Microsoft's annual Build conference kicks off later this month, and alongside that event, the company will start selling a new Surface Pro tablet that's smaller, lighter and cheaper than last year's model.
This is kind of a big deal for me as someone who reviews tablets for a living, because last year's Surface Pro 11 is, for my money, the best tablet Microsoft's ever sold.
in our Surface Pro 11 review, my colleague Tony Polanco called that model "the best Surface in years" for good reason. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips power this thin slate, giving it remarkable speed and battery life that outpaces some of the best Windows laptops.
Plus, paying for the optional OLED upgrade makes the Surface Pro 11 feel like a premium slate to rival the iPad Pro — and unlike the iPad, Microsoft's tablet runs a full (Arm-based) version of Windows 11.
On May 20, Microsoft will begin selling a slightly thinner, lighter version of the Surface Pro 11 with a 12-inch screen that's smaller than the 13-inch panel on last year's model. This new Surface Pro 11 (12-inch) also has a starting price that's $100 cheaper than the Surface Pro 11 (13-inch), though this model is less capable and less upgradable than its predecessor.
And frankly, after digging into the specs and the state of the tablet market, I have a hard time recommending you rush out and buy this new 12-inch Surface Pro, because you can get the older (yet more powerful) Surface Pro 11 (13-inch) for the same price or cheaper.
Of course, if speed and screen refresh rate aren't that important to you, the new 2025 Surface Pro 11 (12-inch) might be better for your needs since it's lighter, thinner and advertises better battery life than its predecessor.
To show you what I mean, I've compared the key details of the 12-inch Surface Pro 11 against the older 13-inch model in the chart below so you can easily see the major differences between these two models.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Microsoft Surface Pro 11 (12-inch) 2025 | Microsoft Surface Pro 11 (13-inch) 2024 |
|---|---|---|
Starting Price | $799 | $999 |
CPU | Snapdragon X Plus (8-core) | Snapdragon X Plus (10-core) |
RAM | 16GB | 16GB |
Storage | 256GB, 512GB | 256GB, 512GB |
Display | 12 inch (2196 x 1464 pixels) 90Hz LCD touchscreen | 13 inch (2880 x 1920) 120Hz LCD touchscreen |
Graphics | Qualcomm Adreno | Qualcomm Adreno |
Ports | 2x USB-C | 2x USB-C |
Wireless | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 |
Battery life | 12 hours web, 16 hours video | 10 hours web, 14 hours video (12:10 tested) |
Size | 10.8 x 7.4 x 0.3 inches | 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches |
Weight | 1.5 pounds | 1.97 pounds |
Colors | Ocean, Platinum, Violet | Black, Dune, Sapphire, Platinum |
But while I can see that the 2025 Surface Pro 11 (12-inch) might be a very compelling slate for folks wanting a more affordable Surface tablet for working on the go, the number one thing I'm most excited about isn't the price or the potential battery life of this thin and lightweight slate: it's the new color.
Don't shrink from violet
Specifically, I love that Microsoft is offering the new 12-inch Surface Pro in a gorgeous shade of purple. It caught my eye immediately, and it's exactly the splash of color I'd like to enjoy every time I pull out a tablet to get some work done (or watch a video) on a long plane ride.
Admittedly, that's the only interesting color you can get this slate in. If you don't go for Violet you can only get the new 12-inch Surface Pro 11 in Ocean (blue gray) or Platinum (dark gray). That's disappointing since last year's Surface Pro 11 came in four colors: Black, Dune (a sandy bronze), Sapphire (blue) and Platinum (silver).
At the time I was excited about the debut of the Dune color scheme, which should give you some sense of how starved we tablet reviewers are for a bit of color in our lives. Nearly every laptop and tablet on the market comes in some variation of black, gray or silver, to the point that if you got everyone in your office to pile their gadgets together I think you'd have a hard time knowing which was yours at a glance.
Apple is one of the rare companies to break this trend, and it's one of the few things I unabashedly love about the company's products. Whether you're buying a new Apple iMac M4 or a new iPad, you can get it in at least three to five different bright, primary colors.
That's why I'm so happy to see Microsoft taking a page from Apple's playbook and offering its new tablet in a bright, eye-catching color scheme. I'm not even the biggest fan of purple — I'm more partial to a deep emerald green, personally — and I'm sorely tempted to consider the Violet 12-inch Surface Pro 11 the next time I need to buy a tablet.
Of course, I won't know for sure how good this lavender-shaded slate is until we get one in to test and review for ourselves. I'm hoping that will happen later this month when I attend Microsoft Build 2025 at the company's headquarters, but we'll have to wait to see. And who knows—maybe the company will have more new Surface devices to show off later on,
If that's true, I sure hope they come in more than black and silv... sorry, Platinum!
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