Up next, we take an engineering deep dive and tour of the all new Surface Pro 9 on the 10th
anniversary of Microsoft's category defining 2-in-1 Surface Pro line that combines tablet
portability and laptop performance. A Secured-core PC, we'll look at the silicon choices from
the 12th Gen Intel processors with Intel Evo for workstation-class power to the ARM-based
Microsoft SQ3 powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon with 5G for superior mobility and performance on the
go. And to take us through our engineering deep dive, we're joined once again by Dave Mitchell,
who leads the Surface Pro engineering team. Welcome back to Mechanics! Thanks, Jeremy,
I'm really excited to be back on representing the team. This is a milestone year for us in Surface.
And this is actually the 10th anniversary of what's become the iconic Surface Pro line. But it
really was the start of Microsoft's entry into the PC marketplace. You know, it's hard to believe
that it has been 10 years since we introduced our first Surface, the original 2-in-1. And if
someone who's been on a team for a good part of that journey, and it was a first of its kind,
how would you rate the influence and Surface Pro has had on the rest of the Surface line? Well,
from its inception, we focused on delivering premium, iconic devices and experiences while
innovating on form factors. The craftsmanship that went into the original Surface Pro is evident
across our broad portfolio today. From the fit and finish to the sophisticated hinges in every
one of our devices to the 3x2 aspect ratio of our PixelSense displays that are touch, pen and
ink enabled. And as a first party PC manufacturer, we've also helped drive a number of enhancements
across the company to deliver the best Microsoft 365 experiences on Surface devices. And of course,
if we can provide a tested foundation to the rest of the Windows ecosystem to innovate further,
that's our way of paying things forward. And I see that you brought a lot of nostalgia with
you on the desk in front of you today. I have! Given its our 10-year anniversary. I thought we
would reminisce a bit. I have in front of me a Surface Pro 3, a Surface Pro X and a Surface Pro
9 with 5G. We've definitely come a long way since it all started with the very first Surface 2-in-1
prototype that was built using polyjets and duct tape. That gave birth to our iconic 2-in-1 design,
which launched a new category 10 years ago with the original Surface Pro. Next is a Surface Pro 3,
which is when we first introduced our signature 3x2 screen aspect ratio, which maximizes screen
real estate for productivity. Surface Pro X was our next major update to the iconic design
and centered around our custom ARM silicon in partnership with Qualcomm. We made the bezels
thinner and introduced our current modern design with the new 13 inch PixelSense display, along
with the best in class Gigabit LTE connectivity. Surface Pro 8 picked up the design last year,
matching the new Fluid UI design of Windows 11. So the Surface Pro 8 then set the path, really,
for the latest Surface Pro. In fact, I happen to have the Intel model in front of me right here.
And it's also the start of a material shift to aluminum with the Pro line. Yes, and the shift
has allowed us to introduce a couple of new colors. In addition to platinum and graphite,
we now have sapphire and forest available for our Wi-fi models. And to match our new device colors,
we have two new Surface Pro Signature Keyboard colors as well. You know, of course, one of the
key reasons that you see this commitment to consistency of design is to retain the
compatibility with accessories, including the pen, the Surface Dock and much more. Maintaining
consistency of Design and compatibility with accessories is an important factor for sure. The
design shift, which started with the Pro 8, really set the foundation for the current Pro 9. And what
this means for Surface Pro 9, specifically, is that we have been able to build a common
architecture of the device for two very different processor platforms, both sharing the same core
design and components. One. With the latest Intel 12th Gen Core i5 and i7 processors, which brings
powerful desktop like performance. And another for our Microsoft SQ3 powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon
and optimized for mobility and battery life. Both platforms use the same 47.7 watt hour battery,
delivering up to 15.5 hours of battery life on Intel and up to 19 hours battery life on ARM;
the most yet in a Surface Pro. OK, so why don't we dig into the specifics of the flavors of each
device. Sounds good. Starting with the Surface Pro 9 with Intel Evo that you have in front of you,
Jeremy. You have your choice of Intel's 12th Gen Core i5 or i7 U-series processors. Both have 10
asymmetric cores, two high performance and eight high efficiency cores, with the option of up to
32 GB of memory in one terabyte of storage. It supports Wi-fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1. Moving to the
outside of the device, you'll notice that there are two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports that support up
to 40 gigabits per second data transfer. Then they can drive two 4K displays at 60 hertz.
And the built in 13 inch PixelSense display is beautiful with its wide color gamut,
HDR support and Dolby Vision. It has 2880 by 1920 resolution, and supports up to 120 hertz
dynamic refresh rate. The touch and natural inking experience using the Surface Slim Pen
2 with tactile signals is best in class. It is by far the most powerful Surface Pro today,
with great performance, whether you're running heavier workloads like a design application or
lighter ones like Microsoft 365 apps. The Core i5 model is 60% faster, and the Core
i7 model is 50% faster than previous generation Surface Pro. So you get all the performance and
the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processors, great ports and connectivity, and also faster wireless
speeds. Exactly. And for today's ultra-mobile demands of the hybrid of mobile workforce,
fast connectivity is a core theme for Surface Pro 9. 10 years ago, we introduced our first
Surface 2-in-1 PC. On this anniversary, we're introducing our first Surface 2-in-1 PC with 5G.
The basis for the Surface Pro 9 with 5G is the Intel-based version discussed earlier, but powered
by Microsoft's SQ3 ARM processor, developed in partnership with Qualcomm. The 5G version
has added nano-molded antenna slots along the perimeter. And on the right side, you'll see one
of its millimeter wave modules. The rest of the exterior profile and geometry looks identical
at casual glance. But if you look closely, you'll notice that, unlike the Intel model, Surface Pro
9 with 5G doesn't have any perimeter venting. As with the Surface Pro X, we use passive cooling on
the ARM device, which delivers great performance at lower thermals and runs whisper quiet. And it
supports the gamut of mobile working scenarios. It does. And Surface Pro 9 with 5G lights up so many
mobile use cases. It can be configured with up to 16 gigabytes of RAM and up to 512 gigabytes of
storage. In addition to 5G, it also supports Wi-fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1. Surface Pro 9 with Microsoft
SQ3 powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon is also our most powerful Surface Pro with ARM to date. It
is up to 80% faster with its CPU and up to 70% faster with its GPU than the previous generation.
In addition to the improved CPU and GPU, Microsoft SQ3 also has the most powerful
NPU built for Windows to date. It is capable of up to 15 trillion operations per second. And
this all works with the capabilities in Windows Studio Effects in Windows 11, which are designed
to take advantage of the NPU on that device. So how does this translate into the experience in
Surface Pro 9 with 5G? Combined with the latest Windows 11 2022 update, it has a number of new
NPU offloaded algorithms with the new Windows Studio Effects pack. Let me walk you through
just a few of my personal favorites. As we spend more time on video calls, we, of course, want to
look and sound our best. And while applications today can add background blur, they can consume
precious CPU cycles to render the effect. Using Surface Pro 9 with 5G, you can take advantage
of the new portrait blur effect, like you're seeing here with Sheila from our Surface team.
This becomes a Windows system-wide global offload to the NPU for any application using a video feed.
Notice how clean the background segmentation is and the bokeh effects are almost as if captured
from a DSLR camera. And by uploading all these processes, onto the NPU, the CPU and
GPU then are not being taxed and can handle other system and application tasks. Exactly;
to achieve this level of effect quality using just the CPU alone, it would consume 100% of the best
processor in market today. Another capability this enables is automatic framing. Like Sheila here, I
like to get up and walk around during video calls. As you can see here, with automatic framing,
the face detection panning and cropping algorithms work effortlessly to keep Sheila perfectly in
frame. And beyond looking great, the NPU with Windows Studio effects also ensures that you,
not your environment, are picked up by the Studio Mics and shared with meeting participants when you
come off mute, thanks to Voice Focus. Let's watch as Sheila demonstrates Voice Focus in action.
Notice as I'm talking that the sound around me is picking up. There's a fan running. There are
people chatting. There's someone on a conference call... With one click of our Voice Focus feature,
all of that sound disappears, and all you can hear is the sound of my voice.
What's great here is that you can run all of the Windows Studio Fix concurrently on the new
Surface Pro 9 with 5G. For me, this has become my favorite Surface Pro to date and is currently
my daily driver. And those updates from the NPU are gonna be great additions for teams
calls and hybrid work. You know, something else that's always top of mind is security and data
protection. So why don't we go a bit deeper into the security updates for Surface Pro 9. I'd love,
to security is such an important topic. All models of Surface Pro 9 are Secured-core PCS
with the highest level of data protection from the silicon to the firmware. The Intel models use a
new certified approach called Firmware Attack Surface Reduction or FASR. This is similar to
dynamic root of trust for measurement or D-RTM, which is used for SQ3 devices. This measures
processes and hardware components during boot to protect the initial phases of the boot process.
And these work together with Secure Boot and Trusted Boot so that the entire boot process
is protected. Additionally, the ARM models also use a new Microsoft Pluton processor to provide
enhanced protection for credentials, encryption keys, and personal data. These protection measures
work even if an attacker has physical access to the device. And these are gonna stop some
of the more sophisticated attack techniques like speculative execution, side channel attacks. And
I know a lot of device admins are watching this, so just to highlight a couple more things here.
Like the rest of the Surface family, you can manage your Surface Pro 9 devices right from
the Surface Management Portal in Intune, where you also have built-in controls for making 5G
configurations with the SQ models. And you can centrally manage device firmware controls to
enable or disable hardware components. And so with this generation of devices, by the way,
there's a lot more granularity of control. Now, Dave, beyond the manageability. You know,
serviceability of hardware is also a core theme for Surface. So what's new there? Serviceability
is definitely an important element of the design process in Surface. With Surface Pro 9,
we've made it the most serviceable yet. Authorized service technicians can now easily remove or
replace internal batteries, the motherboard, and thermal modules, in addition to the display, SSD,
kickstand and a number of other field repair units. This is going to be really welcome news,
I think, for a lot of people watching. Why don't we briefly switch gears though? Because
beyond the Surface Pro line, we also announced a few more Surface device updates. We sure did.
We've also updated the popular Surface Studio and Surface Laptop. First, the Surface Studio 2+ with
its amazing 28 inch, 3x2 PixelSense display and iconic zero gravity hinges has been updated to
an Intel 11th Gen Core i7 HG processor, along with a discrete Nvidia Geforce RTX 3060 GPU. There are
now three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and a pair of USB A 10 gigabit ports. And for those of you who
are looking forward to an updated Surface Laptop, the all new Surface Laptop 5 is also powered by
Intel 12 Gen Core i5 and i7 processors (built on the Intel Evo platform) with a USB-C Thunderbolt
4 port and a USB-A 10 gigabit port, along with the new Sage color. As with the Surface Pro 9 models,
Surface Studio 2+ and Surface Laptop 5 models are Windows 11 Secured-core PCs, making the entire
line perfect for work. And these are great updates to the Surface Pro lineup. So thanks so much,
Dave, for joining us today and sharing your journey on the 10th anniversary of Surface Pro
and also showcasing the updates to Surface Pro 9. My pleasure. Thanks for having me again, Jeremy,
these past ten years have been an incredible journey for Surface and our customers. We're
looking forward to introducing even more innovation for the next 10 years to come. And
there are even more updates that we didn't have time to cover today. So to get all the news and
learn more, check out surface.com/business. And don't forget to subscribe to Microsoft
Mechanics for all the latest updates. And as always, thanks so much for watching!