Surface Pro X


The Surface Pro X is a 2-in-1 detachable tablet computer developed by Microsoft. It is the seventh generation of Surface Pro and was announced on 2 October 2019 alongside the Surface Pro 7 and Surface Laptop 3 on 2 October 2019. The device starts at $999/£999 and launched on 5 November in the US and 19 November in the UK.
Unlike any previous Surface Pro, the Surface Pro X comes with a Microsoft SQ1 ARM processor. Microsoft claimed that it has three times the performance of a Macbook Air while also having a 13h battery life. This is due to ARM processors being much more power efficient than traditional X86 processors, which other Surface Pros, and most Windows/Linux/Mac devices use. The downside to this is that because ARM architecture is currently uncommon in the PC market, only certain apps are able to run natively on this architecture, and those that don't have to run through a 32 bit emulator, which reduces performance. Microsoft has previously used ARM processors in the discontinued Surface RT and Windows Phone operating systems.

Configuration

The Surface Pro X starts at $999/£999 for the cheapest model, with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage.
The device can be bought with either 8 GB or 16 GB RAM. Users can also choose between 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB of storage.

Hardware

The Surface Pro X is the 7th addition to Surface Pro lineup. The tablet is aimed to be a go-anywhere, do-anything PC.
All versions of the device will use a Microsoft SQ1 ARM processor. The processor is co-developed by Qualcomm, based on the Snapdragon 8cx processor. A Qualcomm X24 LTE modem is also featured in the device. To get connected, a nano SIM card can be inserted or an eSIM for LTE.
The device is available in 13 inch touchscreen display, squeezing a bigger display into the familiar form factor of the Surface Pro 7, making it slim and sleek. The bezels are smaller compared to the Surface Pro devices.
The device is slimmer and has rounder edges featuring a matte black finish construction in platinum and black finish.
The device contain 2 USB C ports, an eSIM, a SIM card slot for LTE, a removable SSD and the Surface Connect port for charging. There are no microSD card slot and a headphone jack on the tablet, forcing its users to use dongles and USB C enabled or wireless headphones.
Its battery can last up to 13 hours of use.

Software

The Surface Pro X comes pre-installed with Windows 10 Home version 1903, and not Windows RT that was developed by Microsoft in the past for ARM devices such as the Surface RT.
The Surface Pro X supports x86, ARM32 and ARM64 UWP apps from the Microsoft Store, as well as x86, ARM32 and ARM64 desktop apps obtained from other sources. ARM32 and ARM64 apps run natively without any emulation, while x86 apps run under emulation. x64 emulation is reported to be a forthcoming feature. In addition, Hyper-V can be installed on ARM64 devices such as the Surface Pro X running the Pro or Enterprise editions of Windows 10.

Timeline