A couple of days ago, Microsoft held its Surface/AI PC media event where they announced a major AI push in Windows, as well as the Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro, 11th edition.

My Favorite Announcement

As part of the keynote, Microsoft announced a new Surface Pro Flex keyboard, which retails for $350 without the Surface Slim Pen, and $450 with it. The pricing would feel more outrageous if Apple hadn’t already conditioned us to pay exhorbitant amounts of money for keyboard accessories.

The major differentiator to their other Surface keyboards is that this model can work wirelessly when detatched from the tablet. I love this because it’s a case of Microsoft actually leaning into the tablet form factor in a way they really haven’t since the revised kickstand on the Surface Pro 3. This may not be the most practical feature, but I like see this kind of creative thinking in product design.

Finally Time For Windows on ARM?

The new Surface Pro only comes in an ARM variant using Qualcomm’s highly anticipated new Snapdragon X SoCs. From a performance and efficiency perspective, these chips are supposed to be very competitive with Apple’s M2 and M3 chips.

As someone who owned both a Surface RT and a Surface Pro X, I’ve been burned by Windows on ARM too many times to jump head first into another ARM Surface, no matter how nice it looks. I’ll be waiting for long term reviews and invitable sales because….

OLED Is The High End Option

The OLED model starts at $1500, but you at least get 16 GB of ram and a 512 GB SSD. Still expensive, but in the ballpark of the OLED iPad Pro.

Speaking of the iPad Pro, I just watched the Microsoft event…and they didn’t mention the iPad at all during the Surface Pro section. Microsoft has come out guns blazing for the MacBook Air, though.

Maybe it’s because are fully embracing the Surface Pro as more of laptop than a tablet? Maybe they don’t feel like the iPad product line is competition for Surface? Maybe the surprise annoucement of the M4 chip in the new iPad Pro threw off their comparisons? Who knows. It just odd to not compare your product against one if the most popular tablets in the world.

Conclusion

It’ll be some time before I’m able to pick up a new Surface, assuming Windows on ARM is no longer the roadblock it’s been in the past. I actually hope Microsoft announces an Intel version of the OLED model later this year. Either way, its good to see Surface Pro continue to be pushed forward, as I still see it as the iPad’s biggest competitor.