It's a full laptop, capable of running any Windows software.Īdmittedly, 13 hours seemed a little low at first blush -some industry-watchers were expecting something closer to 20 hours from ARM chips. And keep in mind that the Surface Pro X is running the full version of the Windows 10 operating system. Microsoft boasts a 13-hour battery life during 'typical device usage' - two and a half hours more than the Surface Pro 7, and three hours more than Apple claims for its 13-inch iPad Pro. It's the first time a Microsoft laptop is using an ARM-based chip, rather than an Intel processor. In English, it means the Surface Pro X will handily do what most people do on their laptops while offering long battery life. It's a chip made by mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, and it's based on the so-called ARM architecture. The Surface Pro X runs on a special chip that gives it impressive battery life, especially for a device that runs a full operating system and desktop apps. Otherwise, things like mice, keyboards, and headphones can all be wireless. None of this should matter that much on an ultra-portable device, just as long as you're not planning on connecting a lot of extra devices with cables. Otherwise, adding USB-C ports without Thunderbolt 3 seems like a misstep. Surely Microsoft knows something I don't. How many devices that you recently bought come with USB-C to USB-C cables? In my experience, very few. But most devices that use USB-C in some shape or form still come with a cable that fits regular USB ports. I suppose you could use Microsoft's proprietary Surface Dock accessory to connect to external accessories and devices, and even monitors. They don't charge the Surface Pro X and they can't connect to Thunderbolt 3 docks that let you connect to a variety of accessories and peripherals.Įven new accessories and peripherals aren't fully adopting USB-C. In fact, without Thunderbolt 3, it's unclear what regular USB-C ports can offer. It's also a shame that the USB-C ports don't support Thunderbolt 3 for connecting to docks. 1 Surface Connect magnetic port for fast charging (up to 80% in an hour) and connecting to the Surface Dock.2 USB-C ports (but no Thunderbolt 3 support).Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

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