Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Is Marked Down by $350

Even if Apple can While the first-party laptop market is cornered by the MacBook line, Microsoft’s Surface laptops have steadily improved over the past few years and are now an increasingly attractive option. Last year’s seventh-generation Surface Laptop is currently marked down by $350 at Amazon for the base model, bringing the price down to $849.

Although the display has a somewhat rare 3:2 aspect ratio, it’s a great panel for everyday use and productivity. It can reach a decent 600 nits of brightness, which should be enough for a quick work call from the park, and it has a 120Hz refresh rate, which should smooth things out a bit, even if you don’t plan on gaming. It’s also a touchscreen, in case you’d like to get physical with your Windows, but I’m still not very excited about touchscreen support in Microsoft’s operating system.

Rather than opting for an Intel or AMD processor, Microsoft opted for mobile chip maker Qualcomm and the Snapdragon line of processors. You shouldn’t experience any performance issues, at least for work and general use, and Windows now has built-in emulation software for programs that aren’t already configured for ARM processors, although you may still experience occasional issues with custom applications or third-party software.

The processor is intended to provide strong support for applications and AI usage, but our reviewer Brenda Stolyar wasn’t particularly happy with the actual results. Companies often try to jam AI in places it shouldn’t be, so some features, like AI captioning, work well, while others, like a feature that changes your eyes to look like they’re focusing on the webcam, have had weird side effects.

I spotted two different configurations on sale, with varying availability depending on your color preference. The base model, with the 10-core Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, is marked down to $849. The upgraded model, featuring the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite, is discounted by $400, bringing the price to just $1,000. If you’re still not convinced by the Surface and ARM experience, be sure to check out our other favorite laptops to see if a different system catches your eye.