With work-from-home catching on, demand for laptops and notebooks has risen like never before. And strengthening its line-up further to meet that surge, is Microsoft. After teasing its arrival for almost a year, the Redmond tech giant has finally unveiled its Surface Laptop 4 to capitulate on the focus on working remotely. The latest addition to the Surface Laptop line-up has been the center of focus after it was announced along with other accessories, including three headsets, a USB-C speaker, and a 1080p webcam.
Available to order right now in Canada, the US, and Japan (it starts shipping on April 15), the Surface Laptop 4 is equipped with top of the line specs.
Major improvements to the Surface Laptop 4 are in its updated internal components, including the option for Microsoft Surface Edition processors from AMD, based on the Ryzen 4000 family. Microsoft promises that it will have improved performance and increased battery life, which will last through nearly an entire workday (19 hours, according to Microsoft). At its core, all models of the Surface Laptop 4 are equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It also includes a studio mic array and improved low-light capabilities. The touch-screen can be operated using the Surface Pen.
The color options have been updated as well – you will now get Ice Blue instead of the Cobalt Blue you saw in Surface Laptop 3.
Needless to say though, that while surface laptops compete directly with Apple’s Macbook line-up, the new M1 chip from Cupertino has literally blown everyone out of the water. And while Surface laptops may match Apple’s build quality to some extent, the inside is just not worth comparing.
Having said that, an improved offering in the form of AMD Ryzen, does provide much needed to teeth to the otherwise Intel-led old-school Windows line-up. Intel’s innovation wheel seems to have stuck at a point, from wherein it just isn’t able to compete in the consumer-intended chips segment. Apple’s dropping off of Intel from its new Macbook was a bomb, and Microsoft giving an ‘option’ to buy AMD powered chips is just salt to the wound.
The 13-inch Surface Laptop 4 will cost you $1,299 for the version with an 11th-gen Intel Core i5 processor and a 512GB SSD and 8GB of RAM. Price bumps up to $1,699 for the model with an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD standard.
If you wish to have an even better model, you can buy the 15-inch model, which costs $1, 299, offering an AMD Ryzen 7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD (which can be upgraded up to 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage for $1,699). There is yet another model, the most expensive of the lot, costing $2,399 to offer 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD – though only with an Intel Core i7 processor.
If you order a Surface Laptop 4 between now and April 15, you will get a pair of Surface Earbuds for free.
