13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop review: A slightly worse version of a year-old PC
Microsoft’s new 13 -inch surface laptop is strange. It is undoubtedly a step down in all respects compared to the surface laptop of 13.8 inches from last year. But it is also too good (and too expensive) to be considered as a replacement for the surface laptop, the entry-level laptop on the price eternally too expensive and the company’s subjut. It is cheaper than last year’s surfaces, but especially because Microsoft gave these devices a de facto price increase by killing the entry -level configurations of these PCs.
We end up with a laptop perfectly well or even great, depending on what you want. It is relatively affordable for what is, a kind of MacBook Air-ish laptop, Just-the-the-Basics. But it is such A step down compared to the laptop of $ 999 that Microsoft released last year that it is difficult not to see the whole laptop as a large series of compromises.
Where does the 13 -inch surface laptop belong?
Despite the simple fact of calling it “the surface laptop, 13-inch”, Microsoft clearly considers that it is a fully different laptop subclass rather than a continuation of the flagship surface laptop or the low-end surface Go. The system identifies with Windows as “surface ordered 13 -inch 1st ED with Snapdragon”, where surface laptops of 13.8 and 15 inch are both labeled as 7th edition devices.
| 13 -inch surface laptop | Surface computer 7 (13.8 inch) | The surface laptop goes 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Snapdragon X plus 8 cores | Snapdragon x Plus or 10 cores or 12 cores Snapdragon x Elite | Intel Core i5-1235u (2 Cores P, 8 electronic cores) |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR5X | 16, 32 or 64 GB LPDDR5X | 8 or 16 GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 256 or 512 GB UFS | 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 to NVME | 256 GB NVME |
| Screen | 13 inches, 1920 × 1280, 60 Hz IPS | 13.8 inch, 2304 × 1536, 120 Hz IPS | 12.4 inches, 1536 × 1024, 60 Hz IPS |
| Size and weight | 11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 inches, 2.7 lbs | 11.85 x 8.67 x 0.69 inches, 2.96 lbs | 10.95 x 8.12 x 0.62 inches, 2.49 lbs |
| Initial price | $ 899 | $ 999 | $ 799 (launch), $ 949 (now, for any reason) |
In measurements and specifications, this new surface laptop is between the 13.8 -inch headlight and the aging GO 3 surface. The new laptop also borrows components and ideas from the surface 7 laptop and GO surface design. But in the end, it looks like a refreshed and powered iteration by the arm of the surface laptop rather than a more compact version of the flagship surface design.
Internally, the 13 -inch surface laptop is a light computers’ ladder version Microsoft was launched a year ago. Its Snapdragon X Plus processor with 8 cores uses the same architecture as larger laptops, just with fewer hearts. To meet the Microsoft Copilot + requirements, it has the same neuronal treatment unit (NPU) as the largest surface devices, as well as 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB or 512 GB of storage. Aside from the storage and color of the device, there are no upgrade or choice options to make. But unlike the surface, this means that the entry -level model is adequately specified and will feel very fast for most things.
