Ever since Apple’s MacBooks switched to the company’s homegrown M-series chips, Windows users have been wondering when a similar revolution would hit their machines. To Microsoft’s credit, it’s not for lack of trying. In 2012, the company was dissolved With an Arm-based processor, the same architecture used in Apple’s silicon. Unfortunately, a small program library, poor performance and limited program compatibility are frustrating using one full-time type. It then renewed its efforts with Microsoft in 2017 . It led to systems like this it’s packed with great hardware that’s once again marred by lackluster processing power and spotty software support.
But as the old saying goes: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And after more than a decade of startups and stumbles, Microsoft has done just that. Combining the powerful Orion cores at Qualcomm and with a new one Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (and its sibling ) becomes an almost ideal productivity machine.
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While some apps still need additional support to run on Windows on Arm, the Surface Laptop 7 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chip combine to create a nearly ideal platform for everyday productivity.
- Neat design
- Excellent battery life
- Good performance
- Bright screen
- A powerful Prism emulator
- Responsive touch panel
- Some apps and games still don’t play well with Arm-based chips
- There is no OLED display option
Design and display: Premium from top to bottom
While the Surface Laptop 7 (or 7th Edition as Microsoft likes to call it) has some sleek new silicon on the inside, not much has changed on the outside. But I’m not complaining. It has a sleek all-aluminum chassis with clean, minimalist lines, but it doesn’t look like a MacBook. Microsoft has also made a few minor tweaks to its display, such as the addition of rounded corners, a new tactile touchpad (similar to the ones above). ) and a special key for Copilot (more on that later).
As before, the Surface Laptop 7 is available in two sizes. The smaller one has a slightly larger 13.8-inch screen than before (up from 13.5), while the larger model remains at 15 inches. There are also two USB 4 Type-C ports, one USB-A 3.1 port, a microSD card reader, and Microsoft’s magnetic Surface Connect port. So nothing out of the ordinary, but enough connectivity to handle most situations. And with the 13-inch model weighing in at just under three pounds (2.96 pounds) and the 15-inch option coming in at 3.6 pounds, neither version will add too much extra weight to your bag.
As for the display itself, the 15-inch PixelSense LCD display in our Surface Laptop 7 review unit is top notch. In addition to a 120Hz refresh rate, it’s color calibrated to deliver accurate hues, while offering excellent brightness (over 600 nits on a full white screen) and 10-point touch support. It is even covered with Gorilla Glass 5 to prevent scratches and abrasions. I wish there was an option to upgrade to an OLED panel like the Surface Pro 11.
Performance and compatibility: New heights for Windows on Arm
The most impressive thing about the Surface Laptop 7 is how normal it feels. It’s very responsive, has instant wake-up times, and generally feels very fast. But the best part is that you often can’t tell the difference between running native Arm software or the laptop using Microsoft’s Prism emulator in the background to seamlessly translate programs originally designed for x86 chips. It really is that smooth.
In tests, the Snapdragon X Elite chip delivers on Qualcomm’s high performance claims. For example, in Geekbench 6, the Surface Laptop 7 multi-core scored 14,400 points, which is higher than similarly equipped. With Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chip (11,920). In fact, the Surface X Elite even managed to outperform the Core Ultra 9 CPU inside one reached 12,798.
However, it should be noted that the performance of the X Elite chip depends on how much juice it gets. In the 15-inch Surface Laptop 7, Microsoft allocates up to 30 watts of power to the processor. But on the smaller 13-inch model, it’s 20 watts, so while it’s still plenty fast, you’ll get better performance on the larger option. While the Surface Laptop 7 isn’t as fanless as the MacBook Air, even under load, the laptop rarely rises above a whisper.
Finally, while most tools and programs work regardless of the architecture they’re designed for, with Windows PCs in the relatively early stages of transitioning to Arm-based systems (at least it’s going), there are a handful of essential programs available. need a little more time. Some of the biggest ones are Adobe products like Illustrator and InDesign, Updated versions of After Effects and Premier Pro may not arrive until late 2024.
A short word about the game
Microsoft never said the Surface Laptop 7 was a gaming machine. But it is given (Electronic Software Association) shows that 65 percent of Americans play some sort of video game on a weekly basis, making it worth noting the laptop’s fragility. Unfortunately, while the Snapdragon X Elite chip has decent specs, many titles that would be a good fit for the Laptop 7 simply don’t work. Some of these are competitive games Fortnite and League of Legends, has anti-cheat protocols that have not been updated to work on Arm-based chips. In case it’s doubly frustrating because lol, the game installs normally and doesn’t show any warnings other than Riot’s Vanguard system asking you to reboot your system before starting the game. But no matter what you do, the game never opens.
That said, it’s not a completely lost cause. I found random 2D titles To disorder and A surviving vampire run smoothly, so you still have some options. And if you want to play more demanding titles, there’s always streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now, which are inherently unaffected by architecture or OS limitations.
Copilot+ AI features: More of a bonus than a real essential
One of the big selling points for this new breed Microsoft should have built-in AI features. But in fact, they are more like sometimes useful bonuses. The tool with the most potential is Recall, which takes screenshots of your desktop so that AI can help you find things later. Unfortunately, due to security concerns, this feature can only be used at first before it is officially released sometime in the future.
Meanwhile, other Copilot+ AI tools are quite limited in scope. The Picture Maker button in the Pictures app lets you create pictures based on word suggestions, and it mostly delivers. But the results still aren’t as detailed or realistic as what you get from more powerful cloud-based services like Midjourney. But hey, it’s free. To make things more confusing, Paint has another button labeled Image Creator, but it’s actually a completely different feature with limited uses and results that aren’t as good as the similarly named option in Photos.
Finally, the most useful AI features are the Live Captions and Image Restyle on Images tool. The former uses artificial intelligence to creatively edit or transform existing footage, allowing you to style the image into something that looks like anime or an impressionist painting, while the letter provides real-time translation for videos, podcasts and more . While Microsoft’s titles could be a touch more accurate, they’re generally good enough to get the gist of whatever you’re watching or listening to.
Battery life: More than all-day longevity
Although emulators designed for x86 processors could use a little more juice, the Surface Laptop 7 has enough battery life to get by. While our usual summary test hasn’t yet been updated for Arm-based chips, the device lasted 17 hours and 38 minutes when I streamed 1080p video over Wi-Fi, which is several hours longer than I typically get from similarly equipped chips. Competitors powered by Intel and AMD. And in general use, it often felt like the Laptop 7 performed better, often ending a day with about a 50 percent charge.
Another advantage of the Snapdragon X chips is that the battery drain is almost zero when the system is asleep, which I attribute to Qualcomm’s experience in making efficient smartphone processors. I’ve noticed that the Surface Laptop 7 will only lose one or two percent of battery overnight, giving you the confidence to leave it unplugged for days.
You can either use the magnetic Surface Connect port with the included power brick to charge. But another bonus is that the Surface Laptop 7 also supports charging via USB-C, so if you want to travel light and use a universal adapter to add this and a bunch of other gadgets, you absolutely can.
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Although the road here is full of bumps and potholes, the Surface Laptop 7 is ready to compete. And it’s not only a formidable competitor to the MacBook Air, it’s also breaking new ground for Windows PCs. It’s fast, quiet, has great battery life, and works great with most of your apps. Of course, a few core apps still need additional support, and you may experience issues when trying to play games or install niche software. And when you refine it, it can get a little expensive too. The 15-inch model starts at $1,300, but our review unit with a Snapdragon X Elite chip, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD costs $2,100. Still, for overall productivity, the Surface Laptop 7 and its Snapdragon X Elite chip is a revelation and a revolutionary step forward for Windows as we know it.
