Surface Pro 9 hands-on: Can Intel and Arm models live in harmony?
On the one hand, the Surface Pro 9 is pretty much what we expected: a jump up to Intel's 12th-gen CPUs. But Microsoft surprised us with a huge shakeup for its tablet PCs. There's also a Surface Pro 9 running a custom SQ3 Arm chip, which also includes built-in 5G. Can an x86 Intel processor and a mobile Arm chip really sit side by side? We got a chance to compare the two new machines at Microsoft's hands-on event, and to be honest, we just have more questions.
Both models look and feel the same, save for the more visible 5G antennas on the Arm model. Microsoft representatives say performance is also comparable between the SQ3 and Intel's chips, something we'll have to fully test to believe. The same reps also noted that app compatibility with legacy x86 apps has gotten better for Arm devices, and there are an increasing number of native Windows apps which will run just fine across both platforms.
Developing...
Follow along with the rest of our news from Microsoft's 2022 Surface event.
[original story: Engadget]