Lenovo ThinkPad X12 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Comparison

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Lenovo ThinkPad X12

12.3 inches | January 2021

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Microsoft Surface Pro 9

13 inches | October 2022

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Lenovo ThinkPad X12 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Comparison Overview

Lenovo ThinkPad X12

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Microsoft Surface Pr...

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Lenovo ThinkPad X12

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Microsoft Surface Pr...

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In this review, we will be comparing ThinkPad X12 and Surface Pro 9, two laptops from Lenovo and Microsoft. Lenovo ThinkPad X12 was introduced to market in January 2021 and Microsoft Surface Pro 9 was launched in October 2022. There is 21 months difference between ThinkPad X12 and Surface Pro 9 so it would still give an advantage to younger Surface Pro 9.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Here is a brief look at the main features of Lenovo ThinkPad X12 and Microsoft Surface Pro 9 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Key Specs

Launched in January 2021
12.3" TouchScreen - IPS LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i3 1110G4
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4
8GB Ram
283.3 x 203.5 x 14.5 mm (11.15 x 8.01 x 0.57 inches)
Weight: 1.1 kg (2.43 lbs)

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Key Specs

Launched in October 2022
13.0" Touchscreen - IPS LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i5 1235U
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80EU)
8GB Ram
287 x 209 x 9.3 mm (11.3 x 8.23 x 0.37 inches)
Weight: 0.87 kg (1.92 lbs)

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how ThinkPad X12 and Surface Pro 9 compares and decide which one is better for you.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reasons to choose Lenovo ThinkPad X12 over Microsoft Surface Pro 9

Fingerprint Sensor	Yes vs No	Easy login with fingerprint

Reasons to choose Microsoft Surface Pro 9 over Lenovo ThinkPad X12

Weight	0.87 kg vs 1.10 kg	0.23 kg lighter
Screen-to-Body Ratio	~83.9% vs ~78.1%	Larger screen area ratio
Side Bezel Thickness	6.2 mm vs 11.7 mm	5.5 mm thinner bezels
Display Size	13 inches vs 12.3 inches	Larger Screen Estate
Refresh Rate	120 Hz vs 60 Hz	Smoother media experience
Screen PPI	266 ppi vs 188 ppi	More pixels per inch
Screen Resolution	2880 x 1920 pixels vs 1920 x 1280 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
sRGB Color Space	106.1% vs 99.2%	Wider sRGB Color Space Coverage
Adobe RGB Profile	75.1% vs 68.8%	Wider Adobe RGB Coverage
Max Brightness	450 nits vs 400 nits	Brighter Screen
GPU FLOPS	1.41 TFLOPS vs 0.84 TFLOPS	Flexible cable positions
Charging Port Position	Left, Right vs Left	Faster RAM Type
RAM Type	LPDDR5 vs LPDDR4X	Faster RAM
RAM BUS	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) vs PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x)	Higher Resolution Camera
Webcam Resolution	1920 x 1080 vs 1280 x 720

Common Strengths of Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and Lenovo ThinkPad X12

Screen Type	Touch Screen vs Touch Screen	Interact with your fingers
Fast Charging Support	Yes vs Yes	Charge the battery in a shorter time
USB Power Delivery	Yes vs Yes	Charging via USB port gives flexibility
RAM Type	PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) vs PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)	Fast RAM type
Upgradable Storage	Yes vs Yes	Option to increase the Storage size
SSD Type	NVMe vs NVMe	Faster Data Transfers
Dolby Atmos Support	Yes vs Yes	3D Surround Sound Support
Wi-Fi Standard	v6 vs v6E	Fast and Reliable Wi-Fi Connections
Bluetooth Standard	v5.1 vs v5.1	Fast and Reliable Bluetooth Connections
Thunderbolt Port	v4 vs v4	Fast data and power transfer via Thunderbolt Port
VGA Output	No vs No	Connect to External Displays via VGA cable
Keyboard Backlight	Yes vs Yes	Easily see the keys under low light

Common Weaknesses of Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and Lenovo ThinkPad X12

Upgradable RAM	No vs No	No Option to increase the RAM size
HDMI Output	No vs No	Need an adapter to connect to HDMI displays

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 9: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 and the Microsoft Surface Pro 9.

Physical Specs
Weight	1.1 kg (2.43 lbs)	0.87 kg (1.92 lbs)
Surface Area	577 cm2 (89.3 inches2)	600 cm2 (93 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~78.1%	~83.9%
Side Bezel Thickness	~11.7 mm	~6.2 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.09 kg/inch	0.07 kg/inch
	0.198 lbs/inch	0.154 lbs/inch
Colors	Black	Black, Silver, Blue, Green

Comparison of the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 and the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 External Dimensions

Weight

ThinkPad X12 weighs 1.1 kg (2.43 lbs), whereas the Surface Pro 9 weighs 0.87 kg (1.92 lbs). There is a notable difference in weight between these two laptops. However, it's important to consider that comparing their weights directly may not provide a complete picture since they also have different display sizes.

Weight Comparison

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 1.10 kg

Avg: 12.0-12.9" 1.11 kg

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 0.87 kg

Avg: 13.0-13.9" 1.22 kg

Thickness Comparison

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 14.50 mm

Avg: 12.0-12.9" 14.24 mm

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 11.30 mm

Avg: 13.0-13.9" 15.38 mm

Another value that we use for comparing the weights of the laptops is the Weight per Inch of Screen, which is calculated by dividing the total weight of the model with its usable diagonal screen size. This value for the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 is 0.09 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is 0.07 kg/inch.Here are some of the best performing laptops in this area:

Microsoft Surface Go 4: 0.05 kg/inch
LG Gram SuperSlim 15.6 2023: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus ProArt PZ13 HT5306: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus Zenbook A14 UX3407: 0.06 kg/inch
Dell Latitude 7330: 0.07 kg/inch
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2022: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2-in-1 2022: 0.07 kg/inch

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 9: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Intel Core i3 1110G4 Intel Core i5 1130G7 Intel Core i5 1140G7 Intel Core i7 1160G7 Intel Core i7 1180G7	Intel Core i5 1235U Intel Core i7 1255U
Base Frequency	1.5-2.5 GHz	1.3 GHz
Turbo Frequency	3.9 GHz	4.4 GHz
Number of Cores	2	10
Number of Threads	4	12
L3 Cache	6 MB	12 MB
Integrated GPU	Intel UHD Graphics Xe Graphics G4	Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU)
CPU Fabrication Process	10 nm	10 nm

Above you can see the CPU options and the CineBench and GeekBench test scores for both laptops, which gives an idea about what kind of performance difference you may experience between the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 and Microsoft Surface Pro 9.

You may also read reviews of latest laptops with the same CPU ( Intel Core i5 1235U ) and compare them:

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80EU)
Base Clock Frequency	300 MHz	300 MHz
Boost CLock Frequency	1100 MHz	1100 MHz
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	15 W	15 W
Type	Integrated	Integrated
FLOPS	844.8 GFLOPS	1,408 GFLOPS
Memory Size	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Type	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Bus	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Speed	System Shared	System Shared
Shading Units Cores	384	640
TMUs	24	40
ROPs	12	20

GPU is as critical as the CPU for graphic heavy applications and the table above gives a picture of how the two GPU compares. FLOPS is a measure of a GPU's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second. Lenovo ThinkPad X12 has a FLOPS value of 0.84 TFLOPS whereas the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 ' has a FLOPS value of 1.41 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	8GB 16GB	8GB 16GB 32GB
Memory Bus	2x4 GB	2x4 GB
RAM Clock	4267 MHz	5200 MHz
RAM Type	LPDDR4X	LPDDR5
Upgradable	No	No
Total Slots	2
Memory Bus	PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x)	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)

Both laptops, the ThinkPad X12 and the Surface Pro 9, come with similar RAM capacities of 8 GB, providing comparable performance in memory-intensive tasks.

LOCAL LLM Compatibility Evaluation

This quick guide shows what types of large language models (LLMs) each of these laptops could support, based on their respective hardware specifications. It's meant to help you compare their suitability for running AI models locally.

LLM Category	Lenovo ThinkPad X12	Microsoft Surface Pro 9
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✔ Run smoothly.	✔ Run smoothly.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Mixtral, Qwen-14B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Extra-Large Models(65B+):Examples: LLaMA2-70B, Qwen1.5-72B	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.

Note: Optimized (e.g., 4-bit) models may run on limited hardware. Performance depends on runtime and setup.

📌 MoE Models: Some models like Mixtral 8x7B and Qwen3-30B-A3B use a Mixture of Experts (MoE) design, activating only part of the model during inference. This means they can often run efficiently on laptops with 12–16 GB of VRAM when quantized.

BATTERY

BATTERY	42 Wh	47.7 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Po	Li-Ion
Replaceable	No	No
Fast Charging	No	No
USB Power Delivery	Yes	Yes
Charging Port Position	Left	Left, Right
Charge Power	65 W	39 W
Full Charging Time	2:20 hr	1:30 hr
AC Adapter Weight	322 gramm

On the other hand, the Surface Pro 9 features a higher battery capacity of 48 Wh, delivering longer usage time compared to the ThinkPad X12's 42 Wh.

Battery Comparison

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 42 Wh

Avg: 12.0-12.9" 43.28 Wh

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 48 Wh

Avg: 13.0-13.9" 53.1 Wh

STORAGE
Both laptops, the ThinkPad X12 and the Surface Pro 9 have similar max. storage capacities of 1 TB, allowing for ample space to store files and applications.

Storage Options	256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB	128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB
Upgradable	Yes	Yes
Storage type	SSD (M2)	SSD (M2)
NVMe	Yes	Yes

If your budget allows, we recommend opting for the largest possible disk size, considering the potential increase in storage capacity needs in the future. However, please keep in mind the question 'What will the laptop be used for?' when making this decision. Of course, you can later upgrade the hard disk capacity by getting a larger disk. However, if your laptop has only one disk slot, it may not be as straightforward as a RAM upgrade, where you simply add or replace a module, as moving or cloning files to a new disk may be necessary.

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 9: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 and Microsoft Surface Pro 9 since its is the component that you interact the most and significantly impact the experience.

Screen Area and Dimensions

Now let's look at the comparison of the actual display areas of both laptops below, keeping the bezels around the screens out of the equation. ThinkPad X12 has a display size of 12.3".On the other hand, Surface Pro 9 has a larger13.0" display.The total usable screen area of the ThinkPad X12 is 451cm² / 70inch² whereas the Surface Pro 9's total usable screen area is 503cm² / 78inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the Surface Pro 9 features a higher pixel density with 266 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 188 PPI

Avg: 12.0-12.9" 199 PPI

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 266 PPI

Avg: 13.0-13.9" 186 PPI

Refresh Rate
The Surface Pro 9 offers a higher refresh rate of 120 Hz, resulting in smoother motion and improved visual experience.

Brightness
The Surface Pro 9 offers a higher maximum brightness of 450 nits, delivering a brighter screen.

Brightness Comparison

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 400 nits

Avg: 12.0-12.9" 370 nits

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 450 nits

Avg: 13.0-13.9" 438 nits

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Surface Pro 9 features a more advanced Wi-Fi standard v6E, providing faster and more reliable wireless connections compared to ThinkPad X12 (v6).

Below, you'll find a Wi-Fi Versions Table, along with their release dates and speeds, to provide a brief overview of its development.

Wi-Fi Versions and Speeds

Standard	Speed	Release Date	Network	Frequency Bands (GHz)
Wi-Fi 7	up to 40 Gbps (5 GB/s)	2023	802.11be	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6E	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2020	802.11ax	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2019	802.11ax	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5	up to 6.93 Gbps (866.25 MB/s)	2014	802.11ac	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 4	up to 600 Mbps (75 MB/s)	2009	802.11n	2.4, 5

* Please note that the provided transfer rates are maximum theoretical values, and real-life performance may vary based on environmental factors.

USB
Neither ThinkPad X12 nor Surface Pro 9 has USB-A ports.
Both ThinkPad X12 and Surface Pro 9 feature 2x USB 4.0 USB Type-C ports.

Below, you'll find a table of USB ports, along with their release dates and speeds.
To mitigate the confusion caused by generation names, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) suggests using marketing names like USB 5Gbps, USB 10Gbps, and so forth, based on their respective transfer rates.

USB Type and Speeds

USB Type	Version	Speed	Date	Other Features/Explanations
USB4	Gen 4 (2.0)	80 Gbps	2022	Also known as USB 80Gbps
USB4	Gen 3×2	40 Gbps	2019	Also known as USB 40Gbps
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2x2	20 Gbps	2019	Double the data transfer rates of Gen 2
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.1
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.0
USB 3.1	3.1 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2013	Faster data transfer rates
USB 3.0	3.1 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2010	SuperSpeed USB, improved data transfer rates
USB 2.0	2.0	480 Mbps	2000	High-speed data transfer
USB 1.0	1.0	1.5 Mbps	1996	Original USB standard

Thunderbolt
Both ThinkPad X12 and Surface Pro 9 are equipped with Thunderbolt 4 ports.

HDMI
Neither ThinkPad X12 nor Surface Pro 9 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors. Neither ThinkPad X12 nor Surface Pro 9 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors.

Below, you'll find a comparison table detailing different HDMI versions, including their bandwidth, color depth, maximum resolution, and release dates. This information can be helpful in understanding the capabilities of each HDMI version and choosing the most suitable one for your needs.

HDMI Comparison Table

HDMI Version	Maximum Resolution	Bandwidth (Gbps)	Color Depth (bits)	Release Date
HDMI 2.1-2.1b	7680 x 4320 *(8K)* @ 60p 3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 120p	48.0	48	2017
HDMI 2.0-2.0b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 60p	18.0	48	2013
HDMI 1.4-1.4b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 30p	10.2	48	2009
HDMI 1.3-1.3a	2560 x 1440 @ 60p	10.2	48	2006
HDMI 1.0-1.2a	1920 x 1200 @ 60p	4.95	24	2002

* Please note that the provided resolution values represent the maximum supported resolution, and actual display quality may depend on other factors such as source content and connected devices.

SD Card Reader
Neither ThinkPad X12 nor Surface Pro 9 has an SD Card Reader.

Audio Jack
ThinkPad X12 is equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, allowing seamless connection to headphones and speakers. Surface Pro 9 does not have a 3.5mm Audio Jack.

To summarize the connectivity and ports details, please refer to the table below to see them listed.

Connectivity and Ports
WiFi Standard (latest: v7)	v6	v6E
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5.1	v5.1
USB-A (latest: 3.2)	No	No
USB Type-C (latest: USB4 2.0)	2x USB 4.0	2x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt (latest: 4)	Thunderbolt 4	Thunderbolt 4
HDMI (latest: 2.1)	No	No
Display Port (latest: v2.0)	No	No
VGA	No	No
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes	No
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	Yes	No
Ethernet RJ45	No	No
SD CardReader	No	No
Proprietary Charging Port	No	Yes