The Intel-powered Surface Pro 11 for Business is $500 more than the Qualcomm version

As expected, Microsoft announced the Surface Pro 11 for Business with Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2) laptop. Don’t get too excited because the new laptop is almost identical to the Quacomm counterpart. However, the starting price is $500 more, at $1,499 versus the $999 price of the Qualcomm-powered model.

The 13-inch PixelSense Flow display in LCD or OLED versions is the same, and as with the Snapdragon models, you can configure it with up to 32 GB of RAM and up to 1TB of drive storage.

There are also no changes in the connectivity department. You will get 2 USB-C ports, Thunderbolt 4 ports and the same Surface Connect tech for charging the laptop. Being a business laptop, Surface Pro 11 also comes with an NFC reader that supports the security keys for secure login.

Microsoft hasn’t made any changes to the ports on the Intel Surface Pro 11, so there are two USB-C 4 / Thunderbolt 4 ports and a Surface Connect for charging. If you want to use headphones on the Surface Pro 11, you’ll have to use Bluetooth-powered ones or connect a wired pair over USB-C. The Surface Pro 11 also has a built-in NFC reader to support security keys like the YubiKey 5C NFC. Of course, you will benefit from the latest Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and Bluetooth Core 5.4.

The technical specifications are, therefore, almost identical apart from the CPU, and this is where you get the main benefits for the extra budget.

What do you get for the extra $500?

Microsoft Surface Pro 11 features the latest Intel Core Ultra 200V series which delivers the 40+ TOPs with the built-in NPUs that cover the required specifications for a Copilot+ PC.

Intel’s new design also delivers excellent power-efficiency for various complex business workloads by sending the right task to the right engine at the right time. The latest generation of P-core and low-power E-core processor architectures, an enhanced NPU 4.0 AI Engine and built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs driven by a new Xe2 architecture drive business productivity by optimizing hundreds of apps and tools. Source: Microsoft

Rearchitected P-cores run priority tasks and workloads with optimized power efficiency thanks to AI-based power management, an enhanced memory subsystem, and power, performance and area (PPA) optimizations, with up to 12 MB of shared L3 cache.

Highly efficient and performant next-generation E-cores, housed in a dedicated cluster with their own cache, are optimized for lower priority tasks that require less power. They include up to 4 MB shared L2 cache and doubled AI throughput through four 128-bit Floating Point (FP) and Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) vector extensions.

The Intel-powered Microsoft Surface Pro 11 will also feature the integrated Intel Arc GPU with 8 X^e-cores, 64 vector engines, and 8 MB cache. The X^e Super Sampling and the Intel XMX (X^e Matrix Extensions) will also boost the upscaling and raytracing capabilities for graphics. You still won’t be able to run the latest AAA gaming titles, but we’re talking about a business laptop.

Microsoft also mentioned the launch of their latest USB 4 dock for $199. It is compatible with all the Surface laptops with a USB-C port and it will add support for 2 4K external displays. Moreover, you will get 65-watt passthrough charging and many ports, including USB-A 3.2, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, and a 100 W power supply.

Microsoft Surface Pro 11 and the USB 4 dock will be available starting February 18. Tell us in the comments if you feel that it’s worth paying $500 extra for the Intel-powered Microsoft Surface Pro 11 laptop model.