(Pocket-lint) – The Surface Pro 9 was announced during Microsoft’s Fall event alongside the Surface Laptop 5 and Surface Studio 2.

But, while last year’s Surface Pro 8 brought with it a slew of updates, the Surface Pro 9 is a more subtle change from its predecessor.

With its outward appearance mostly identical, then, what exactly has changed? And is it worth upgrading if you’re a Surface Pro 8 owner?

We’ve dug into the specs and uncovered what’s new with the latest Surface tablet.

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Design and connectivity

• Both: 287 x 208 x 9.3mm / 2x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, Surface Connect port
• Surface Pro 9 colours: Sapphire, Forest, Platinum, Graphite
• Surface Pro 8 colours:  Graphite, Platinum

As we mentioned in the introduction, the design has remained essentially the same with the latest generation of Surface Pro. The IO is mostly the same, consisting of Microsoft’s proprietary Surface Connect port and two USB-C ports. Both of which support Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4.0, as they did on the Surface Pro 8.

Well, that’s true of the Intel-based models, at least. Microsoft has introduced an ARM-powered 5G model with this generation, which we’ll explore in more depth later in this article. The ARM model has the same IO, but its USB-C ports are only capable of USB 3.2 connectivity. It also has a SIM tray to support its 5G connectivity.

All variants of the Surface Pro 9, for some reason, have ditched the 3.5mm headphone socket. Given that the chassis is otherwise identical in size, we’re not sure why this would need to be removed, and it’s certainly bad news for wired headphone fans.

There are some new colour options this time around, and these are exclusive to Intel-based models. There’s Sapphire, which is a light-blue colourway, and Forest, which is a green offering. Both are very nice additions and they add a bit of flavour to the otherwise minimalist design, we’re particularly fond of the Forest option, it looks great.

Display and cameras

• Both: 13-inch 3:2 PixelSense Flow Display 2880 X 1920 at up to 120Hz
• Surface Pro 9: Dolby Vision IQ support, Gorilla Glass 5
• Both: 1080p front-facing camera with Windows Hello, 10MP 4K rear camera

There’s not been much of an update to the display on the Surface Pro 9, but that’s no bad thing, the display was great on the Surface Pro 8 and it essentially makes a return here. Both offer a 13-inch panel with a practical 3:2 aspect ratio. A refresh rate of up to 120Hz keeps things looking buttery smooth, while adaptive tech lowers this to aid in battery life when it’s not required.

One thing that’s new is support for Dolby Vision IQ, which uses a sensor to adjust the picture settings based on the ambient light around you. Just how much better it is than the regular Dolby Vision support that’s offered by the Surface Pro 8 remains to be seen, but it’s nice to see something that differentiates the displays.

Another thing we noticed is that Microsoft specifies that the Surface Pro 9’s display is covered by Gorilla Glass 5, which is great for durability. The type of glass used on the Surface Pro 8 wasn’t listed, but we think it’s safe to assume this is an upgrade.

All models use the same camera hardware, however, the ARM variant of the Surface Pro 9 has a few additional tricks up its sleeve. The Microsoft SQ 3 processor has a dedicated neural processing unit, and this allows it to enhance audio and video features using AI.

There are a variety of things it enables, most of which are centred around video conferencing. These range from fairly mundane things like blurring your background, to simulating eye contact by augmenting your pupil position. This could either make conference calls feel much more natural, or it could be quite jarring, depending on how well it works in the real world. We’re looking forward to finding out.

One of the standout features that was shown during Microsoft’s event was something called Voice Focus. It was demonstrated with a conference call taking place next to a leaf blower, and it seemed to work impressively well. For anyone who frequently works in a shared office space or cafe environment, it could prove to be a bit of a game changer.

Hardware and battery life

• Surface Pro 9 processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i5 1235U / i7 1255U / Microsoft SQ 3
• Surface Pro 8 processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i5 1135G7 / i7 1185G7
• Both: 8GB/16GB/32GB RAM and 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB storage
• Surface Pro 9: Up to 15.5 hours battery (Intel) /  Up to 19 hours (SQ 3)
• Surface Pro 8: Up to 16 hours battery

The inside is where the real upgrades have taken place this generation. The Intel models have been updated to use the latest 12th Gen chips, which should bring a pretty significant performance boost. Microsoft is claiming that it’s the most powerful Surface Pro yet, and from what we’ve seen with other 12th Gen devices, we’re sure that’s the case.

It’s the 5G-ready Microsoft SQ 3 model that’s really got our attention, though. Historically, ARM-based Surface devices have fallen under the Surface Pro X moniker, and this is the first time we’ve seen one in the main Surface Pro lineup.

As far as we can tell, it seems like the SQ 3 platform is essentially a rebranded Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chipset, and we’re intrigued to learn how it performs. Of course, it benefits from 5G connectivity, which is a huge selling point, along with all its AI camera enhancements. It should have better battery life, too. But, previous ARM-based Surface devices have all suffered from poor software compatibility, massively limiting their appeal. We can only imagine that being the case here, too, but we’d love to be shown otherwise.

Elsewhere, configuration options for storage and RAM remain the same as the Surface Pro 8. The SQ 3 model gets a slightly smaller range, with up to 512GB of storage and up to 16GB of RAM.

Battery life is, surprisingly, quoted as half an hour shorter on the new Intel models, which is a little disappointing to see, but maybe it’s just a more conservative estimate. The SQ 3 version, on the other hand, should last longer on a charge with battery life quoted as up to 19 hours.

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Verdict

If we’re focusing on the Intel models, which are likely to be the most popular, then we’ve essentially seen a processor upgrade and a couple of new colours added for this generation of Surface Pro. So, existing users probably won’t feel much urgency to upgrade, unless they are at the limits of their processing power.

For, those looking to buy their first Surface Pro device, it depends on the tasks that they need to accomplish. For many tasks, the older Surface Pro 8 will be more than sufficient, and it should see some significant discounts now that its successor has been released. However, if you know you’ll be looking to accomplish more intensive jobs, such as video editing, the upgrade to a 12th Gen chip is probably going to be worth the extra outlay.

The ARM-based model, meanwhile, is a very different proposition. Its move to the main Surface Pro lineup may catch out less-savvy consumers, who will expect the same experience provided by the Intel-based models with added 5G connectivity. This is not likely to be the case, but we’re excited to see how it performs in the real world.

In any case, the ARM model does have its own benefits beyond 5G. The AI video and audio enhancements could prove to be valuable assets if they work as advertised. Plus, it’ll have longer battery life, and we could all use that.

Writing by Luke Baker.