Since its inception in 2017, the Surface Laptop lineup has remained mostly unchanged in terms of how it looks and feels, even all the way through 2022's Surface Laptop 5. But now, that's finally changing with the all-new Surface Laptop 7, which makes significant changes for the first time ever.
Mind you, we're not talking about the Surface Laptop 6 for Business that launched earlier in 2024, which looks basically identical to its predecessor. The Surface Laptop 7, officially called Surface Laptop, 7th edition, is a big shakeup in more ways than one. It's also called Surface laptop, 7th Edition, if you go by Microsoft's official naming. Let's take a closer look at what makes this machine so exciting.
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Release date and availability
The Surface Laptop 7 was announced on May 20t, 2024 at a special event with Microsoft, Qualcomm, and other hardware partners that announced their own laptops. Like all the laptops announced at the even, the Surface Laptop 7 immediately became available for pre-order, and it will go on sale in full force on June 18th, 2024.
Pricing for the Surface Laptop 7 starts at $999.99 for the 13-inch model or $1,299.99 for the 15-inch version. However, it can climp up from there.
Specifications
- CPU
- Up to Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite
- GPU
- Qualcomm Adreno
- Display type
- IPS touchscreen LCD, anti-reflective, 1400:1 contrast ratio, up to 120Hz
- Display (Size, Resolution)
- 13.8-inch, 2304x1536 or 15-inch, 2496x1664
- RAM
- Up to 64GB LPDDR5x
- Storage
- Up to 1TB Gen 4 SSD
- Battery
- 54-66Wh
- Ports
- 2x USB4, 1x USB Type-A, 1x Surface Connect
- Operating System
- Windows 11
- Webcam
- 1080p Surface Studio Camera
- Cellular connectivity
- No
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Wi-Fi 7
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth 5.4
- Form factor
- Laptop
- Speakers
- Omnisonic speakers
- Colors
- Platinum, Graphite, Sapphire, Dune
- Price
- Starts at $1,000
- Dimensions
- 11.85 x 8.67 x 0.69in; 15-inch: 12.96 x 9.41 x 0.72in
- Weight
- 13-inch: 2.96 pounds; 15-inch: 3.67 pounds
- Pen compatibility
- Microsoft Pen Protocol
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X series
Performance, efficiency, and AI
At the heart of the Surface Laptop 7 is arguably the biggest change to the lineup yet. Until now, every Surface laptop has been powered by Intel processors, with some models also offerting AMD variants. This time, the Surface Laptop 7 is making the transition to Arm.
Inside the Surface Laptop 7 is your choice of either a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus or Snapdragon X Elite. The Snapdragon X Elite is the more powerful model, particularly in terms of CPU performance, since it features 12 cores, while the X Plus has 10. Still, both models are very fast, both on the CPU and GPU fronts.
But the real kicker with these processors is the NPU and the AI capabilities it provides. These are the first processors to break past 40TOPS of AI performance on the NPU alone (reaching 45TOPS), and as such, they're the first devices to feature Copilot+. This is a set of Windows 11 AI features that run locally on the device, including things like Recall, Auto Super Resolution, and Live Captions.
Arm processors like the Snapdragon X series also offer excellent standby battery life, which is why they're used in smartphones. When your computer goes to sleep, it can still stay connected to the internet without using a ton of battery or getting hot. It's a big deal, and we've seen how beneficial it can be with Apple's recent MacBooks. In fact, this is pretty much a response to those MacBooks, and it's huge news for Windows and Surface fans.
A new design
Smaller bezels, larger screens, and more
Another big change with the Surface Laptop 7 is that it finally brings a much-needed design refresh. Surface Laptop models have looked the same for most of their life, but Microsoft has finally shaked things up with a whole new design featuring thinner bezels than ever. The benefits of these thinner bezels are two-fold, depending on the model. For the 13-inch version, the thinner bezels allow for a larger screen, meaning you now have a 13.8-inch panel instead of a 13.5-inch one. For the 15-inch version, the screen size remains the same, but the overall chassis of the laptop has shrunk, making it a bit more portable. Plus, the screen has rounded corners now, similar to the Surface Laptop Studio series, and you get a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate this time around.
This new model also comes with a haptic touchpad, similarly borrowed from the Surface Laptop Studio, so you can do things like adjust the pressure sensitivity for clicks. Additionally, unlike the business model that launched back in March, this laptop comes in four colors to choose from, so you can still get something with a bit more personality.
Finally, a decent webcam
1080p was long overdue
Even with the shift that happened during the pandemic in 2020, Microsoft refused to upgrade the webcam on the Surface Laptop series, which is still a 720p sensor on the Surface Laptop 5. That's woefully inadequate for a premium laptop in 2024, and thankfully, Microsoft fixed that with the Surface Laptop 7. This was also in the business-oriented version, but it's nice to see here.
This webcam will also be enhanced by AI features as part of Copilot+. On top of the Windows Studio Effects we had before, like background blur and automatic framing, the new set of capabilities includes lighting adjustments and new filters.
Windows 11 version 24H2
Copilot+ brings a new era of AI
On top of the hardware changes, the Surface Laptop 7 is also one of the debut devices for Windows 11 version 24H2, and with it, Copilot+. There are plenty of smaller changes in Windows 11 version 24H2, but Copilot+ is really the one Microsoft is focusing on, because it's all about AI.
Copilot+ encompasses numerous new features, but unlike most of Copilot until now, which was cloud-based, these capabilities all run locally on your PC. The highlight of them is arguably Recall, which was being referrewd to as "AI Explorer" for a while prior to the official announcement. This is a capability that's sort of similar to Timeline on Windows 10. It allows you to go back through things you were working on at previous point sin time, but now you can search for them with natural language, so you can search for a document about dinosaurs, and Windows will bring up documents with the word "dinosaur" in them.
Other Copilot+ features include Auto Super Resolution, which can upscale the image quality of games using AI, making them look better without taking a bigger toll on performance. Then there are things like Cocreator, which generates images based on text prompts, or Live Captions, which automatically add captions to videos, including live translation.
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A big shakeup for Surface
With all of these changes, the Surface Laptop 7 is the most exciting Surface Laptop since the series began, and it's going to help change the expectations we have for Windows PCs. The laptop is now available for pre-order, so you can check it out below. It will start shipping on June 18th.
Surface Laptop 7
- Operating System
- Windows 11
- CPU
- Up to Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite
- GPU
- Qualcomm Adreno
- RAM
- Up to 64GB LPDDR5x
- Storage
- Up to 1TB Gen 4 SSD
- Battery
- 54-66Wh
The Surface Laptop 7 is the first major shakeup the lineup has received since its inception, with a brand-new design with thinner bezels, plus a new haptic touchpad. The laptop now comes in 13.8- or 15-inch models, and it's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X plus chips.
