Microsoft adds cheaper 8GB Surface Pro and Surface Laptop models

Microsoft has added cheaper 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop models that start at $849.99 and $949.99, respectively, by halving the memory to 8GB. The move makes its smallest Surface devices easier to buy, but it also places them below the 16GB RAM floor Microsoft ties to consumer Copilot+ PCs.

The 12-inch Surface Pro starts with a Snapdragon X Plus 8-core chip, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, and Microsoft’s Store says higher-memory versions are available at $1,049.99 for 16GB and 256GB of storage and $1,149.99 for 16GB and 512GB. The 13-inch Surface Laptop launches with the same Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, with configurations going up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

That pricing strategy lands in a market where the hardware bar for Microsoft’s Copilot+ branding is not trivial. Microsoft’s Windows learning materials say Copilot+ PCs need an NPU capable of more than 40 TOPS, while Microsoft and IDC guidance for consumer systems sets the requirement at at least 16GB of RAM and 256GB of local storage. The new 8GB versions still qualify as lower-cost Windows PCs, but they sit beneath the memory level Microsoft has used to define the consumer Copilot+ class.

The tradeoff is clearest in the 13-inch Surface Laptop. Microsoft says it is the lightest Surface Laptop ever at 2.7 pounds and that it includes a 45W power supply, two USB-C ports and one USB-A port. The company has positioned the machine as a portable entry point into the Surface line, but Windows on Arm can still complicate things for some buyers, and the 8GB model underscores the pressure to keep the starting price down.

Microsoft is also selling the 12-inch Surface Pro keyboard separately at $149.99, with a current discount to $126.99. That makes the tablet-plus-keyboard package significantly more expensive than the base tag suggests. The cheaper models arrive alongside a more segmented Surface family, including newer 13.8-inch and 15-inch Surface Laptop models that start at $1,599.99 and $1,699.99, leaving the 13-inch version as the entry-level rung in Microsoft’s laptop lineup.