Microsoft launches the ARM-based Surface Pro X

Microsoft launches the ARM-based Surface Pro X

By Frederic Lardinois

Screen Shot 2019 10 02 at 7.47.57 AM

At its annual Surface hardware event, Microsoft today announced the long-rumored ARM-based Surface, the first time Microsoft itself has launched a device with an ARM-based processor inside. The 13-inch device will use Microsoft’s own custom SQ1 chip, based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and an AI accelerator, making it the first Surface with an integrated AI engine. Microsoft and Qualcomm also worked on building custom-designed GPU cores for the Pro X, which will run Microsoft’s version of Windows 10 for ARM.

Microsoft started its flirtation with ARM-based devices a few years ago and that work culminated in the launch of a number of ARM-powered devices from HP, Asus and others, promising all-day battery life, the ability to still run almost every Windows application, and performance comparable to a lower-end Intel chip. To do this, Microsoft is using a binary translator that converts X86 instructions into ARM64 as necessary, while still compiling almost all of the native Windows 10 libraries for the ARM architecture.

Like Microsoft’s other new Surface devices, the 13-inch ARM-based Pro X will feature USB-C ports. The screen features a 1400:1 contrast ratio and a 2880×1920 resolution and can be …read more

Source:: TechCrunch Gadgets

Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 7 finally has USB-C, ships on October 22 Previous post Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 7 finally has USB-C, ships on October 22 OmniVis could save lives by detecting cholera-infected water in minutes rather than days Next post OmniVis could save lives by detecting cholera-infected water in minutes rather than days