Safe upgrade for IT workers

I can take this Surface Pro 10 for what it is because we know Microsoft has some intriguing consumer-focused Surface hardware on the horizon. The company invited the media to an event in Seattle on May 20 (a day before the start of the Build conference), where we expect to see some consumer-oriented Surface devices powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Elite chips. It makes sense for Microsoft to take more risk with its consumer hardware, rather than the machines that IT workers must manage.

Microsoft

The Surface Pro 10 for Business is a major chip upgrade over the previous model, but it’s still a thin, light and well-designed Windows tablet.

Professionals

• Fast and efficient Core Ultra chips
• The NPU can handle basic AI tasks
• Slim design
• A solid 13-inch screen

cons

• There are no major design changes compared to previous models
• Only two USB-C ports
• Keyboard case and stylus sold separately
• The stand makes placement awkward

$1200 at Microsoft

What’s new in Surface Pro 10 for business?

Both the Surface Pro 10 and the Laptop 6 for Business are powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra chips. These are the company’s first processors to include an NPU for handling AI tasks. It’s true that there aren’t many AI-driven features in Windows 11 yet, but we expect to see Microsoft sell some new AI capabilities at Build.

For now, having an NPU means you can use Windows Studio Effects, which can dazzle your video chats with blurred backgrounds and other features. By tapping into your NPU instead of your CPU or GPU, Windows 11 can also handle these tasks more efficiently and without slowing down the rest of your system. Who wouldn’t want that?

Design-wise, the Surface Pro 10 is almost exactly the same as the Pro 9 – the 13-inch 120Hz PixelSense screen returns, and Microsoft still relies on its clunky stand to support the tablet. But at least the company has released a new 1440p webcam with a wider field of view, which should lead to clearer video chats.

What’s good about the Surface Pro 10?

Despite the lack of updates, the Surface Pro 10 is still a reliable and capable hybrid tablet. It provides fast performance, a great display and excellent battery life. Here are my favorite things about it:

• Intel’s Core Ultra 135U chip is slightly faster than the 12th-generation processors used in the Surface Pro 9: It scored 5,772 points in PCMark 10, compared to its predecessor’s 4,010 points.

• The NPU on this Core Ultra chip also makes the Pro 10 more future-proof. It will be ready to handle AI features as they emerge (developers like Adobe and Audacity are already working on several).

• Microsoft’s PixelSense display still looks fantastic, with bold colors and enough brightness to be used outdoors in direct sunlight.

• While I’d like to see a newer design, its case still looks shockingly thin and sturdy. It feels like an iPad even though it runs Windows 11.

• The Surface Pro 10 lasted 12 hours and 19 minutes on the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery benchmark. That’s better than most of the ultraportables we’ve seen this year, and it’s only an hour short of the latest Dell XPS 13.

What’s not good about the Surface Pro 10?

For a machine that starts at $1,200, however, the Surface Pro 10 falls short in a few key ways:

• For a “Pro” device, there are too few accessory ports.

• His trademark stance is just a pain to live with now. It’s still awkward to hold on your lap, and it also makes the Pro 10 impossible to use on small surfaces (like my beloved standing desk laptop stand).

• The Surface Pro keyboard is still sold separately and still too expensive at $140 (there are more expensive models if you really want to punish yourself). No one will ever buy a Surface tablet alone! Microsoft’s failure to recognize this basic truth has haunted these systems since their inception.

• It could be undercut by the upcoming consumer-oriented Surface Pro 10. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips are Arm-based, so they’ll have to run an Arm version of Windows 11 and rely on emulation for older apps. But their NPUs also offer 45 TOPS (trillion operations per second) for AI tasks, while the Core Ultra chips only reach 10 TOPS on their NPUs. These differences may not mean much for the next year or so, but they could make the Snapdragon Surface Pro 10 more future-proof as we see more AI features emerge.

Should you buy a Surface Pro 10 for business?

At this point, you’re better off waiting to see how Microsoft’s new consumer-focused Surface hardware performs before investing in Professional 10 or Laptop 6. But, as I said at the beginning, these systems are not intended for consumers anyway. They exist to give IT workers a way to update their inventory without having to significantly change their workflows.