With the Surface Pro 12, Microsoft presents a thinner, lighter Windows Surface drawing tablet with longer battery life. The company also offers it at an even lower price than the Surface Pro with a 13-inch display. However, buyers have to accept a few compromises for the lower price.
Along with the Surface Laptop 13 2025, Microsoft also announced the Surface Pro 12 today. With a thickness of 7.8 millimeters and a weight of 686 grams, the Microsoft Surface drawing tablet is one and a half millimeters thinner and 209 grams lighter than the Surface Pro 13. Despite its smaller 38 Wh battery, it will achieve a longer battery life—16 hours of video playback or twelve hours of web browsing.
To make this work, Microsoft uses a slower version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus with only eight instead of ten processor cores. It is also using a more economical 12-inch IPS panel in 3:2 format, which achieves a resolution of 2,196 x 1,464 pixels, a refresh rate of 90 Hz, and a maximum brightness of 400 nits instead of the 120 Hz and 600 nits of the Surface Pro 13. Due to the lower brightness, the Surface Pro 12 does not support HDR content.
Microsoft sells a keyboard and trackpad specifically designed for the Surface Pro 12, but customers must purchase them separately. The tablet is compatible with the well-known Surface Slim Pen 2. The Surface Pro 12 has only two USB-C ports (USB 3.2), but at least supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.
Microsoft Surface Pro 12 Price and Release Date
The Microsoft Surface Pro 12 Tablet with Snapdragon X Plus (8 cores), 16 GB RAM, and 256 GB SSD can be pre-ordered from the B&H Photo online shop for $799.99, with shipping expected to begin May 20. In the UK, pre-orders are already open on Amazon.co.uk starting at £799, with the official release set for June 10, 2025.
This currently makes the device $100 less than the 13-inch Surface Pro with the same storage configuration, but a 120 Hz display and faster Snapdragon X Plus with 10 cores. Microsoft charges an additional $120 for a 512 GB SSD.
