Microsoft’s new 12-inch Surface Pro is awesome, and at $115 off at Best Buy, it’s a fantastic deal to jump on during Amazon Prime Day. Both Amazon and Microsoft are selling it for $699.99. No matter where you buy it, you can use the discount to cover most of the cost of the $150 keyboard, which anyone who’s interested int he Surface Pro should probably buy.
Microsoft rounded off the edges on the new 12-inch Surface Pro. You can think of it as a smaller, refined version of the Snapdragon X Plus Surface Pro from last year. If you haven’t used a Surface Pro before, this one feels more like a larger iPad to use than previous models, just with a full version of Windows 11 installed. And, for me, that OS means I’ll be able to do real work from pretty much anywhere. That’s not always true with applications on my M4 iPad Pro, though that should improve a bit once the multitasking updates arrive in iPadOS 26.
The Verge’s Tom Warren reviewed the 12-inch Surface Pro in June. Like me, he also digs its fanless design, great battery life, and sturdier keyboard. I agree with him that Microsoft still needs to improve its software experience for tablet mode; I still pick up my iPad when I need to do tablet stuff, not the Surface Pro. It’s just the better device when I want a screen to read the news, browse the web, or text friends using dedicated tablet apps. But, for everything else, Microsoft’s latest tablet suits my needs.
