My Surface Pro 9 met its end, and I decided to give Surface Pro 11 a shot. In this case the Snapdragon with 16GB RAM and 512GB drive that is part...
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The original was posted on /r/surface by /u/Stephen2024-PHX on 2024-11-10 14:23:26+00:00.

My Surface Pro 9 met its end, and I decided to give Surface Pro 11 a shot. In this case the Snapdragon with 16GB RAM and 512GB drive that is part of the Best Buy Black Friday sale. I then immediately swapped out the 512GB for the 2TB drive I had installed in the Surface Pro 9. So far, I am impressed with the overall performance and with some compatibility I was not expecting (and had been a source of some hesitation). Excuse the long list form - just a few initial comments.

  • ArcGIS Pro 3.3 - runs very well emulated. It takes an extra 5 to ten seconds to load but performance is then a match for the i7 Surface Pro I had been using. This one surprised me and means it is viable as a work device.
  • Adobe Illustrator - still a promise but not an immediate priority for me. The beta works but I do not trust Adobe betas.
  • Adobe Photoshop - outperforms the X86 version on the Surface Pro 9 by a wide margin.
  • Adobe Lightroom - ARM version is oddly buggy and sluggish (nothing has changed from the X86 version on that front) but copying preference and setting files from Surface Pro 9 solved the problems.
  • Adobe Lightroom Classic - (x86 only) loses a few interactive modes with Photoshop but is actually faster on the Surface Pro 11. It is also faster (and runs cooler) than the ARM version of Lightroom. I prefer the classic interface and DB management so this works for me.
  • Adobe Acrobat - X86 32 bit version only but performs just as well as Surface Pro 9.
  • Adobe Media Encoder - works as expected but have not had reason to push it yet.
  • Topaz Photo AI - does not work/cannot install but the manufacturer is promising an upgrade. The only thing they need to upgrade is the installer so that it is not limited to looking for a couple GPUs.
  • Google Earth Pro - slightly faster on Surface Pro 11 with no stability issues.
  • Apple Music - surprisingly is more stable on ARM than Surface Pro 9.
  • Various Microsoft Store apps - almost all load and run (mostly sketching, drawing, and image apps in this case).
  • Microsoft software - all work as expected including its old (shelved) ICE program for creating panoramic images.
  • Fingerprint reader in existing type cover does not work.
  • Windows Hello FaceID takes longer to load to desktop (just a couple seconds)
  • Bluetooth devices connect as expected (no surprise).
  • File transfers across my network (literally grabbing files off another computer rather than using the server) are much faster. I assume it is simply using a better network adapter in addition to newer protocol.
  • OneDrive clearly was set to a lower daily threshold of GB transfers since it posted a message that I would need to wait to complete syncing 500GB worth of data around 350GB. This, however, was easy enough to solve by editing the configuration file to a higher number (1 TB) and then logging off and on.
  • As for battery life, I carried it around for the afternoon while at a meeting but just had it sleeping/in stand by. At the end of the day, it was still sitting at 100%. The Surface Pro 9 would have been nowhere near 100% unless it had been powered off.
  • The 2TB WD drive always ran cool in the Surface Pro 9 and nothing has changed. I have yet to hear a fan though even when running ArcGIS Pro (almost immediately triggered the Surface Pro 9) or stitching a few panoramic images in Lightroom Classic. Nothing was being pushed hard but I was still pleased with overall performance.
  • Checking Event Viewer, there were no critical errors (a first when setting up a new machine) and only a few errors regarding compatibility of random stuff I tried to load but barely load on anything anymore (GPS Babel comes to mind).

So far, after a couple days my impressions are very positive. I was expecting to have to go with a Surface Pro 10 but this looks like it will meet my needs for both personal and work use. If the battery life meets expectations (mine not as advertised), the few things lost will be worth the trade off in performance and remote utility (aka daily use before needing to grab an external battery).