Microsoft launches new Surface laptops in South Africa — Pricing and specs

Microsoft has launched the Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 2-in-1 convertible in South Africa, with recommended retail prices starting from R26,999 and R29,999, respectively.

Both models are available at Incredible Connection, Makro, Amazon, Takealot, Evetech, and Braintree.

The devices form part of Microsoft’s Copilot PC product line and thus emphasise AI capabilities, supporting over 40 trillion operations per second.

The Surface Pro comes with either a Snapdragon X Elite chipset or the Snapdragon X Plus.

Microsoft said these new chips have improved the Pro’s processing power by up to 90% compared to the 9th generation model, which was the last available to general users.

Both models boast 16GB LPDDR5X RAM as standard, but the Snapdragon X Elite model can also be configured with 32GB.

The other major differentiating factor between the two models is that the X Elite chip has an OLED display, whereas the X Elite Plus has an LCD screen.

For more screen space, the higher-end models support output to three external 4K monitors.

The efficiency improvements coming from the Arm architecture in the Snapdragon chips gives the Pro up to 14 hours of battery life, despite effectively being a large tablet without its keyboard.

The Surface Laptop 7, which Microsoft said has been redesigned from the ground up, also allows customers to choose from the two Snapdragon chips.

It comes with one of two display sizes — 13.8-inch or 15-inch — with LCD touch panels boasting 2,304×1,546 and 2,496×1,664 resolutions, respectively.

The 13.8-inch model has both chipsets available, whereas the 15-inch model only comes with the higher-end X Elite processor.

Both Laptop 7 models a 22-hour battery life and come with the option of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB LPDDR5X RAM.

Microsoft has placed significant emphasis on security with the release of these two devices, which all have Pluton chip-to-cloud security processors enabled to help protect credentials, personal data, and encryption keys.

Both devices come equipped with enhanced sign-in security, allowing for more secure biometric sign-ins.

In terms of storage capacity, users can choose between a 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB SSD for the Laptop 7 and Pro 11. These come in an NVMe form factor and are fully removable or replaceable.

The new Surface Laptop will compete with Apple’s MacBook Air M3 range, which currently starts at R23,999 from the iStore.

Below are the specifications and images of the Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Laptop Pro 11.

Surface Laptop 7 (South African models)
OS	Windows 11 Home
Display	13.8-inch 2,304×1,546 LCD touch display with 120Hz refresh rate | 15-inch 2,496×1,664 LCD touch display with 120Hz refresh rate
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite 12-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus 10-core
Memory	16GB | 32GB LPDDR5X
Storage	256GB | 512GB | 1TB removable NVMe SSD
Graphics	Qualcomm Adreno GPU
Ports	1× USB-A 3.1, 2× USB-C 4/Thunderbolt 4, 1× 3.5mm audio jack, 1× microSD card reader, separate Surface connect power port
Wireless connectivity	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Webcam	Full HD (1080p) resolution with Windows Hello
Battery	13.8-inch: 55Wh 15-inch: 66Wh
Chassis material and colours	Anodised aluminium Black or Platinum
Dimensions	13.8-inch: 301×220×17.5mm (1.34kg) 15-inch: 329×239×18.29mm (1.66kg)

Surface Pro 11 (South African models)
OS	Windows 11 Home
Display	13-inch 2,880 x 1,920 LCD or OLED touch display with 120Hz refresh rate
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite 12-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus 10-core
Memory	16GB | 32GB LPDDR5X
Storage	256GB | 512GB | 1TB removable NVMe SSD
Graphics	Qualcomm Adreno GPU
Ports	2× USB-C 4/Thunderbolt 4, separate Surface connect power port
Wireless connectivity	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Camera	10MP rear camera
Battery	14 hours of video playback 10 hours of active web usage
Dimensions	287 x 209 x 9.3mm (1.34kg)