Microsoft’s latest Surface Laptop goes on sale this week, starting at $999

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Microsoft’s latest Surface Laptop goes on sale this week, starting at $999

 

Image Credits: Microsoft

 

Microsoft is understandably positioning the latest additions to its Surface line as productivity devices. Laptop sales, in particular, have jumped amid the pandemic, as many have scrambled to shift to a work from home setting. With that in mind, the latest version of the Surface Laptop is far and away the headline item amid a new batch of devices.

 

The Surface Laptop 4 doesn’t seem to mark a massive upgrade to the line, arriving about a year and half after the previous model. Of course, the product has been one of the better received among the company’s proprietary hardware offerings, swapping the more creator-focused convertible models for a more straightforward approach. Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason.

 

Image Credits: Microsoft

 

Available with either a 13.5- or 15-inch touchscreen, the new Laptop sports either an 11th Gen Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processor. The system’s lowest configuration will run $999, but Microsoft has yet to break down the pricing from there. The company is promising improved performance and increased battery life, over the 11.5 posted hours on the Laptop 3. The below video puts the new time at “up to 19 hours,” which big if true — and nice for when we all start traveling again.

 

The system builds on its predecessor’s HD webcam with the addition of improved low-light capabilities. That’s paired with a studio mic array. Again, nothing groundbreaking, but it’s nice to see companies paying attention to this stuff in the age of COVID-19, when a concerning percentage of our interpersonal communication occurs via webcam.

 

 

 

The design language is similar to earlier versions, though the company has swapped in a new Ice Blue color option. Microsoft is keeping that proprietary charging port around (fast charging will get you up to 80% in an hour). That’s coupled with USB A and C. There are a pair of Dolby Atmos speakers on board and the touchscreen works with the Surface Pen.

 

The Laptop is available for preorder today in the U.S., Canada and Japan, and starts shipping on April 15. The 13.5-inch AMD Ryzen with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage runs $999. On the high end, the 15-inch Intel Core i7 with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is $2,399 (plus another $100 if you want to upgrade Windows 10 Home to Pro). The company is tossing in Surface Earbuds for early preorders.

 

 

Source: Microsoft’s latest Surface Laptop goes on sale this week, starting at $999

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These are the different configurations of the Surface Laptop 4

 

 

Today, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop 4, and while it's mostly the same as its predecessor, there are some minor changes. There's the much-needed spec bump, including Intel 11th-gen processors and AMD Ryzen 4000 processors. Also, Ice Blue is taking the place of Cobalt Blue in the lineup.

 

While those are the only differences, a key change in the configuration is that this year, Intel and AMD processors are available on both the 13.5- and 15-inch models, and both both consumer and business SKUs. Last year, the 13.5-inch model exclusively had Intel processors, while the 15-inch version had AMD in the consumer model and Intel in the business model.

 

Here's the full list of configurations:

 

Size (inches)	CPU	Memory (GB)	Storage (GB)	Colors	Price	Commercial price
13.5	Ryzen 5 4680U	8	256	Platinum	$999	$1,099
		16			$1,199	$1,299
			512	Black	N/A	$1,699
	Core i5-1135G7	8	256	Platinum		$1,199
			512	Platinum, Ice Blue, Sandstone, Black	$1,299	$1,399
		16			$1,499	$1,599
	Core i7-1085G7		256	Black	N/A	$1,599
			512	Platinum, Ice Blue, Sandstone, Black	$1,699	$1,799
		32	1,024	Black	$2,299	$2,399
15	Ryzen 7 4980U	8	256	Platinum	$1,299	$1,399
			512	Platinum, Black	$1,499	N/A
		16		Black	$1,699	$1,799
	Core i7-1185G7	8	256	Platinum	N/A	$1,499
			512	Platinum, Black		$1,699
		16	256			$1,699
			512		$1,799	$1,899
		32	1,024	Black	$2,399	$2,499

There are a few things that you need to know here. The main thing that you're paying $100 more for in the commercial model is Windows 10 Pro instead of Windows 10 Home. Also, on the 13.5-inch model, the Platinum and Ice Blue models come with Alcantara fabric on the keyboard deck, while the rest are all aluminum.

 

One thing that Microsoft touted with this launch is choice, and that's definitely something that it's providing more than it did with the Surface Laptop 3. If you want to check it out, you can find it on the Microsoft Store here.

 

 

Source: These are the different configurations of the Surface Laptop 4