eight hours in our original tests.
Totally unrelated to Microsoft’s 64-bit development work, but still noteworthy, is Eye Contact, a technology Microsoft developed that taps Qualcomm’s AI capabilities. Eye Contact uses machine intelligence to alter your image during a video call, making it look like you’re always looking at the camera – and your audience – even when you’re really looking at their face upon the screen.
A smaller but still-significant change Microsoft has made has to do with connectivity. It is marketing the Surface Pro X with just LTE connectivity instead.
Will the Surface Pro X make a splash this time around? The challenges that currently face all mobile device makers is that we’re still largely stuck indoors, where mobility means walking from room to room. The revamped Surface
Pro X nevertheless signals Microsoft’s continued commitment to Windows on ARM, and the company’s development firepower remains impressive.
Below, we’ve listed the basic features for the revamped Surface Pro X. Underneath, we’ve added the available configurations.
SPECIFICATIONS
• 13in (2,880x1,920; 267ppi) PixelSense display, multi-touch
• Windows 10 Home
• 3GHz Microsoft SQ1, SQ2 option CPU
• Adreno 685; Microsoft SQ2: Adreno 690 GPU
• 8GB/16GB LPDDR4X RAM
• 128GB/256GB/512GB SSD
• 2x USB-C
• 1x Surface Connect
• 1x Nano-SIM
• Surface keyboard connector
• Webcam: 5Mp/1080p (user facing)
• Rear-facing camera 10Mp/1080p, autofocus with 1080p/4K video options
• 38.9Wh battery
• Wi-Fi 5/802.11ac
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Snapdragon X24 LTE modem with Nano-SIM or eSIM
• 287x208x7.3mm
• 774g
PRICE
£999: SQ1 processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD:£999
£1,269: SQ1 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD:£1,269
£1,449: SQ1 processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD: £1,449
£1,819: SQ1 processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
£1,549: SQ2 processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB
£1,849: SQ2 processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD