- Microsoft Surface Laptop (2024), Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, 13.8" Touchscreen Display, Snapdragon X Elite (12 core), 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD Storage, Black

Years ago, I had the original Surface Laptop, and I loved it. It remains one of my favorite laptops of all time. So before I purchased the Surface Laptop 7, I actually had a 14" 2021 Macbook Pro. It was honestly too much laptop for my needs, but the limited port selection on the Macbook Airs ruled them out for me. Of course, my Macbook Pro was better than the Surface Laptop 7 in many ways - the mini-LED screen is just about the best laptop display you can get, full-stop, whereas the Surface's display is good but not great. The speakers on the Macbook were amazing; the Surface's are quite good but can't compete in that regard. However, I don't regret my purchase for one second because the Surface Laptop 7 is really a Macbook Air competitor, and that is where it shines. I compared the Surface and Macbook Air 13" side by side and came away with the following conclusions: -Screen: I don't do any serious photo editing or graphic design. To me, the Surface screen is slightly better. It gets much brighter than the Air and colors seem more accurate. However, the Air has better black levels. The Surface is a touchscreen, but I never use it as I don't like fingerprints on my screens. However, if you want a touchscreen, the Surface is clearly the better option. The Surface also has a 120hz display, whereas the Air is stuck at 60hz. The difference in smoothness when scrolling or using trackpad gestures is very noticeable. The Surface's screen looks much smoother. -Speakers: I can't tell the difference between the two. The Surface's speakers are really good compared to other laptops in this class. The same is true of the Macbook Air. -Ports: I had hoped that by 2024, USB-A would be all but gone, but alas it is not. It was very annoying to have to carry around dongles to use USB-A devices on my Macbook Pro, and now I don't have to! The Air has only two USB-C ports, so clearly the Surface wins here. The Macbook Pro does have HDMI, which is nice, but I just bought a USB-C to HDMI cable that I carry around with me, so I don't need a dongle for that either. -Keyboard: I like that the Macbook Air has more than 3 levels of brightness control, but I slightly prefer the key feel on the Surface. - Trackpad: somehow, the Surface's trackpad is better. I am thrilled that Microsoft finally brought a haptic trackpad to the Surface lineup. It feels more delicate and the tactility is stronger. Macbook trackpads are still among the best in the business, but there is finally a Windows laptop that is comparable in this regard. -Login: hands down, Windows Hello is better than the fingerprint reader. It's so fast that my Surface often logs me that it feels like the laptop was left unlocked. The fingerprint scanner on Macbooks are very good, but they are not as fast, nor as convenient, as Windows Hello. My Macbook Pro could also unlock with my Apple Watch, but that almost always took longer than unlocking with my finger. -Build Quality: This has always been a strong point for Surface devices, and the Surface Laptop 7 doesn't disappoint. The laptop can be opened easily with one hand, and the fit and finish is flawless. The same is true of the Macbook Air. I can't say whether one is better than the other. The Surface is designed to be easier to service, however, and you can actually replace the SSD, which is very nice. Additionally, the black finish on my Surface is more resistant to showing fingerprints than the dark blue on the Macbook Airs, which is a fingerprint magnet. -Performance: After owning an Apple Silicon laptop, I could never go back to using an x86/x64 processor. I used Windows 11 for ARM on my Macbook for two years virtualized in Paralells, so I knew what I was getting into. All of the applications I need work beautifully on the Surface, and it is so darn fast. Of course, there are more powerful processors out there using traditional x64 architecture, but I have never used a Windows laptop that is just so snappy for every day tasks. Office apps open in 1-2 seconds. Firefox, Chrome, and Edge open in less than a second. Using gestures to swipe through apps is super snappy, and the high refresh rate screen makes transitions look so smooth. This is the kind of performance I came to except from my Apple Silicon Macbook, and it's wonderful to finally see Windows operating just as responsively. Overall, the Surface feels like an upgrade over my Macbook Pro, and I personally am fine with the tradeoffs that come with the thinner, smaller, and lighter Surface over the more powerful Macbook Pro. It is an utterly fantastic laptop that, in my opinion, is currently the best thin-and-light laptop in the world.

Needed a new laptop because my first‑generation Surface Laptop wasn’t compatible with Windows 11. I’ve had this one for over a year now, and it’s held up really well. The battery life is great, performance is solid, and the keyboard feels fantastic to use. I love the color and the overall design. It’s the perfect size and weight for everyday use.

Before making your purchase, consider what you're getting into. Most computers use an x86-64 CPU (a Complex Instruction Set Computer). However, this device uses ARM architecture (a Reduced Instruction Set Computer), not x86. Unlike macOS, which brute-forced compatibility by compelling developers to support ARM on their platform, Windows has not made such a choice but instead intends to support both ecosystems. Developers must now choose to create native ARM versions of their software for compatibility. Some have even blocked ARM support, as evidenced by reports of certain online exam programs restricting ARM-based Windows machines. My primary motivation for purchasing this laptop was its battery life, which is excellent depending on how you use it. My job primarily runs off web applications, so I have no issues there. While performance isn’t top-tier—hence why I rely on my desktop—it’s still snappy enough for everyday tasks. However, those involved in heavy development might find it underwhelming. I get an average of 10 hours of real usage, which is absolutely stellar for me. I never worry about running out of battery. However, screen brightness impacts battery life. My 10-hour estimate assumes a 60% setting since the display is quite bright. Turning it down doesn’t make it difficult to read. The screen size is ideal for me. Previously, I used a 13-inch device but found my workplace-issued 16-inch model too bulky for travel despite its larger display. The Surface Laptop 7 is very portable. The touchscreen seems more like a novelty. While scrolling is occasionally handy, the lack of foldability or 180-degree opening makes its utility limited. Still, it doesn’t detract from the overall experience. If gaming is your priority, consider a used desktop for affordability or a Steam Deck for portability. Reflecting on my own experience, I deeply regret not saving up for a proper desktop after high school. Gaming on a laptop simply doesn’t compare. Not to mention the gaming compatibility issues that will arise as most games that support ARM are mobile games and they're trash. The price of this laptop is fantastic (When it is on sale.) I bought a used one for $600, I would still be completely happy paying the just under $800 currently. A base model with 256GB of storage is a bit of a crime, however. I'm fairly technically inclined and have my own homelab so I just have a vpn network drive that I use for large files.

While I have a current model MacBook, I have always preferred the Windows operating system and the Surface Laptop implements it wonderfully. It has a perfect dimensions with a screen aspect ratio of 3:2 - just as wide as most 13.5 inch [the Surface has a 13.8 inch screen] laptops but with a taller screen. I find that this ratio hits the sweet spot. The case is solid magnesium-aluminum alloy with no flex. The keyboard is also very solid with a really good feel on pressing the keys. This unit has the new Windows AI key but it just replaces a redundant key so that skin keyboard covers for older Surface Laptops will fit this one as well. As with all recent Surface Laptops, the case design is the most elegant of any laptop that I have had. The slots for air ventilation and sound from the internal speakers are hidden. There are no laptops with as clean a case as this one. The new Snapdragon X Plus processor is ultra-fast and power-efficient. It can now be left on indefinitely like Apple iPads or MacBooks, with little lost of battery charge. I just let it go to sleep and when I return to work on it, it uses the Windows Hello IR camera for instant back-to-work. It continues to use the Microsoft magnetic charging system that I like since it is designed to detach from the computer when the cable is pulled. I notice that some will complain about proprietary charging connectors but they overlook the fact that this Surface Laptop can be also charged with any USB charger using its USB-C port.

This is probably the worst laptop I've ever owned, and being someone who has spent nearly 25 years working in IT, believe me when I say I've owned LOTS of laptops. The good: this laptop is very lightweight, has all day battery and actually looks very nice. The bad: pretty much everything else. I purchased this Surface Laptop to replace my aging Surface Pro 4 and numerous times I've had to drag that one out because this steaming pile let me down. Example: the full size USB port lacks driver compatibility with a lot of devices. It all goes back to the processor architecture used in this device and the fact Microsoft was too lazy to do due diligence regarding hardware drivers. There are several threads on MSFT consumer support about this and the answer is they know about it but won't fix it. I've also run into issues with this laptop not resuming correctly from battery saving mode wherein it just won't work (apps won't open or close, it doesn't detect hardware changes like plugging/unplugging peripherals, etc). Again, I strongly suspect this is due to MSFT failing to do their due diligence when doing bug/product QA testing. TL;DR - if you're a basic user who doesn't want to connect anything (digital camera, printer, etc) to this laptop via USB, won't be using anything but basic applications (web browsing, email, etc) and don't need to pause/resume usage frequently, this is a nice laptop. If you actually want a fully functional device, save yourself the headache and go buy an Apple.

Pros: Beautiful, sleek, and thin design Runs smoothly and looks great Good battery life (close to 4 hours) Runs Windows Perfect performance for daily tasks and administrative work Cons: Not suitable for heavy gaming Not designed for graphic design or other high-performance workloads Overall Consensus: This laptop is a great choice if you’re looking for something sleek, reliable, and efficient for everyday use. It handles daily tasks and administrative work with ease, and the battery life is solid at around four hours. While it’s not intended for heavy gaming or graphic-intensive work, it performs exactly as expected for its purpose. Overall, it’s a stylish and dependable Windows laptop for regular use.

I will list my cons first. One very minor and the other very aggravating. They seriously could not give us even a single type C port on the right side? I mean the Surface connector is fine, but come on. Copilot is cool and all, but they seriously had to have a dedicated key for it?!?! OK fine, but it had to replace the right control key. Seriously!? I had to get a new laptop (and this one is great), but it is very, very irritating to be missing the right control key. And there is apparently no way to reliably remap it (I'm not running PowerToys). I'm in terminal emulators nearly half of my day and I'm always sending a ctrl-c, ctrl-x, etc. I'm pretty disappointed with this. I really hope they give us a firmware option to turn it back into the control key, but I'm guessing that's unlikely. If the 15" model had the right control, then I've would've just bought that instead, but no, it doesn't. This is beyond dumb. With that out of the way, this is a fantastic laptop. The touchpad is probably better than Apple. The key travel is a bit more than I'm used to, but it is comfortable to type on. The display even being LCD is great. Sound is loud and clear even with the speakers under the keyboard. Battery life is pretty good, I can go all day and have ~30% left. Multitasking performance has been stellar and I've experienced zero issues running x86/64 apps on arm64 as of today with Windows 11 fully updated. I've plugged in my various accessories like USB type C dock, USB type C gigabit ethernet adapter, FTDI USB to RS232 adapter, etc. and all have had the needed drivers available for arm64.

An amazing laptop. I’ve been using it pretty consistently for the past week, and it’s super straightforward. Everything feels incredibly smooth. No lag or hesitation and you can run multiple functions at once. I’m using it to go back to school and it is the perfect size. The battery life is good as well. Used it for a full eight hour day off the charger and still had plenty of battery left. Great value for what you receive!

A new model, time will tell, but it is fast and furious being a 2024 model.

I ordered this laptop for my daughter to use for school. The trackpad only worked intermittently so we had it replaced with a new device. We received a replacement laptop within 24 hours but the trackpad on the replacement laptop did not work at all. We ended up getting a refund and purchased a completely different brand of laptop. If you're considering purchasing this laptop I would advise you go look at something else and save yourself the headache.

Awesome product and was selling cheaper than in store during boxing week. Love that it was really nicely packaged and protected and given its a high value product they call you to get a code before leaving which is much appreciated. Great experience purchasing and unboxing! Love this laptop. Personally I love windows and can never get used to using a Mac despite having an iPhone, I love my excel shortcuts and having a touch screen so this was best choice at a reasonable price.

Love this copilot laptop. Fast, and lovely color! One consideration is that certain older devices will not have compatible drivers for a copilot PC (even though they have Windows 11 drivers for non-Copilot PCs). My Canon wi-fi laser printer that is a few years old does not have compatible drivers for Copilot PCs.

Excellent