Surface Pro 11 could have emptied my wallet to be my new Copilot+ PC if Microsoft hadn't missed one crucial launch option

[Windows Central]

Microsoft provides a new platform for AI PCs with Copilot+, but its in-house Surface Pro 11 doesn't quite convince me while it misses part of my personal criteria.

Surface Pro 11 could have emptied my wallet to be my new Copilot+ PC if Microsoft hadn't missed one crucial launch option : Read more

 

[timwhite]

I agree 100%. I was poised to pull the trigger on a new, 5G ARM Surface Pro on launch day. The absence of 5G, though, is a show-stopper for me.

 

[John McIlhinney]

If you need 5G then you need it, so I have no issue with that. I do take issue with some of the language though. It makes it sound like Microsoft have chosen to delay the models with 5G just to be spiteful or because they don't care or whatever. the simple truth is that they more time to get it working satisfactorily so the alternative would have been to delay the WiFi-only models unnecessarily in order that both are released at the same time. I see similar complaints when games release without multiplayer components or the like. Things tale as long as they take so, if you're expecting everything to be released together, you're not going to get what you want any sooner but others will haver to wait for what they want for no good reason. Also, maybe I'm misremembering as I've never bought a 5G model but haven't they been released later than the WiFi-only version is some Surface devices in the past too?

 

[The Werewolf]

I'd missed that - yeah, one of the features of Snapdragon is that because it started out as a cellphone chipset, the chipset has a radio modem built in. Problem is that OEMs have to pay an extra fee to turn that on and I think a fee for each band activated.

The Surface X had 5G so it's odd they left that out on the 10s.

I generally prefer tablets and laptops with integrated cellular, but in the US it gets even weirder as US cellcos still tend to want tablets and laptops locked to a specific network. Lenovo is particularly bad for this, tending to lock to the most evil cellco - Verizon.

Personally, I've adapted to using my phone as a radio modem either as a hotspot or by just connecting it using a USB cable. It used to be a major hassle but it's gotten MUCH easier (at least on Android - don't use Apple products so can't speak for iOS). Also, my cableco include access to their WiFi network which is widely accessible across my city and for the first time in a long time, having cellular support hasn't been a major issue.

 

[Arun Topez]

This article was annoying, literally had to scroll down all the fluff to see what the missing 'crucial launch option' was. And that's it? 5G? When you already know it's coming in this fall, and it obviously purposely being released later for a reason? Obviously they'd release it at launch if that was an option for them, but they didn't want to delay the regular launch. You should have just named the article "I wish the 5G variant was released at launch" because with the way it's currently written, sounds like something is wrong with the SP11 itself.

 

[John McIlhinney]

The Surface X had 5G so it's odd they left that out on the 10s.

Note that the just-announced model with Snapdragon X is Surface Pro 11. Surface Pro 10 was the Intell model released earlier in the year and was only "for Business", with no consumer-focused version. I was actually surprised when these were named Surface Pro 11 and there is a "for Business" version too. Oddly, it is not going to be available until September/October when the only difference is going to be Windows 11 Pro instead of Home. Maybe that means that Windows 11 Pro won't have the AI features ready until then.