Goodbye Intel: Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 available from June
The new Surface devices appear exclusively with ARM processors. Unlike Apple's MacBook Air, however, there is a fan.
(Image: Microsoft)
Microsoft is revamping its notebooks and tablet PCs. The Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 use better displays and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processors. Models with x86 CPUs from AMD or Intel are no longer available in the current generation – all variants therefore run Windows on ARM. If you want Intel's Meteor Lake, you have to go for the business devices.
The Surface Pro 11 is equipped with either the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite or the 10-core Snapdragon X Plus. For the first time, Microsoft is offering an OLED display, but only on the X Elite configurations. The cheaper models continue to use IPS panels. The aspect ratio remains at 3:2, a diagonal of 13 inches and a resolution of 2880 × 1920 pixels. Both the OLED and the IPS displays show up to 120 Hertz dynamically.
There are two USB4 ports in the form of USB-C sockets for peripherals and charging, and there is also a microSD card reader. The 3.5 mm jack for headsets is omitted. A docking station with additional ports is available for use as a PC replacement. The new Surface Pro Flex keyboard can also be used physically separately for the first time, for example if you want to place the tablet on a raised table.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (5 Bilder)
No OLED for Microsoft laptops
Microsoft is not jumping on the OLED bandwagon with the Surface Laptop 7; there are once again two differently sized variants with IPS panels. Thanks to narrower screen edges, the display of the smaller version grows from 13.5 to 13.8 inches despite the same casing dimensions. At the same time, the resolution increases slightly to 2304 × 1536 pixels – the pixel density of 201 ppi thus remains identical. The 13.8-inch version is available with both the Snapdragon X Elite and the X Plus.
The larger Surface Laptop 7 remains at 15 inches and a resolution of 2496 × 1664 pixels. All configurations with 13.8- and 15-inch displays now dynamically display up to 120 Hertz. The Surface Laptop 7 also has two USB4 ports, in addition to a headset jack and a microSD card reader.
Microsoft Surface Pro 11 (7 Bilder)
As feared, Microsoft does not specify in the data sheets which version of the Snapdragon X Elite they are using in each case. Qualcomm has released three different versions with significant differences in performance. Only a footnote for the Surface Laptop 7 specifically states the model number X1E-80-100, i.e. the mid-range Snapdragon X Elite with CPU clock frequencies of 3.4 to 4.0 GHz.
At least the devices with the Snapdragon X Elite use a fan for active cooling. In this respect, they are no competition for Apple's fanless and therefore silent MacBook Air. It is unclear whether at least the models with the Snapdragon X Plus work passively. Microsoft does not specify the thermal design power (TDP).
Expensive memory
Both the Surface Pro 11 and both sizes of the Surface Laptop 7 come with 16 GB of LPDDR5X-8448 RAM in the basic versions. The tablet PC and the 15-inch notebook are still available with a 256 GB PCI Express 4.0 SSD; the 13.8-inch notebook, on the other hand, starts with 512 GB of mass storage.
It gets more expensive if you want more memory. The Surface Pro 11 starts at 1199 euros. Switching from a 256 GB to a 512 GB SSD costs 250 euros extra.
The RAM prices are more abstruse: For both the tablet PC and the notebook, 32 GB RAM instead of 16 GB costs 450 euros extra. Even if Microsoft were to upgrade these models to the fastest Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100, the surcharge would be disproportionate. A Surface Pro 7 15-inch with a 1 TByte SSD costs 2499 euros. The Flex Keyboard for the Surface Pro 11 costs €530 when bundled with a Slim Pen.
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