Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review: The start of something new (again)

Microsoft has a lot going on right now. On one hand, it’s trying to whip up a frenzy around AI, while on the other, it’s trying to take Windows into a new place where it can better compete with Apple’s move to M hardware. The Surface Pro 11 attempts to do both: it’s a “CoPilot+ PC” and it’s running on new hardware, with Snapdragon X at its heart.

None of this you’d know by looking at it, because the Surface Pro looks just like previous iterations. But at its core, this is a new proposition, laying down a marker as the future of Windows computers.

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The Disconnekt Downlow

Microsoft sticks to a tried and tested design, with the Surface Pro 11 looking the same as previous iterations. But on the inside it’s all change. There’s the option for an OLED display as window dressing, while there’s Snapdragon hardware, shifting this device away from Intel, and ushering in a new generation of Windows. The immediate benefit is massive battery life, while there’s plenty of grunt too. An expanding list of native ARM apps means things mostly run smoothly, but Microsoft’s focus on AI through CoPilot seems to be something of a distraction. Leave that to one side and this is the best Surface so far.

Buy from £1049 on Amazon; as reviewed £1749

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The reasons to choose the Surface Pro 11

The Microsoft Surface has had an interesting run. It first launched in 2012, looking to make a move that has taken 12 years to complete. The original Surface made its debut on ARM hardware and although there have been dalliances with ARM since (the 2019 Surface X and the 2023 Surface Pro 9 5G) it’s the Surface Pro 11 that really makes that migration away from Intel and completes the Surface’s original mission.

If you’ve not been following the Windows on ARM story, let’s quickly recap. Windows has been dominated by Intel-powered x86 hardware for many years. Most of the apps are designed for it and if you’ve bought a Windows laptop in the last decade or more, then x86 is what you have. ARM is the architecture that’s more common for mobile devices, it’s also the architecture that Apple moved to in 2020 with the launch of Apple Silicon.

At the heart of my review sample is the Snapdragon X Elite, developed by Qualcomm and designed to level the playing field between Windows laptops and Apple’s devices. The MacBook has enjoyed a couple of years where it could easily deliver double the battery life of a Windows device, but that’s no longer the case. Above all, the greatest benefit of Windows on ARM for me – delivered by the Surface Pro 11 – is battery life.

My previous Windows laptop would scrape through about 5 hours, but the Surface Pro 11 will double that, easily. That brings serious all-day usability; long haul flights without the need for a plug (whether you’re working or watching a movie), while hopping between meetings and briefings, working long days on the move, is no problem at all.

One of the things that held Windows on ARM back in the past was app compatibility. The difference this time is that many PC manufacturers are making this move to new hardware too, so there’s greater impetus behind developers recoding for ARM instead of x86. Microsoft’s apps all run smoothly, and the likes of Adobe and Google Chrome, Spotify and more have native ARM apps, so they run as normal.

For those apps that don’t, Prism (Microsoft’s emulator) handles those so they still run. Microsoft says that 90 per cent of your time will be spent in native apps – but that perhaps reflects the time spent in certain apps on Windows, like Chrome or Microsoft’s own Office apps. Yes, there will be some apps that don’t run, but it really depends on how niche your Windows use is – personally, it covered all my daily use apps.

Then you have the new display. There’s the option for an OLED display on the Surface (and quite a bump in cost) but it does look glorious. I found it to be nice and bright, making working a pleasure wherever I was doing it, as well as being great for when you want to lean back and watch movie on Netflix.

That’s aided by great speakers. There’s real immersion from them, making this a great device for entertainment, while the kickstand on the back adds the convenience of being able to prop the Surface up wherever you are.

Finally there’s the new keyboard. I’ve enjoyed Microsoft’s various Surface keyboards over the years and the latest version is a pleasure to type on. I found it took very little to adjust to it, there’s sufficient key travel for a satisfying typing experience, while it houses a battery so you can separate it from the screen and still use it. The trackpad is also a little larger, which I’m always a fan of.

There is also a CoPilot key dropped in here and arguably, CoPilot doesn’t warrant its own key, which I’ll talk about in a second.

What the Surface Pro 11 could do better

With no change in design, you would be forgiven for asking if Microsoft thinks this is the pinnacle of design. At 895g, this is a heavy tablet – the iPad Pro 13in model is 579g – and it’s not as though it’s been loaded with connectivity. There remains just two USB-C connections, as well as the Surface’s bespoke charging connector (although you can charge by USB-C too). With that said, I struggle to see Surface as a tablet, I’ve always seen it as a laptop with a detachable keyboard.

But to complain about the format that Surface takes would be to do it a disservice: if you don’t like it, you’ll buy a Surface Laptop instead.

My biggest gripe, though, is really about the prominence of the CoPilot billing. I accept that AI is in the ascendency, but Microsoft seems to have adopted the same approach as a lot of other tech brands in shoehorning in AI and talking about it as core to the experience, even when it isn’t.

Let’s talk about the whole CoPilot thing

CoPilot can offer a range of services, like live translation or captions, summarising and making suggestions, while also being there at the tap of a button to be a generative chatbot.

“Let’s get started with your conversation”, says CoPilot excitedly, expectant that there’s a conversation that I need to have. I asked Copilot what its purpose was, and this was the response:

Perhaps I’m an AI party pooper, but I can’t see that CoPilot delivers anything I can’t already do. Ok sure, the addition of AI into Paint is cute, especially if you’re using the Surface Pen where you can tell Paint what you’re drawing and start sketching, and Paint uses gen AI to create the image for you.

That’s fine and dandy, but you’re firing up the great AI bot in the cloud for this stuff; hit flight mode and the CoPilot key then just tells you you’re offline. The biggest and most controversial part of CoPilot’s integration – the Recall function – has been shelved for now, leaving CoPilot feeling like a distraction, and CoPilot+ PC feeling like awkward branding.

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks working on the Surface Pro 11, with plenty of travel, revelling in the smooth running and the long battery life of this compact device, but CoPilot really hasn’t come to my aid. Some of the answers aren’t as on point as you’ll get from a Google search and if you really want the full CoPilot Pro experience that integrates into Office apps, you have to pay £19 a month.

Certainly, don’t go out and buy the Surface Pro 11 thinking that AI is going to enhance your life, because for most people, it won’t.

Should you buy the Surface Pro 11?

The best way to approach the Surface Pro 11 is to take CoPilot out of the equation – for now at least. Fly solo on this mission instead, because the tools the CoPilot seems to pushing at this point in time are commonplace rather than being revolutionary – and unless you’re a CoPilot Pro subscriber, you can likely access everything through a browser anyway.

Instead focus on what the Surface Pro 11 does well. It’s a superb 2-in-1, built to a high standard, with a great keyboard (that unfortunately, pushes the bill up even higher). There’s no avoiding that at the top level, the Surface Pro 11 is expensive, but the Snapdragon X Plus model without the OLED display is about the same price as the iPad Pro and for many, that might be the model to choose.

More importantly, I’ve been able to run all my normal apps and stick to my normal workflow, but enjoy battery life that far surpasses anything that my older Intel laptop would offer me. That’s the big takeaway here – that’s why the new wave of Windows on ARM is exciting.

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