Detailed configurations of Intel's 14th Gen Meteor Lake-S and 15th Gen Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs have been leaked, giving us information about the various SKUs, core counts, TDPs & the integrated graphics configuration.
Intel Meteor Lake-S CPUs To Feature 6 Performance Cores, Arrow Lake-S With 8 P-Cores On LGA 1851 Socket
According to an internal Intel chart, the details of their 14th Gen and 15th Gen Desktop CPUs have leaked out. We know from previous reports that Intel is preparing a new socket known as "V" that will offer support for at least two generations of desktop CPUs, the Meteor Lake-S and Arrow Lake-S. This socket will be very similar in dimensions to the existing LGA 1700/1800 socket but will offer more pins and added support for new/enhanced features.
Based on the leaked slides, it looks like Intel's 14th Gen Meteor Lake-S Desktop CPUs will take a step back and reduce the number of P-Cores while retaining the number of E-Cores. The lineup listed in the charts includes five different SKU configurations with the top variants featuring up to 22 cores in a combination of 6 P-Cores and 16 E-Cores. The P-Cores on the Meteor Lake CPUs are based on the brand-new Redwood Cove architecture while the E-Cores will utilize the Crestmont design. Both of these are new and improved architecture as reported by Coelacanth-Dream a few days back. The full list of configurations includes:
In addition to the SKUs, we also get to learn that all SKUs will feature at least 4 Xe Cores for the iGPU and that's going to offer 64 Execution Units or 512 ALUs. That's 2 Xe Cores less than the DG2-powered Arc A310 graphics card which is the lowest-tier discrete board in the family but an integrated GPU with this much capability will be on par or even better than the RDNA 2 iGPU on AMD's Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs. Only the top die configuration will have a 125W "Unlocked" SKU range while the rest will come in the standard "Non-K" and "T" series with 65W and 35W TDPs.
Moving on, we have the 15th Gen Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs which will bring back the 24 cores that we get on Raptor Lake CPUs today. The Arrow Lake-S top die will utilize up to 24 cores which will be a combination of 8 Performance Cores and 16 Efficiency Cores. Following is the full list of SKUs to expect from the lineup:
The difference with the Arrow Lake-S lineup is that all of the configurations feature the top 24 core die and the only difference is the TDP itself. It is likely that lower core count SKUs will be derived from these dies. Intel also seems to have retained the 4 Xe Cores from the Meteor Lake lineup but we expect these to feature a brand new Arc graphics architecture. The 14th Gen Meteor Lake chips are based on a TSMC 5nm GPU architecture while the 15th Gen Arrow Lake CPUs will utilize a TSMC 3nm graphics architecture, as we reported here.
We can't say for sure if Intel will retain the number of ALUs and EUs as the existing Alchemist chips on its future integrated GPUs but the Arrow Lake-P parts are expected to offer up to 2560 Xe Cores which is a 5x increase over the integrated GPUs on the desktop parts.
During its recent investors call, Intel said that they are progressing really well on their Intel 4 & Intel 3 products. The 14th Gen Meteor Lake production stepping is scheduled to be delivered this quarter with a volume ramp in 2023 while Intel 3 is also expected to enter the early production phase by the end of 2023. Do note that these are early charts and we are still years away from the launch of Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake CPUs
A new graphical showcase has been released, showing off The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being emulated on PC in 8K resolution on an NVIDIA RTX 4090.
We've seen plenty of Zelda BOTW Cemu videos over the past years, but we haven't seen the open-world Zelda game running on NVIDIA's RTX 4090 GPU. German YouTuber 'Digital Dreams' has now released a new video showing the 2017 title running on NVIDIA's latest GPU complete with his custom ReShade ray tracing preset for enhanced Global Illumination. The results are pretty spectacular, to say the least, and show what a proper next-gen version of Zelda could look like. Of course, you'll need quite the setup to be able to emulate Breath of the Wild with these extreme settings.
For this video, Digital Dreams uses the above-mentioned GTX 4090 and an AMD Ryzen 9 7950xx CPU combined with plenty of cooling. Check out the new BOTW showcase down below.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was released for the Nintendo Wii U and Switch back in 2017. A sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, is slated for a release on the Switch on May 12, 2023.
Open your eyes
No kingdom. No memories. After a 100-year slumber, Link wakes up alone in a world he no longer remembers. Now the legendary hero must explore a vast and dangerous land and regain his memories before Hyrule is lost forever.
Armed only with what he can scavenge, Link sets out to find answers and the resources needed to survive.
Sheikah Slate
A mysterious tablet with a glowing center, Link doesn’t recall seeing anything like it before, and yet there's something familiar about it.
Explore Hyrule
The Sheikah Slate features a map of Hyrule to guide Link’s journey. It also has a scope to identify points of interest from a distance.
Download runes
In certain Shrines, Link can download Runes to learn new abilities to help solve puzzles and unlock secret areas.
Update: Santa Monica Studio has shown as little of God of War Ragnarok as possible prior to release, so it’s a shame to see the game break street date and begin to leak. Subsequently, the developer has released a statement, pleading with fans to keep story information to themselves. It adds that it’s doing its best to “limit the exposure of unsanctioned footage” but admits it “cannot catch everything”.
The studio then goes on to suggest that players mute specific keywords or hashtags associated with the game until launch day. Obviously, it’s gutting that it’s come to this, but that’s just the way of the world we suppose.
Original Story: An idiotic reviewer had already spoiled some sections of God of War Ragnarok earlier in the month, but now things are about to get really wild, as retailers begin to break street date. Santa Monica Studio has been keeping its hotly anticipated sequel under wraps, and still very little is known about the title – even two weeks prior to its release.
However, with the game now in consumers’ hands, it’s going to be difficult to sidestep some of the spoilers that will inevitably come out. Cory Barlog, the director of the previous God of War, took to Twitter to express his displeasure, referencing the recent situation with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which only has 70MB of data on its Blu-ray:
Barlog continued: “Sorry to everyone that you have to dodge the spoilers if you want to play the game fresh. Completely f**king stupid you have to do this. This is not at all how any of us at Santa Monica Studio wanted things to go.”
To be honest, all we can really suggest is to go into this game as blind as you possibly can. That may mean reducing your time on social media and YouTube, but it’ll be worth it in the long run. Hopefully Sony can be vigilant in getting offending videos taken down prior to the game releasing, but as you no doubt know, once something is on the Internet it’s incredibly difficult to remove it forever.
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Activision's latest Call of Duty title is now out in the wild, which means players are getting their hands on all the content the game has to offer. As has been the case for a number of years now, PlayStation has its own set of exclusive content in this year's Modern Warfare 2, and it's quite an extensive list.
CharlieIntel has pulled this image from the Call of Duty website, which shows every chunk of MW2 content that's only available on PlayStation. Here's the list:
Sure, some of this stuff is a bit superficial (XP events, weapon XP), but we're pretty bummed out that certain bits of content aren't coming to Xbox. We could really do with those extra custom loadouts given the sheer number of weapons and gadgets available in this game!
Of course, the other ironic side effect about this whole thing relates to the current Xbox / PlayStation / Activision Blizzard saga. Sony has repeatedly claimed that Xbox's 'Call of Duty offer' is insufficient, as the company takes stock of the fact that Call of Duty content could sway back in Xbox's favour.
According to reports, Activision and Sony had previously penned "existing agreements" relating to MW2, Warzone 2.0 and another upcoming Call of Duty game, so this exclusive content has probably been locked in for some time. For now, Xbox players will have to grin and bear it, but the landscape could change in the not-too-distant future.
What do you make of this exclusive content list? Disappointed to miss out on Xbox? Let us know below!
Google promised it would add RCS-based end-to-end encryption (E2E) to group chats in its Messages app. This is a significant step up compared to MMS group messages, which are unencrypted by design. It would also bring the RCS standard up to speed with the Signal protocol, used by both WhatsApp and the Signal messenger itself. According to reports on Reddit, the company is now getting ready to launch this capability widely.
As spotted by multiple people on the Google Messages subreddit, Google Messages seems to be trying to establish end-to-end encrypted connections in RCS groups. The example below shows that the attempt still fails, though. A generic message shows up noting that the message one is trying to view is encrypted and thus not visible—likely because E2E isn’t live for everyone in the group. Making matters more complicated for this group chat in particular is the fact that it doesn’t only consist of Google Messages users but also some on Samsung Messages, which also supports RCS.
Upon further digging, some of the Redditors found out that their Messages app has E2E group chat enabled already. This is evident by reading out the app’s Phenotype flags, which indicate that E2E encryption is enabled for some. However, it’s unclear which version of the Messages app this is exactly and if the switch is dependent on a server-side a/b test or a simple app update.
Group chat E2E disabled vs. enabled
It’s clear that the feature still needs work, too. When chatting in a group with people who can’t receive encrypted messages, the app should fall back to unencrypted messaging as to not exclude anyone from the conversation. Given that the subreddit and the Messages group seems to consist of enthusiasts (the group is called “r/RCSbuddies,” after all), we can presume that most of these people are probably using beta versions of their respective chatting apps, which could lead to this unwanted behavior.
Google initially promised to bring E2E encrypted group chats to Messages during Google I/O 2022, all while one-on-one messages are already encrypted. You can tell if a conversation is E2E encrypted by the lock that shows up next to recently delivered messages.
iCloud has been available on the web for a long time, but you might not have rushed to use it given a basic and sometimes clunky interface. You might have a reason to give it another look, though. Apple has introduced a beta iCloud web client that presents far more info at a glance, with a customizable tile layout that reflects your priorities. It's easier to switch between apps thanks to launchers on the home page and menu bar, and you can quickly start tasks (such as writing email or adding calendar events) thanks to another menu option.
The revamp also improves access to iCloud+ features like custom email domains and Hide My Email. And if you're panicking at the thought of lost info, a "Data Recovery" tool will help you reclaim bookmarks, calendars, contacts and iCloud Drive files deleted within the last 30 days. Except for iCloud Drive, you can restore from specific moments in time. Some features still need to be controlled through Apple hardware, including Family Sharing, HomeKit Secure Video and Private Relay.
Apple hasn't said when the new iCloud web interface might leave beta testing. We've asked the company for comment and will let you know if we hear back. However, the tech firm pitches this as an upgrade for customers whose only Apple product might be an iPhone — you can more readily access content and manage services through your Windows PC's browser.
This redesign probably won't persuade Android users to switch, and the individual web apps haven't changed much. The beta may encourage you to stick to the Apple ecosystem, though. Combined with web access to services like Music and TV+, it also shows that Apple is eager to court users who can't (or just don't want to) run dedicated apps on their platforms of choice.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing.
Apple will "comply" with European Union regulation that requires electronic devices to be equipped with USB-C charging, said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing. That will mean Apple's iPhones, which currently use its proprietary Lightning charging standard, will need to change to support USB-C.
Jakub Porzyck | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Apple will have to follow a European Union law that mandates electronic devices have a common charging standard — known as USB-C — the company's marketing chief confirmed.
"Obviously we'll have to comply," Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said at The Wall Street Journal Tech Live conference on Tuesday.
On Monday, ministers from EU member states gave final approval to the common charger law which means that by 2024, electronic devices including mobile phones and tablets will need to support USB-C charging.
The European Council's stamp of approval comes after other EU legislative bodies voted in favor of the law which has been around 10 years in the making.
Apple's iPhone uses its proprietary Lightning charger. Under the upcoming EU law, the iPhone would need to support USB-C.
Joswiak did not say when Apple would introduce USB-C to its flagship smartphone but it would need to happen by 2024.
Analysts previously told CNBC that iPhones scheduled to be released in 2023 could be equipped with USB-C charging and that Apple is likely to introduce the standard globally, not just in the European Union.
EU lawmakers contend the rules will reduce waste as consumers do not need to buy a new charger every time they purchase a device. The EU said this will reduce production and the disposal of new chargers.
Joswiak took a swipe at the EU for the charging law, admitting the two sides have been in a "little bit of a disagreement."
"We think the approach would have been better environmentally and better for our customers to not have a government be that prescriptive," he said.
Apple on Tuesday expanded its search advertising inventory on its App Store to include units for purchase on the Today tab — essentially the front page of the app — and on individual product pages.
The new ad units represent a significant expansion in Apple's ad inventory, which can only advertise one kind of product: Apps for Apple devices like the iPhone.
The introduction of the new ad units was first announced earlier this year, and comes as Apple's advertising business has been under additional scrutiny from rivals.
Before Tuesday, Apple's advertising inventory had been limited to one unit on the search tab, and one on the search results page.
"And now with new Today tab and product page ad placements, you can drive discovery of your app in more moments across the App Store — when customers first arrive, search for something specific, and browse apps to download," Apple wrote on its developer blog.
CNBC confirmed new ad units showing up on app pages under a list of suggested apps titled "You Might Also Like." The ad unit is clearly marked and has a blue background.
Apple's advertising sales are reported as part of its services business, which also includes App Store sales, online subscription revenue, hardware warranties, and revenue from licensing deals with search companies like Google. In total, Apple reported $68 billion in sales from services in its fiscal 2021.
But competitors such as Facebook parent Meta have accused Apple of hampering their businesses with new privacy features just as it expands its own advertising business.
Last year, Apple released App Tracking Transparency (ATT) which gave iPhone users the option to refuse to share a unique tracking ID with app developers. Most iPhone owners choose not to share, which prevents online advertisers from accurately tracking the performance of their ads.
Apple says it made the change because of a corporate emphasis on user privacy, and has previously said it allows its users to turn off Apple personalization for ads and prevent the company from using certain kinds of data to target search advertisements.
Earlier this year, Bank of America estimated that Apple could generate $5 billion in revenue this year from its search ads alone.
Exceptional hardware is still marred by incompatibilities
Video calling.
After several days of using the Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro 9 as my daily driver for every task in my daily process, video calling has been, hands down, the best experience I’ve had on it. This device has a good webcam with some great features. But most other tasks you might need to do in a workday were frustratingly slow.
That is due — at least in part, I’m sure — to the fact that most of the apps I use are not running natively on Arm. These are not obscure apps, however. I chat with people, I watch video, and I game, and I tend to use the same programs that lots of other people use to do those things.
I will not go so far as to say that this laptop will be as slow for everyone as it was for me. This is just to illustrate the gamble that one is taking when purchasing the Arm version of the Surface Pro 9 — how heavily dependent the payoff will be on the makeup of the constellation of apps that comprises your online life.
The Surface Pro 9 is nice-looking, nice-feeling, well-built, and portable, keeping all the traits that were excellent about the Surface Pro 8’s chassis. Unfortunately, it is also quite expensive. The cheapest SQ3 model is $1,579.98 including the keyboard and stylus (which, remember, are not included in the base price). My test unit (and it’s still not the most expensive Pro 9 you can get) is $1,879.98 with the keyboard and pen included. And for heavy users of many emulated apps, this device is too slow to be asking for well over $1,000 of your money.
Here’s the good news: the design department didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken, and the Pro 9 is as portable, well-built, and nice-looking as the Pro 8 was. The keyboard deck is sturdy, the kickstand holds its shape, and the stylus is quite comfortable (with a very handy garage folded into the keyboard). The 2880 x 1920, 120Hz display is as smooth as ever. The Pro 9 is slightly lighter than the Pro 8, but it’s not noticeable.
The keyboard is sturdy and doesn’t slip around.
The little slot for the Surface Pen is quite convenient.
The keyboard pops off easily and snaps on effortlessly.
Remember, though, as you look at the prices: the keyboard is not included.
The only really visible change that’s been made to the chassis is the color scheme. Surface Pro 8 models only came in graphite (black) and platinum (silver) last year, and the only way to customize them further was to buy a funky-colored keyboard deck. The Pro 9 has added new colors to the full exterior, with options including Sapphire, Graphite, Forest (which is my personal favorite) and Platinum. (As of now, it looks like only Intel Core i7 models have this medley of color options; the SQ3 and Core i5 SKUs are platinum-only.)
There’s also a limited-edition floral design. I, however, was sent the plain-old platinum one, so that’s what you’ll see here. If you want to see the cuter colors, Verge editor Tom Warren got a look at them in Redmond earlier this month.
I am jealous of Tom.
In what’s likely to be a controversial move, Microsoft has also removed the headphone jack from the Pro 9. (There are otherwise two USB-C 3.2 ports, as well as the slot for the funky little Surface charger.) Power and volume buttons have been moved to the top. The design is now quite close to that of the once-niche Surface Pro X, with the latter a bit thinner and lighter.
Inside, the big news is 5G. This is a feature the Intel model doesn’t have and may partially explain why the Arm version is more expensive. I ended up purchasing a prepaid plan through Ubiqi, which runs on T-Mobile’s network in the US. (Getting this plan set up was a bit of a process that had me bouncing back and forth between Microsoft’s Mobile Plans app and Ubiqi’s website several times. The Mobile Plans app, speaking of which, was very slow and froze up at multiple points during the process.)
Once 5G was up and running, I was getting speeds of around 40mbps down and 55mbps up in The Verge’s Manhattan office. These would be fine LTE speeds, but it seems likely that Ubiqi is using T-Mobile’s low-band 5G network, at least where I’m located. Pages all loaded fine, but nothing was lightning-fast. (Also to note: 5G models appear to be capped at 16GB of RAM and come with LPDDR4x, while those without 5G can go up to 32GB and get LPDDR5).
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (Arm) specs (as reviewed):
Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches (287 x 209 x 9.3mm)
Weight (not including Type Cover): 1.95lbs (883g)
Display: 13-inch touch display, 2880 x 1920 (267 PPI), up to 120Hz refresh rate, 3:2
Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x
Processor: Microsoft / Qualcomm SQ3
Removable SSD: 256GB
Battery life: claimed up to 19 hours of “typical device usage”
Ports: two USB-C 3.2, one Surface Connect port, one Surface Keyboard port, one nano SIM
Cameras: Front-facing Windows Hello camera with 1080p FHD video, 10MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD and 4k video
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E: 802. 11ax, Bluetooth 5.1, 5G, LTE, WCDMA
The other advantage Qualcomm has over the Intel model is its Neural Processing Unit (NPU). The idea behind this is that it handles some AI features directly, taking that load off of the Pro 9’s CPU. It powers some new camera features, including portrait background blur, automatic eye contact, and a Voice Focus feature that removes background sound.
These features did work, but their efficacy was slightly inconsistent. The one that worked well across the board was automatic eye contact; regardless of where my gaze was, co-workers consistently told me that it looked like I was staring directly at them. This actually seems like a very useful feature and something I’d have on all the time since my eyes tend to wander during calls, even when I’m paying attention. The blur effect was pretty good as well and did a fine job of differentiating me from my background. Automatic Framing generally followed me as the name promised, panning while I moved from side to side, but there were times here and there when it didn’t pick up that I was moving.
Voice Focus seemed to have some trouble. On a Zoom call with loud music playing behind me, my co-worker Umar Shakir told me that while he could consistently hear me, the tracks seemed to be fading in and out in the background. There were times when instrumental portions would be muted entirely, then lyrics would be clear when they came back in and then would fade out again. He could, however, consistently hear the same songs playing behind me on a Teams call and didn’t get the sense that anything at all was being done to suppress them (though he could still hear me).
Putting a super-smart camera on this device feels to me like putting fancy headlights on a car that can only go 15 miles an hour. I really wish that Microsoft had put these great features on the Intel models (or on the Surface Laptop 5) for reasons that will shortly become clear.
This is a video calling machine.
Agree to Continue: Microsoft Surface Pro 9
The mandatory policies, for which agreement is required to use the laptop, are:
Microsoft Software License terms (Windows Operating System) and Manufacturer’s Limited Hardware Warranty and Agreement
In addition, there are a bunch of optional things to agree to:
Privacy settings including location, Find My Device, diagnostic data, inking and typing, tailored experiences, advertising ID
Sign up for a Microsoft 365 free trial
Sign up for an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate free trial
That’s two mandatory agreements and eight optional ones.
The Pro 8, with an Intel Core i7 inside, was fast. It’s unsurprising to me that Microsoft is continuing to sell an Intel model of the Pro 9 alongside this Qualcomm model because shifting away from Intel entirely would likely have been a dangerous bet. While Windows on Arm is no longer in 2020 territory where compatibility was an absolute disaster, it is far from where it needs to be worth $1,800.
My frustration with this computer wasn’t a workload thing. It didn’t start out fast and gradually slow down as I opened more things and started more processes. It was peppered with glitches and freezes from start to finish.
I’d have only Slack open, and switching between channels would still take almost three seconds (yes, I timed it on my phone). Spotify, also with nothing in the background, would take 11 seconds to open, then be frozen for another four seconds before I could finally press play. When I typed in Chrome, I often saw significant lag, which led to all kinds of typos (because my words weren’t coming out until well after I’d written them). I’d try to watch YouTube videos, and the video would freeze while the audio continued. I’d use the Surface Pen to annotate a PDF, and my strokes would either be frustratingly late or not show up at all. I’d try to open Lightroom, and it would freeze multiple times and then crash.
It quickly became clear that I should try to stick to apps that were running natively on Arm. Trust me, I tried. I switched from Chrome to Edge, and the latter was certainly faster than Chrome (even while I was using Google’s apps), but it was still a notch slower than what you’ll see from other high-end computers — including other Arm-based devices, such as those that a certain company in Cupertino makes. While the actual experience of calling on Teams was fine, the app was still a bit unresponsive and slow to load. I literally had to force quit the Settings app one time because it completely froze. OneNote was the only Arm app I used that felt totally zippy, with no hiccups. I guess Paint was also fine. (I let Microsoft know about these issues but didn’t hear back in time for publication.)
Underscoring all of this, though, is the fact that I can fairly easily swap my whole workload over to these few Arm-optimized apps. Many people don’t have that luxury or desire, which is what makes buying the Pro 9 a risk.
It’s a very pretty risk, though.
Generally, the deal with these mobile SoCs (this one is called the SQ3, and it’s based on the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3) is that you’re giving up some power in exchange for long battery life. That’s a legitimate trade for many people, and the 10 hours of continuous use that I averaged from this device is more than I’ve seen from most Windows laptops this year. I was able to eke out 12 hours and 23 minutes by bumping the refresh rate down to 60Hz. Fine. I’m sure this is a longer lifespan than you’ll get out of the Intel model.
That lifespan and built-in cellular connectivity strengthen the SQ3 Pro’s case as a portable computer, but I don’t see it as quite enough to overcome the shortcomings in performance here. Charging was also on the slow side; as much as I like the Surface connector’s compact size and magnetic attachment, it only got the Pro up to 57 percent in an hour. 5G also wrecked the battery life — I only got six hours and 42 minutes of continuous 5G use.
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 accessibility (as reviewed)
The letter keys are 0.6 x 0.6 inches with 0.1 inches between them. All keys are backlit apart from the power button. Fn and Caps Lock have indicator lights. The power button is 0.6 x 0.1 inches. The volume keys are 1.6 x 0.4 inches. The keys are grayish-blue with white text and take a small amount of dedicated force to depress.
The speakers reached an average of 75 decibels in my testing, which is a bit quieter than a standard external speaker.
The laptop weighs 1.95 pounds without the keyboard attached. The keyboard adds an additional 0.68 pounds.
The lid can be opened with one hand.
There is a touchscreen with a 1200:1 contrast ratio.
The touchpad is 4 x 2.25 inches.
Setup involves turning the device on and clicking through several menus.
The Pro supports facial logins but not fingerprint logins.
Windows 11
Windows 11 includes a dedicated accessibility menu.
Windows 11 includes a built-in screen reader (Narrator). It supports third-party screen readers, including NVDA from NV Access and Jaws from Freedom Scientific. A full list of compatible software can be found on Microsoft’s website.
Windows 11 supports voice typing (accessed by Windows + H) and speech recognition (toggled with Windows + Ctrl + S).
Color Filters, including inverted, grayscale, red-green, and blue-yellow, can be toggled with Windows + Ctrl + C. Contrast themes are toggled with Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen. Standard Dark Mode and custom colors are also available under Personalization.
Caption color and size can be customized and appear close to the bottom of the screen.
The keyboard can be remapped with Microsoft’s PowerToys. Sticky Keys is supported. An on-screen keyboard is available.
The cursor’s size and speed can be adjusted, and gestures can be remapped in Touchpad Settings.
Windows 11 supports eye control with external eye trackers.
Windows 11 includes a Snap Layout feature, accessed by hovering over the Maximize button on any open window.
With an extremely lightweight build, 5G support, and good battery life, the Surface Pro 9 could be the perfect on-the-go device. And that’s a goal Microsoft has been pushing toward for years. A fanless, beautiful tablet with a fancy camera that happens to also run a full desktop operating system. An iPad alternative for those who love Apple’s hardware but are fed up with the limitations of iPadOS.
Microsoft has that hardware part down to a science. But it still hasn’t figured out how to make Windows on Arm viable for the high-end mainstream. In the past several years, Apple has created a specialized chip architecture that revolutionized its product platform, along with an emulation layer that worked almost seamlessly on its first day of release. Microsoft has not yet achieved that seamless experience with its Arm devices.
I can only speculate as to how much of that is Microsoft’s fault and how much is Qualcomm’s fault, and I’m not sure my speculation is worth more than anyone else’s. But I’m reminded of former Verge editor Dieter Bohn’s review of the original Surface Pro X, the 2019 Arm device that started it all. “Windows itself runs quite well on the Surface Pro X,” Bohn wrote. “But like previous attempts, Microsoft hasn’t done enough to offset the compromises this aspirational computer asks of customers.” While that experience has improved in the past three years, the story I find myself telling about the SQ3 Surface Pro 9 is fundamentally the same. Windows on Arm, while functional, is not ready for the $2,000 big leagues.
I’ll go a step further: AMD, whose current processor line excels in both power and efficiency, was right there. Microsoft has dropped AMD from the Surface line this year (the Surface Laptop 5 is Intel-only) but has kept Snapdragon in. That, to me, is a miss.
Look, I understand that nobody is buying a Qualcomm-powered device and expecting the power of a Threadripper. I don’t want to discount battery life and build quality as selling points, and I know the 5G is convenient. I am prepared for this comments section to be full of complaints that my performance issues are solvable and that people should just suck it up and use Microsoft’s software 24/7.
But I am fairly confident that if you are someone who uses any of the emulated apps I mentioned even once a day, most other computers, regardless of their price will give you a better experience, whether it’s an iPad Pro or a Dell XPS or, hell, even an AMD Surface Laptop from the last generation. Windows on Arm is not ubiquitously unusable — but it is ubiquitously limited.
Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Correction: A previous version of this article included the Surface Pen twice in the review unit’s quoted price. We regret the error.
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