Microsoft unveils $1,000 Surface Laptop with Snapdragon X chip, Copilot+

May 22, 2024

Computers with artificial intelligence are here, and they’re cheaper than you might expect – the Microsoft Surface Laptop starts at $1,000 and comes in two sizes (13.8” and 15”) that’s thin, light, portable, yet powerful a device that displays all Windows 11 AI smarts (as well as third-party AI features).

Microsoft has a full blog post introducing the new brand of “Copilot+ PCs”. These are AI-centric devices that have at least 40 TOPS per touch, so they can run many AI tasks locally (good for latency and, of course, privacy). Redmond has partnered with Samsung, Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, all of which have unveiled their take on Copilot+ PCs — laptops, all powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chip.

The Surface Laptop is powered by either the Snapdragon X Elite or the Snapdragon X Plus. The first has a 12-core CPU, the first a 10-core. However, both chips deliver 45 TOPS of AI computing power, earning them the Copilot+ badge.

The $1,000 model is the 13.8” version with the X Plus chip, of course. We’ll talk more about pricing at the end of this post, but let’s just say that moving to the X Elite chip is a $400 upgrade. Well, $200, actually, because of how memory configurations work. The $1,000 X Plus laptop comes with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and the 16/512GB X Plus laptop costs $1,200. The X Elite version has a minimum configuration of 16/512GB, so only half of the $400 premium is due to the chip and the other half to the storage upgrade.

Both the 13.8” and 15” variants have 3:2 touchscreens with a pixel density of 201 ppi. Their dynamic refresh rate goes up to 120Hz and they are protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

The 13.8″ model weighs 1.34 kg (2.96 lbs) and is 16.5 mm (0.69″) thick with a 54 Wh battery (up to 20 hours of battery life). The 15-inch laptop weighs 1.66 kg (3.67 lbs) and is 18.3 mm (0.72”) thick with a 66 Wh battery (22 hours of battery life). Charging is done at 39W or 65W.

Laptop cases are made from 67% recycled materials, including 100% recycled aluminum (which is anodized for a more durable surface finish). The smaller one is available in four colors (Sapphire, Dune, Black, Platinum), while the larger one only gets two (Black, Platinum).

For connectivity, both have two USB-C ports that are compatible with USB 4 and DisplayPort 2.1. There is one USB-A 3.1 port, a headphone jack and a microSD card slot. Additionally, there is a Surface Connect port for the Surface Dock. Wireless connectivity has Wi-Fi 7 (be) and Bluetooth 5.4. In addition to wired and wireless headphones, you can also use Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos support.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop has a dedicated Copilot button, so let’s take a look at some of the AI ​​features associated with it. Recall is a handy timeline that helps you remember that document, website, app, or anything else you need.

With Cocreator, you can provide a rough sketch – a sketch and a text description – and the Snapdragon X chip and a small local AI model will create a beautiful image for you, with no cloud services involved. Alternatively, you can use the Restyle Image app to take an existing image and transform it into any art style you can think of.

There’s more – the computing power of Snapdragon X’s AI chips can be used in third-party applications such as Adobe Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve Studio, CapCut, Cephable, LiquidText, djay Pro and more.

Microsoft Surface Laptops are already available for pre-order and will start shipping on June 18th. As promised, here’s a closer look at pricing – note that the 15″ model is only available with the Snapdragon X Elite chip, the 13.8″ also has a cheaper X Plus version.

RAM capacity starts at 16GB, but there’s a 32GB and even 64GB option, though that’s a pre-order exclusive and not available in all regions (at least for now). Storage is a portable SSD up to 1TB. Go to Microsoft’s website for a more detailed overview.

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