Microsoft Surface Pro 11

Although I haven’t used it, it must be noted that the Surface Pro 11 is not a typical PC based on an Intel processor. It’s in a category that Microsoft calls a Copilot+ PC, with a relatively new ARM-based Snapdragon X processor and a version of Microsoft Windows that runs on ARM. On paper this is a more efficient processor that should let it run cooler with better battery life (it’s designed sort of like the ARM-based Apple Silicon processor), but because it’s new, the thing you have to watch out for is that Microsoft Windows on ARM and a lot of Windows-based software might not yet be fully compatible with everything you might expect a PC to do.

This affects Adobe Creative Cloud apps. Some have been adapted to run on Copilot+ PCs, others haven’t. The ones that run might have some features that aren’t totally working yet.

If you’re thinking about buying a Surface Pro 11 or any Copilot+ PC, you’ll want to check this Adobe help article about compatiiblity with the apps you use:

Do Adobe apps work on Microsoft Copilot+ PCs?

The article says Photoshop and Lightroom both run natively, with more apps on the way soon, so that’s good. Bridge is not yet on the list of apps to be ARM-native soon, and neither is Lightroom Classic, if that is what you use; they don’t yet have a public timeline for releasing ARM-native versions of those two apps. You also have to watch out for ARM compatibility for other software you depend on such as printer drivers.

Some apps that don’t yet run natively can run in a translation environment for Intel-based apps, but they won’t perform as well that way.