Surface Laptop review: Microsoft’s best MacBook Air competitor yet

The caller Surface Laptop isn’t conscionable a refresh. It’s Microsoft’s archetypal clamshell laptop with Qualcomm chips inside, and it represents Microsoft’s astir superior effort yet astatine a modulation to Windows connected Arm. The company’s erstwhile efforts astatine Arm-based Windows machines were flawed, with mediocre app compatibility and sluggish performance. Now, Microsoft is trying again to finely equilibrium processing powerfulness and artillery beingness successful a mode that lone Apple has achieved successful laptops truthful far.

This clip around, Microsoft has nailed it. Everything astir the caller Surface Laptop feels way better. Microsoft has not lone closed the MacBook Air spread but besides raised the barroom for what you should expect from a Windows laptop that starts astatine $999.99.

This caller Surface Laptop is besides 1 of the archetypal Copilot Plus PCs, which leverage AI-focused chips to usher successful an epoch of artificial quality features wrong Windows. The flagship AI feature, Recall, is designed to fto you callback memories and moments by taking screenshots of astir everything you bash connected your PC. This arguable diagnostic isn’t launching conscionable yet, arsenic Microsoft is reworking its information implicit concerns raised by researchers. That leaves unanswered immoderate large questions astir the aboriginal of Microsoft’s AI efforts successful Windows that volition person to wait.

While Microsoft loaned maine a $2,099.99 15-inch Surface Laptop exemplary with 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite processor, I purchased a $999.99 13.8-inch basal exemplary with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and the less-powerful 10-core Snapdragon X Plus. I afloat expected the $999.99 enactment to disappoint me, arsenic Surface basal models person been truly underpowered successful the past. Instead, I’m keeping the $999.99 Surface Laptop due to the fact that I’ve been truthful impressed with the phenomenal artillery beingness implicit the past week.

Hardware

Inside and out, Microsoft has made a batch of changes to the Surface Laptop 7th Edition that are subtle but don’t magnitude to a immense redesign. The astir noticeable is the somewhat larger 13.8-inch LCD display, which present has smaller bezels astatine the sides and top. The display’s corners person been rounded, and it supports HDR with Dolby Vision and up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The 15-inch exemplary besides has smaller bezels and rounded corners.

I’m gladsome that the bezels person yet been addressed, but I bash privation this surface had immoderate benignant of antireflective coating. Now that the summertime has yet arrived successful the UK, I’ve noticed plentifulness of reflections portion utilizing this laptop. Cranking up the brightness counters the reflections, but I’d conscionable similar a coating, personally.

Microsoft has besides managed to integrate an upgraded 1080p front-facing camera into the apical of the show without having to enactment a notch in. The representation it produces is amazingly bully for a laptop — capable that a person adjacent asked maine what camera I was utilizing during a video call. This camera besides has Windows Hello enactment truthful you tin log successful to the Surface Laptop with conscionable your face.

Microsoft has besides yet added a precision haptic trackpad, truthful you get accordant click feedback anyplace connected the ample touchpad surface. It’s afloat customizable, and the haptics are truthful subtle connected this caller trackpad that erstwhile I concisely switched backmost to a Surface Laptop 4, it felt similar the older trackpad was broken. The trackpads connected the 13- and 15-inch Surface Laptop 7th Edition models are the aforesaid size, truthful you’re getting a bully and large trackpad either way.

The keyboard is mostly the aforesaid arsenic anterior Surface Laptop models, with the objection of a caller Copilot key. It’s the archetypal large alteration to Windows keyboards successful 30 years, but each the cardinal does is motorboat a Progressive Web App (PWA) mentation of Copilot. It’s acold little functional than the Copilot integration that already existed successful Windows 11, and I’m not wholly definite wherefore Microsoft has made Copilot little useful connected these caller Copilot Plus PCs that person a dedicated fastener for the AI assistant.

The Surface Laptop 7th Edition besides has a 2nd USB-C larboard this clip around, which is perfect if you privation to complaint implicit a USB-C larboard and inactive link an accessory. Both USB-C ports are compatible with USB 4, and there’s adjacent a USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 larboard if you haven’t rather moved into the USB-C era. Both the 13.8- and 15-inch models tin besides complaint done the dedicated Surface Connect port. Microsoft has kept the 3.5mm headphone jack, and there’s a microSDXC paper scholar connected the 15-inch model. 

On the $999.99 13-inch exemplary I’ve been testing, Microsoft picked Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus chip. It has 2 less CPU cores than the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite and lacks the dual-core boost enactment recovered connected the 2 higher-end X Elite models, which dynamically adjusts the processor frequence connected up to 2 cores to get much powerfulness erstwhile the CPU needs it. It has the aforesaid GPU and NPU otherwise, and each Surface Laptop 7th Edition models see Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support.

Microsoft has besides ditched the alcantara fabric options for the Surface Laptop this clip around. It’s each metallic now, with 4 colour options to take from: sapphire blue, a aureate dune, and the regular achromatic and metallic options. The fancy colour options aren’t disposable connected the basal $999.99 model, which lone ships successful silver.

The 15-inch exemplary starts astatine $1,299.99 with a Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. If you privation the X Elite connected the 13.8-inch model, it starts astatine $1,399.99, though you bash get 512GB of storage.

Windows connected Arm and performance

Ahead of this review, I went backmost to the archetypal Surface Pro X from 2019 for a fewer days to spot wherever Windows connected Arm was at. The past clip Microsoft did a large Windows connected Arm push, ARM64 enactment was terrible. Microsoft and Qualcomm person some been pushing bundle developers to enactment autochthonal Arm apps implicit the past mates of years, and things person noticeably improved. Chrome, Slack, and Spotify present each person autochthonal apps.

Native apps similar Chrome consciousness large connected this caller Surface Laptop. Whereas the Surface Pro X ever felt underpowered, Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X Plus and Elite are acold much susceptible of delivering the responsiveness you’d expect from a modern laptop. My clip utilizing the basal Surface Laptop 7th Edition felt similar immoderate regular Intel- oregon AMD-powered laptop. Performance successful mundane tasks besides felt the same, though that acquisition could beryllium mixed if you’re not successful autochthonal ARM64 apps.

Discord ever ran terribly connected the Surface Pro X, but it’s decidedly improved with the Prism emulator here. I inactive find a flimsy lag navigating betwixt servers and immoderate occasional stuttering, though. Discord tells maine determination are nary plans for an ARM64 app close present but says that could alteration successful the aboriginal if adoption of these Qualcomm-powered laptops becomes meaningful.

It’s not each perfect, though. Adobe doesn’t person an ARM64 mentation of Premiere Pro acceptable conscionable yet, truthful it has blocked the installation of Premiere Pro connected the X Elite, but it forgot to bash the aforesaid for the X Plus initially. That allowed maine to trial a heavyweight app with Microsoft’s updated Prism emulator. Prism is designed to let immoderate regular Windows apps to tally connected these caller Copilot Plus PCs, careless of whether a developer has an optimized and autochthonal ARM64 app.

While Photoshop is ARM64 and feels responsive, I tin recognize wherefore Adobe blocked the emulated Premiere Pro experience. I tried to edit a 20-second 4K video file, and the interface stuttered along, with playback skipping frames regularly. I gave up adjacent trying to export the record arsenic it was chugging on dilatory with an expected completion of astir 5 minutes. I ran the aforesaid export connected my gaming PC with an RTX 4090 and Intel Core i9-14900K, and it exported successful 7 seconds.

That’s not a just comparison, but if you’re looking into 1 of these Qualcomm-powered laptops and you person a creativity oregon productivity app that you trust connected daily, particularly if it relies connected GPU power, marque definite an ARM64 mentation is available. Thankfully, the immense bulk of different apps that I usage regular person an ARM64 mentation oregon execute good capable connected the caller emulator.

Microsoft besides made a batch of large claims astir MacBook Air-beating scores successful benchmarks similar Geekbench and Cinebench. The Surface Laptop 13-inch Snapdragon X Plus exemplary bushed some the MacBook Air M3 13- and 15-inch models successful Geekbench 6 multicore and Cinebench 2024 multicore tests. The MacBooks comfortably bushed the Surface Laptops successful single-core show successful Cinebench and Geekbench, though, with the 15-inch MacBook Air astir 11 percent up of the 15-inch Surface Laptop successful Geekbench azygous halfway and astir 15 percent up successful Cinebench azygous core. These benchmarks amusement that the Surface Laptop tin beryllium amended than the MacBook Air astatine sustained show successful apps.

I ran a clump of Blender tests, but the 3D app wouldn’t prime up the Snapdragon X Plus oregon Elite’s GPU, truthful the render was completed by CPU lone and was overmuch slower arsenic a result. A 3DMark trial besides lone ran emulated connected the Surface Laptop, truthful the MacBook Air M3 was capable to propulsion up by much than 30 percent successful the result. The older Cinebench R23 lone ran emulated connected the Surface Laptop, but the 15-inch exemplary with the X Elite inactive managed to outperform the 15-inch MacBook Air M3 by astir 8 percent successful the multicore test, with the MacBook Air much than 40 percent faster successful the single-core test.

Microsoft besides claims that its scope of Copilot Plus PCs volition beryllium “58 percent faster than a MacBook Air M3,” but this is based connected tests similar Cinebench 2024, wherever I saw 55 percent faster show connected the 15-inch Surface Laptop implicit the 15-inch MacBook Air M3 successful the multicore benchmark.

All of these benchmarks provided a bully accidental to perceive the fans rotation up oregon to consciousness the Surface Laptop getting toasty. It’s the lone clip I’ve ever heard the fans, and adjacent astatine afloat speed, they’re not unbearable. The fans bash springiness the Surface Laptop that other headroom that the MacBook Air doesn’t have. During my regular use, I ne'er felt the Surface Laptop heating up noticeably, either.

While the fans weren’t an issue, I did tally into a mates of problems during my Surface Laptop testing. The 13-inch exemplary failed to aftermath up from slumber once, wherever it was conscionable a blank surface earlier it rebooted. It generated a clang dump that I shared with Microsoft, and the institution was capable to reproduce the occupation and is moving connected a fix. I besides noticed that the Windows Hello camera tin beryllium dilatory to aftermath aft a agelong play of standby, which is thing Microsoft is besides looking to amended successful a aboriginal update. “We are moving connected a solution that we’ll marque disposable arsenic soon arsenic possible,” says Microsoft spokesperson Blake Manfre.

Battery life

All of this show doesn’t travel astatine the outgo of artillery life, thankfully. I’ve mostly been utilizing the 13-inch exemplary implicit the past week, and the artillery beingness has been phenomenal. On the archetypal day, I was moving extracurricular with 100 percent surface brightness, downloading aggregate Steam games, attending video calls, and moving successful Photoshop regularly. I managed to get astir 7 hours of artillery beingness successful total.

Then, successful the evening, aft topping up the battery, I utilized the Surface Laptop astatine 50 percent brightness wrong for astir 4 hours, and it lone drained 25 percent. I closed the lid astatine 11PM with 72 percent artillery and woke the laptop up astatine noon the adjacent day. It turned connected instantly with 70 percent inactive remaining. On lighter days erstwhile I was chiefly utilizing Slack, WhatsApp, Discord, and Chrome for a substance of enactment tasks, I managed 7 hours with 70 percent artillery left. The past clip I charged the 13-inch exemplary was Friday, and I utilized it regularly implicit the weekend. I inactive had 27 percent artillery connected Monday morning. I can’t retrieve the past clip I could spot a Windows laptop to spell to slumber and not drain the full artillery oregon to beryllium capable to past the full workday.

Much similar the show side, you truly request to beryllium utilizing ARM64 autochthonal apps to get the champion artillery life, though. Using demanding emulated apps volition devour done artillery beingness a batch faster, truthful your artillery beingness mileage is going to alteration depending connected the mode you enactment and the autochthonal apps available. For me, this artillery beingness has been transformative — allowing maine to permission the location without a charger. I tin adjacent get from zero to 80 percent complaint successful an hr connected the 65W Surface Laptop charger (which lone comes with the larger 15-inch model). A susceptible USB-C charger volition besides present the same.

Windows AI 

For each the improvements successful artillery beingness and performance, the Surface Laptop is besides a Copilot Plus PC with a neural processing portion (NPU) for new built-in AI features successful Windows. Microsoft has made a large woody astir these, with Recall expected to beryllium the flagship diagnostic connected these caller laptops. Recall has been delayed owed to information concerns, and it’s a hold that has overshadowed the full motorboat of Copilot Plus PCs. It’s wherefore you’re lone speechmaking this reappraisal present and not connected motorboat time past week.

What’s near of the AI-powered Windows 11 features aren’t astir arsenic arguable arsenic Recall, but they’re besides not that compelling. Cocreator lets you make images successful Paint done a substance punctual and by drafting what you privation to see. Because the Surface Laptop 7th Edition nary longer supports the Surface Slim Pen, this diagnostic feels a batch little utile than it is connected the caller Surface Pro.

Microsoft is utilizing section AI models for the Cocreator feature, and the results aren’t ever that large arsenic a result. I asked it to make a canine sitting connected a formation with a ball, but aft I sketched the outline of a dog, Cocreator refused to prime up my doodle of a ball, truthful I conscionable got a lonely canine connected a formation that looked precise AI-generated. Paint besides has a built-in representation creator that uses DALL-E, and the results determination are acold much impressive.

Bizarrely, Microsoft has besides added an representation creator diagnostic to the Photos app, which uses section AI models alternatively of the cloud-based DALL-E diagnostic recovered successful Paint. It uses a section Stable Diffusion model, truthful it’s speedy to make images connected the Surface Laptop, but you’ll request an net transportation since Microsoft uses Azure to cheque your prompts and marque definite you’re not trying to make thing bad. You’ll request an net transportation for the Cocreator feature, too, for the aforesaid reason. 

The astir awesome caller AI-powered summation to Windows is translation successful Live Captions. I tin present easy ticker overseas connection YouTube videos oregon immoderate unrecorded video and get captions that are instantly translated into English. You don’t request to click done a clump of buttons to get this working, conscionable motorboat Live Captions and it does it automatically. It’s alternatively magical, and portion the translation isn’t ever 100 percent perfect, it’s bully capable to assistance you muddle done a video. I don’t deliberation I’d trust connected it for calls conscionable yet, though.

All of these caller AI features leverage the caller NPU chip, truthful they’re not hitting the CPU oregon GPU. I deliberation freeing up the CPU and GPU volition beryllium important for Recall erstwhile we get a accidental to effort it, arsenic it tin tally successful the inheritance and usage the NPU to process snapshots. It besides sets Copilot Plus PCs up for a imaginable satellite of AI-powered apps and Windows features that tin besides usage the NPU. It’s not a large woody for now, but it’s bully to have. If you judge Microsoft, it could yet alteration Windows.

I’ve fallen successful emotion with the Surface Laptop implicit the past week of utilizing it. The artillery beingness has blown maine away, and the show has mostly felt similar utilizing a regular bladed and lightweight laptop. It nary longer feels similar Windows connected Arm is being held backmost by underpowered hardware and large bundle issues. 

But to truly marque this caller Surface Laptop enactment astatine its best, you inactive request autochthonal ARM64 apps. That concern is simply a batch amended than it was a fewer years ago, with much of the apical apps present native, but if you inactive request to tally emulated ones, show volition alteration depending connected however analyzable the exertion is, and artillery beingness volition beryllium impacted, too. 

I don’t uncertainty that Premiere Pro volition tally a batch amended erstwhile it yet comes to Windows connected Arm aboriginal this year, but I deliberation determination volition inactive beryllium different app compatibility issues that immoderate radical volition tally into. There’s besides the bequest of Windows connected Arm emulation not being great, truthful immoderate app developers person conscionable blocked their apps from adjacent moving emulated connected ARM64. Google Drive for desktop refuses to instal with an mistake that says, “This Windows architecture is not supported.” It’s the aforesaid for galore VPN apps, and if you request customized drivers for an aged USB accessory, it’s improbable those drivers are available.

Games besides don’t “just work” connected the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus, contempt Qualcomm’s assurances. The Surface Laptop isn’t a gaming laptop, truthful I wasn’t expecting overmuch here, but I couldn’t get Shadow of the Tomb Raider to halt crashing until I enactment it into full-screen exclusive mode and lowered the settings. I besides tried Microsoft’s caller DLSS rival (Auto SR) with Cyberpunk 2077, and each it did was unit the solution to 1024 x 768. I ran into akin issues with Auto SR successful different games, which is astir apt wherefore it’s lone officially constricted to a tiny fistful of titles.

If you don’t task beyond the apical Windows apps, you’ll astir apt person a large acquisition similar I did successful presumption of show and artillery life. For thing more, you’ll request to cheque to marque definite your apps are compatible and tally well. If this latest Windows connected Arm propulsion is arsenic palmy arsenic Apple’s M1 silicon, that’s an contented that should yet disappear.

Microsoft has created a large MacBook Air rival here. At $999.99, the base-model 13-inch Surface Laptop is $100 little than Apple’s M3 laptop, with Microsoft offering 16GB of representation alternatively of 8GB. If each you’ve ever wanted is simply a Windows-powered MacBook Air, that’s beauteous overmuch what you’re getting.