Microsoft Surface Pro 12.3" 2017, Core i7-7660U, 16GB, 512GB SSD

The Microsoft Surface Pro FKJ-00001 is a super light 2-in-1 laptop with a great screen and a painfully outdated CPU. It's fine for basic productivity and tablet use, but the $2,206 price tag is hard to swallow when modern laptops at the same price run circles around it. Buy it only if you find a steep discount and portability is your top priority.

Let's talk about that Core i7-7660U. It's a dual-core chip with a 2.5GHz base clock, and in our database it lands at the 3rd percentile for CPU performance among 2-in-1 laptops. That's not a typo. This thing gets smoked by budget Chromebooks with modern Pentium chips. The 16GB of RAM helps with multitasking, but it's DDR3-era memory running at slower speeds than anything current. The 512GB SSD is decent for storage, though it's also sitting around the 37th percentile, meaning most competitors ship faster NVMe drives.

The Iris Plus Graphics 640 is integrated and lands at the 42nd percentile for GPU performance. It'll handle video playback, web browsing, and Office apps without breaking a sweat. But gaming is a non-starter, scoring 6.4 out of 100 in our gaming category. Don't expect to run anything beyond 2D indie titles or very old games at low settings. For everyday productivity, this machine is fine. For anything demanding, it's going to feel sluggish compared to even a mid-range modern ultrabook.

Compared to the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max, this Surface Pro isn't even in the same conversation. The M4 Max destroys the i7-7660U in every benchmark we track, and the MacBook's battery life and build quality are on another level. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and Lenovo Legion Pro 7i are gaming-focused machines with dedicated GPUs that make the Iris Plus 640 look like a calculator. Even the HP OMEN Transcend 14 and MSI Prestige 13, which are more productivity-oriented, offer modern CPUs and better port selection.

The Surface Pro's one advantage is portability. At 1.73 lbs with a detachable keyboard, it's lighter than all of those competitors. The 12.3-inch form factor is genuinely nice for travel and tablet use. But you're giving up so much performance and connectivity for that portability that it's hard to justify unless you specifically need a Windows tablet that weighs almost nothing.

Here's where things get uncomfortable. The US listing shows $2,206 for this Surface Pro, and that's before you buy the Type Cover or Surface Pen, which are sold separately. For that money, you could get a MacBook Air M3, a Lenovo Legion Pro, or an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 with a dedicated GPU and a modern processor. The MXN listing at 84,399 pesos tells the same story in a different currency. This is a premium price for hardware that was mid-range when it launched in 2017. Unless you find this at a steep discount, the value proposition is rough.

The Microsoft Surface Pro FKJ-00001 is a 2-in-1 detachable laptop that sits in a weird spot in 2025. It's packing a 7th Gen Intel Core i7-7660U, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, which sounds fine on paper until you realize this CPU is nearly a decade old. The 12.3-inch PixelSense display with its 2736x1824 resolution is still gorgeous, and at 1.73 lbs it's absurdly portable. But the asking price we're seeing, around $2,206 USD on the one US listing, makes this a tough sell against modern hardware.

People searching for a Surface Pro usually want to know if it's good for note-taking, travel, or light productivity. The answer here is yes, with caveats. The detachable design and touchscreen make it a solid tablet replacement, and Windows 10 Pro means it runs full desktop apps. But the dual-core CPU and integrated Iris Plus 640 graphics put a hard ceiling on what you can actually do with it.

This specific model is best for compactness, scoring in the 99th percentile for that category. It's one of the most portable Windows machines we've ever tracked. But the CPU sits at the 3rd percentile compared to other 2-in-1s in our database, which is a polite way of saying it's near the bottom of the barrel for processing power in this category right now.

Skip this if you need any real processing power. Video editors, programmers, 3D artists, and anyone running demanding software will find the dual-core i7-7660U frustrating. Gamers should look elsewhere entirely, as the integrated graphics can't handle modern titles. If you need multiple ports for peripherals, the single USB-A and Mini DisplayPort setup will annoy you. And if you're buying new at full price, just get a modern Surface Pro or a MacBook Air instead. This machine only makes sense as a cheap used purchase for basic tablet tasks.

Should you buy the Microsoft Surface Pro FKJ-00001? If you find it used for $400 or less and you just want a lightweight Windows tablet for note-taking, web browsing, and Office work, sure. It'll do those things. The display is still lovely, and the build quality holds up. But at the $2,206 asking price we're seeing, absolutely not. You'd be paying modern flagship money for a CPU that's three generations behind the current baseline.

This is a machine for a very specific person: someone who needs a Windows tablet, values portability above everything else, and doesn't care about performance. For everyone else, there are better options at every price point, including Microsoft's own newer Surface Pro models with much faster processors.