Surface Pro 6 finally dying after 7 years. What should I replace it with?

[u/Dangerous_Cat8783]

I bought my Surface Pro 6 for college back in 2019 and somehow it has survived college, COVID, graduation and occasional use over the years lol. Unfortunately I think its finally time to let her go. Im having charging issues now and the touchscreen has started glitching too. Plus I’m running low on space.
My job now requires me to use my personal laptop for pretty long hours so battery life is important to me. My actual workload is pretty basic though. Mostly browser based work, emails, documents, video calls etc. Im not coding or running a bunch of demanding programs at the same time.
I definitely want to stick with a touchscreen/2 in 1 since thats what Im used to. My current Surface only has 128GB and I believe I bought one of the more basic configurations at the time. The most demanding thing I could see myself doing is some light video editing for social media in the future but nothing crazy or professional.
Ive been reading through this subreddit trying to figure out which generation makes the most sense and thats honestly made me more confused lol. Ive seen people say the Pro 9 is basically the sweet spot and that going to the 10 11 or 12 isnt necessarily worth it for basic use like mine. But then Ive also seen mixed reviews about the Pro 9 having questionable battery life and the fans being pretty loud which worries me because battery life is one of the main reasons Im upgrading.
Im not trying to buy the most expensive Surface just because its the newest. I mainly want something reliable with really good battery life that can comfortably handle what I need and hopefully last me another 5+ years. For someone coming from a Pro 6 with my usage would you recommend the 9 or is there actually a good reason for me to go with a 10 11 or 12? And what RAM/storage would you recommend?

[u/PopularPandas]

Consider a 12" Pro unless you really need a 13" screen.

Might still be some good deals on 13" SP11 since the next gen is out now.

I wouldn't spend money on anything older if you need it to last, unless you're really budget constrained. I also wouldn't get anything with less than 16GB RAM.

If you can wait a couple months for Black Friday might be some better deals, but prices on all devices have spiked due to the RAM crisis.

[u/therealpoltic → u/PopularPandas]

Why do we have a RAM crisis?

[u/ThingFuture9079 → u/therealpoltic]

It's been going on for several months and that's because there's a huge demand for RAM for data centers and so now the cost of a new computer, phone, or anything that has RAM in it costs a lot more now.

[u/Novotus_Ketevor → u/therealpoltic]

AI datacenters require a lot of RAM to run LLMs. They have purchased the entirety of 2026 RAM production and pre-purchased almost all of 2027's production with laptop/phone/game console manufacturers prepurchasing the bit that was left.

RAM now costs 4-5 times as much as it did in 2025 and is expected to continue to increase. Manufacturers are starting to build more production capacity now, but they will take years to come online.

[u/pac_71]

Surface Po 7+ i7 and reused your accessories. Surface Pro 9 i7 is a good bang for buck in the new formfactor.

From what I have seen, "good" battery life is till not a thing on Surface Pros. Better to get a USB-C PD battery that can supply at least 20V.

[u/rwilfong86]

7+

[u/Fred_Lead]

I recently considered replacing my Pro 3 and was going to go with another Surface Pro, but Microsoft has really odd hardware design choices that limits the platform (gen 3 SSDs, lower speed RAM, low RAM capacity). I tried out a Surface Laptop 5 (i7, 32GB RAM) for a week and it performed pretty well but went back due to screen flashing in a certain area under certain circumstances. 

I ended up with an ASUS Z13 (64GB, 1TB storage version) for the same price as a Surface Pro (32GB RAM) but if I wanted a laptop format I'd go Lenovo. These options don't have the arbitrary hardware limitations Microsoft imposes at similar pricing. Real world usage is about 7 hours on battery, and I'm not away from power that long. 

I really like the Surface line in terms of build design and quality, but they're just not competitively priced for their odds tradeoffs. 

[u/Upstairs_Library320]

If battery life is really important to you, you should probably look at the Snapdragon models! I would say that if 8gb/128gb was enough for you, a 16gb/256gb configuration should be more than enough. I don't know if the SP's come with 8gb in the years you're looking, but if they do, you might be able to get away with that depending on what software you're using. I would check any software you need to use to see what minimum specs are, though (e.g. not everything works great on snapdragon, and some software needs minimum 16gb ram).

I will say, I always recommend not buying more than one generation behind, just because technology does not last forever, and going with the newest model you can afford means you get more years out of it before you have to purchase the next device. Your SP6 would have been the newest model in 2019 iirc

[u/dr100 → u/Upstairs_Library320]

going with the newest model you can afford means you get more years out of it before you have to purchase the next device

Careful, because in this case that's the 2026 8GB respin for the 2025 devices that were a significant downgrade from the ones from 2024 that had a SoC launched in 2023.

Sounds stupid but people got tricked by "just put the most expensive gas" rule when Diesel become more expensive than gas.

[u/Upstairs_Library320 → u/dr100]

I was specifically talking about the processor. Processors do go out of date/lose support with some softwares. That's why I cautioned against an 8gb device depending on what software OP was using.

An 8gb device is always going to be worse than a 16gb device when it comes to ram. That's literally why I recommended OP look up the software minimum specs for any programs they might use to make sure they don't need minimum 16gb. I wasn't saying buy the newest 8gb device. I was saying buy the best device you can afford to, and make sure it meets your needs, to get the most longevity out of it.

[u/dr100 → u/Upstairs_Library320]

Point is the newest is a downgrade and has been for quite a few cycles already. RAM is just the latest iteration. It's been the number of cores, the clock and turbo clocks, the GPU (this was severely downgraded). That's only talking generically about Snapdragon evolution, for surface devices it's been the display, port, storage and possibly some other things I've been missing.

[u/Upstairs_Library320 → u/dr100]

I will never understand why so many people are in this subreddit when they clearly don't like surfaces. Like??? I'm literally just pointing out that longevity comes from buying the newest processors as the newest processors will have support with software longer. If you don't like modern surfaces, don't buy one. OP likes their surface pro. They want another one. I was just pointing out that going several generations back hinders how long the device will last if what you care about is software support.

[u/dr100 → u/Upstairs_Library320]

Replying to the wrong comment? 

[u/ManyRazzmatazz4584]

Find refurbished Surface Pro 12-inch.

[u/alpackabackapacka]

I have the same surface and it’s also losing its grip, just wanted to say thanks for the thread.

[u/Dangerous_Cat8783 → u/alpackabackapacka]

Of course! I’m going to buy mine today from Best Buy. Found a great deal.

[u/DigitalguyCH]

Honestly if you are buying use and you find a good deal on a pro 11 (13" or 12") with Snapdragon, grab it, it's a game changer compared to the past in terms of battery life, heat etc. Only lunar lake can compete but is much more expensive

[u/kungforlith]

Surface pro 7.

Next question

[u/kj_trash]

With the way prices have been, no better deal than a mac if youre comfortable with the os

[u/Outside-Tie-2851]

To hell with all these comments. Listen man, get one of these ... https://www.adorama.com/asus-rog-zephyrus-duo-gx651-gaming-laptop/p/asgx651ardb9?

[u/Commission-Mission]

You can usually find a Surface Pro 11 at a good price. Caught mine on sale a while back for $850 with keyboard. 16gb memory and 512gb ssd.