Surface Pro 11 with Intel Core Ultra 2 lands

Microsoft announced yesterday a significant addition to the Copilot+PC range with the new Surface Pro 11th edition and Surface Laptop 7th edition supporting the Intel Core Ultra 2 chipset. This brings Intel into the Copilot+PC specification alongside Qualcomm.

A significant improvement?

Yes, the previous chipset used in the Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 was Intel's Meteor Lake chipset, while having a Nueral Processing Unit built in it would only achieve 11 TOPS, meaning it fell short of being a Copilot+PC standard. Therefore, this meant these devices did not get the full functionality of Windows 24H2 when released.

Improvements in Core Ultra 2 (Lunar Lake) are a NPU up to 48 TOPS, improved power efficiency, and the highly talked-about Intel Arc graphics, and with 12 cores instead of 8 and a clock speed of 5.2 GHz, really lands Core Ultra 2 in the Copilot + PC standard.

The new Surface Pro 11th Edition now contains a choice for the user, either Intel or Snapdragon, and each will have its own merits. Remember, Surface Pro 11th Edition is a Surface for Business offering. As of 2025, consumer versions of the Surface were based around the Snapdragon device range.

Is a smaller Pro coming later this year?

The news widely reported by the likes of WindowsCentral and XDA—in fact, the majority of the computing press—is that Microsoft is working on smaller Pro and laptop versions featuring an 11-inch screen and power from the Snapdragon X 8 core at a lower price point than the current range. This has been rumoured for a consumer launch sometime in 2025. Hopefully this will follow with a corporate launch later in the year. 

This is a great opportunity to go head-to-head with the Apple iPad range by offering an 11-inch and 13-inch device with a range of Snapdragon chips in them.

What next from Intel?

Based on the Snapdragon range of X, X Plus and X Elite Intel's next offering, Panther Lake, could see a smaller, more efficient unit driving a lower-end devices. Built on the Intel 18a (1.8 nm class) process nore. This could be a direct competitor to the 8-core Snapdragon X.

Expect an announcement in the second half of 2025.

What next from Qualcomm?

Expect the Snapdragon X2 chipset to launch by the end of 2025, designed to compete with high-end offerings from AMD and Intel. Though deemed the X2, its actually the X2, as the Snapdragon X2 Elite is a mobile-only chipset that recently landed in the new Samsung S25 range.