Microsoft Surface Pro 12” (2nd edition) 2-in-1 tablet PC arrives with fanless design and optional 5G cellular module

Microsoft has expanded its popular Surface lineup with the Surface Pro 12-inch (2nd edition) tablet PC. The new 2-in-1 laptop is powered by the latest 6-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus CPU for significantly improved local AI performance.

Snapdragon X2 Plus CPU - AI and general performance

The Surface Pro benefits from the updated Snapdragon X2 Plus CPU, which offers up to 80 TOPS of NPU performance to run the Copilot AI assistant and other local AI tasks, such as AI photo and video generation from text prompts. This enables office workers, home users, and social media stars to generate Word documents, web pages, and social media content locally, without the need to pay for cloud AI services.

According to Microsoft testing, the latest Surface model offers up to 95% faster NPU performance using the Procyon AI benchmark, 60% faster GPU performance using the 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite benchmark, and 17% faster Office performance using the Procyon Office Productivity benchmark, when compared to the prior model.

While the Surface Pro 12's fanless design is a boon for users in libraries or recording live audio, there is a performance hit from the lack of a strong cooling fan. Notebookcheck reviewed the fanless Surface Pro 12 (1st edition) and found the CPU to have an average Cinebench R15 Multi Continuous Test benchmark score of 844, which is slower than the 1293 score of a 2023 Surface Pro 9 with a 10c/12t Intel i7-1255U CPU cooled by a fan.

Surface Pro 12 (2nd edition) specifications

The 12-inch Surface comes fitted with 16 GB or 24 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 256 GB or 512 GB of storage, clearly targeting it for lighter AI workloads. In comparison, Microsoft’s higher end Surface laptops, such as the 13-inch Surface Pro for Business with an Intel CPU (sold here on Amazon), can be fitted with up to 64 GB of RAM.

Also, while other top-end Surface models can be ordered with an OLED touchscreen display, the Surface Pro 12” (2nd ed) offers only a 90 Hz, 2,196 x 1,464-pixel LCD 10-point touchscreen with 500 nits of brightness and a 1400:1 contrast ratio.

Users can draw and write on the screen with their fingers or any Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) stylus, including the magnetic Surface Slim Pen (2nd Edition) that attaches to the back of the Surface Pro 12 for storage and wireless charging. An optional Surface Pro 12-inch keyboard magnetically connects to the bottom of the tablet and acts as a cover. A built-in kickstand opens up to 165-degrees for use while typing or drawing.

The Pro comes with a front-facing 1080p webcam enabling Windows Hello facial login and a rear-facing 10 MP camera. Both are coupled with dual microphones and dual 2W Dolby Atmos speakers.

The tablet comes with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless communications and can be ordered with a 5G cellular module. Wired peripherals can be connected to the two USB-C 3.2 (60W PD charging, DP 1.4a, Thunderbolt 4) ports.

The 2nd edition model is rated for up to 15.5 hours of video playback and 13 hours of web usage versus 16 and 12 hours for the 1st edition. The lightweight tablet weighs 1.5 lbs. (0.69 kg) and measures 10.8 x 7.47 x 0.30 in. (274 x 190 x 7.8 mm).

Windows on ARM compatibility

Although the latest Snapdragon X2 Plus CPUs offer much improved AI and GPU performance, such ARM-based CPUs are not 100% compatible with regular Windows x32/64 apps, drivers, or peripherals, unlike Intel or AMD CPU laptops. For example, Avid Media Composer, the video editing application used on all Hollywood blockbuster making over $500 million, is not compatible with Snapdragon-powered computers, but common applications, including Microsoft Office, Edge, Outlook, and Teams, run fine.

Readers can look up which apps are compatible at the Works on WoA and OnARM.Net websites, but there is no equivalent website to check driver or peripheral compatibility.

Pricing and availability

The Surface Pro 12-inch (2nd edition) in black, platinum, or violet has an MSRP starting at $1,149.99 and will be available for purchase on October 13, 2026 from the Microsoft Store. Readers can also look for its arrival in the Microsoft store on Amazon.