In case you're interested in a 5g option on Surface Pro 11 (or Laptop 7) check out Zack's report:
Apparently shipping 09/11 (per Paul Thurrott). Pretty big premium for 5g - $400 - and unless I can find someone selling demo units, it's a hard no for me even to test.
Still on the fence with this one as well. Rumors are that Lunar lake will be released in early 2025? I had a question about the 5g model. If your internet speed is slow, does the 5g jump in to assist? Or is it either/or wifi or 5g one at a time?
PS - a bit more about the current love affair with the Surface Pro 11 vs my (now sold) MacBook Pro 14:
It's NOT just about coming back to a comfortable/familiar OS (SERIOUSLY APPLE, just COPY MS window management already - even the Sequoia improvements pale by comparison). It's the little productivity enhancements throughout the Windows version of Office 365 vs the MacOS version. For example, when you are inserting an attachment to an email, clicking on "Attachment" immediately brings up your most recent documents for a quick click to insert. On macOS you need to move to the Finder, then recents folder. Another is inserting an email into a OneNote page - so simple in the Windows version - a PITA in the macOS version. This is likely because of the underlying plumbing of macOS vs Windows, but I don't care.
My SP11 is almost the exact same weight as a MacBook Air 13, and it has completely replaced my (heavier) MacBook Pro, 80% replaced my M1 iPad Pro, includes 5g, and only cost me $229 to upgrade to 2tb storage.
I love my Surface Pro 11, so my concerns are not with the device:
Already expressed my worries about Intel Lunar Lake (why put up with any incompatibilities of ARM if you can have full x86 with 80% of the power and efficiency of ARM - and now Zac Bowden has reported there's a Lunar Lake MS Laptop 7+ in the wings (Surface Pro 11+ next?).
Still very slow development of ARM versions of mainstream applications (LOOKING AT YOU ADOBE).
But now ARM Holdings is threatening to gut Qualcomm - at least causing even more uncertainty:
Just how long will MS hang in there.,..
True Confessions Time:
I scored the SP11 Elite 16gb/512gb/5g model (finally) thanks to our previous host Sonic/HiFi setting up a business account for me at iTSavvy. I was again told by them that the special evaluation unit pricing was primarily due to my industry (legal) which they are still looking for advocates to increase business penetration. Whatever - it's hard to pass up a 50% discount on the system and keyboard (slim pen 2 was retail).
Anyway, a couple of first 8 hour observations:
The hardware is all first quality - the only device in the Windows world that matches to Apple.
My printer now works - a MAJOR improvement.
My scanner (Canon R40) WILL NOT WORK, and so far my research has not found a single scanner that does (although Ed Bott says his ScanSnap ix1600 does work, and I've seen elsewhere it does via WiFi). Just not excited about another big investment.
The "feel" of the system, with only ARM software installed, is VERY SNAPPY - Office is much faster than it was on my Surface Pro 8.
5g - YES! It's about twice as fast as my SP8 was, but only half as fast as my iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The OLED is beautiful and bright; great for videos and photos; but black text on white background is more dark gray on white.
So, Dale did you finally get the SP11 5G? Haven't been following for sometime now.
RANT WARNING...
I'm posting this here as a warning because I almost fell for a pre-order. Both sales and tech support at M$ are NOT behind the Surface Pro 11, and it is almost lioke they are whistling past the graveyard in the dark. I really would love an all in one with 5g, so I got tempted again, BUT I wanted to know if they have fixed driver support for my HP LaserJet Pro MFP M428 printer and Canon ImageFormula R40 scanner.
M$ Sales Support: Absolutely useless. I explained my situation and that I wanted to pre-order the 5g but needed to know about driver support. After about 5 minutes support came back and said both devices are supported in Windows 11. I again reminded them thaat Surface Pro 11 uses ARM (imagine their surprise) and after ten minutes this time came back with "pretty sure HP is supported under generic drivers" but not the canon. Asked if she had a list of supported devices, and that's when I got booted to tech support...
M$ Tech Support: 10% better. They were sure the HP will work - I explained I tried it with a WiFi only Surface Pro 11 - it was networked, could print test page, printed page was dleivered to printer but not in printer que and nothing printed..."Oh yeah - it only works direct connect, not across a network." Asked if they were providing updated drivers - "No - that's the third party manufacturers job." Then on to the Canon - "Oh no, it doesn't work." Do any scanners work "We don't think so - up to manufacturers to support Windows 11 on ARM." Do you have a list of what devices are compatibale wiith Win11 ARM - "NO!"
That last reply floored me - it is as if they DON"T want to know, or even have the knowledge, and have to cough it up.
The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back - if M$ doesn't give a sh*t about anything other than AI and TOPS scores, why should I? As much as I hate Joz and Craigy for being d*cks about MacOS on iPad Pro, the Nadella administration at M$ is far worse and nefarious...
So, did you order yours Dale?😄
Seriously though, 5G has been a bit of a revelation. I live on the edge of the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. They are a fairly vast area (to the extent that anything in Jersey could be called vast) of undeveloped pine and white oak forrest. The Pinelands, particularly the Warton forrest, where I live, is highly regulated and it is quite difficult to get new cell towers built in there. The result is that we have had a lot of dead zones with our 4G/LTE devices. For instance, I can't sit by the pool in my backyard and make a phone call or use the internet. I had to add an extender to our Wifi signal and even that is weather dependent. Also, on my drive home, I pass through at least 3 dead zones where calls drop off.
Since I got the 5G Fold 6, I've had none of these issues. I have a steady, strong signal everywhere around my house. The pool is no longer in the dead zone. In fact, I can use the phone anywhere in the neighborhood and no longer have the deadzones while driving home.
The problem is that I like my Pro X a lot better than the current Pro 12 (ARM). I guess when they discontinue the Intel Pro series and redesign the case of the Pro X to be thinner and smaller the way my SQ2 model is, I'll consider forking out some cash for the 5G. Better yet, how about that 11" Pro X!
Better check ITSavvy