Microsoft Surface Pro 8: A superior Windows 11 tablet

Microsoft's latest Surface ushers in Windows 11 with an outstanding new Surface tablet.

- MARK HACHMAN

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8 tablet arrives as Windows 11 (see page 25) goes out the door. Microsoft has already shipped one tablet this year, the Surface Pro 7+ (fave.co/3C0zXPZ), which rose to the top of our roundup of the best Windows tablets of 2021 (fave.co/3FWsIuO). Can the Surface Pro 8 improve upon it?

Yes. The Surface Pro 8 boldly strides forward with a larger, higher-resolution, faster screen, a revamped inking experience spearheaded by the optional Surface Slim Pen 2, and a pair of Thunderbolt ports that supplement the legacy Surface Connect charger. It’s a dramatic reworking of the iconic Surface Pro tablet line, and that’s enough to grab your attention.

SPECIFICATIONS

For now, there’s one important change in configuration between the Surface Pro 7+ for Business and the latest Surface Pro 8: The Surface Pro 8 lacks an inexpensive Core i3 option, and thus its base price is $100 higher, at $1,099. The good news is that all of the Surface Pro 8 options Microsoft is selling should offer enough computational power and memory for any buyer. Our review unit also lacked cellular capabilities, so we didn’t test those.