What this essentially means is a huge generational jump in multi-core performance, with the efficiency cores handling background processors while the performance cores chew through more complex tasks. The 11th-gen 'Tiger Lake' chips found in the Surface Pro 8 are no slouch, to be clear, but Alder Lake brings a unique new microarchitecture called big.LITTLE, which uses two different types of CPU cores: performance cores and efficiency cores. The key difference is that these are 12th-gen Intel Core processors, also known as 'Alder Lake' CPUs. Much like the Pro 8, it's available with either an i5 or an i7 processor - a move to ensure that the new tablets conform to Intel's 'Evo' specifications. This is a (mostly) clean sweep for the Surface Pro 9.

Surface Pro 8 is only one generation of Intel chips behind, but it's a big leap.

Pro 9 5G will use the as-of-yet untested Microsoft SQ3 processor.

Surface Pro 9's 12th-gen Intel chips are powerful.

There's also a cheaper non-Evo i5 version of the Pro 9, which seems to only be available in the US. The 5G-enabled SQ3 models have a slightly higher starting price, which also means that there's a larger overall selection of models than the Pro 8 had. It's worth noting that the Pro 9 is available with either an Intel Core processor or the new Microsoft SQ3 chip (found in the Surface Pro 5G).

If you're not planning on running any super-demanding software, though, the Pro 8 is better value. If you want a more powerful device, the newer Pro 9 is definitely the way to go. Now, you're obviously getting more processing power for your money with the Surface Pro 9, although some of the higher-spec models can get very pricey.

However, the Pro 8 is now available for a lot less we've seen the i5 models on Amazon for as little as $800. The Surface Pro 9 actually has a slightly lower US MSRP at launch than the comparable starting-spec model of the Pro 8: $1000 vs the Pro 8's $1,099.

Microsoft surface pro 8 costco