Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (AMD model)
offered with a maximum storage of just 256GB. There is at least the option for either 8GB or 16GB of RAM that’ll cost $1,599 or $1,899 respectively, but when your OS could take up half the storage space, it’s not an ideal configuration for a premium Ultrabook.
The 13.5-inch Core i5 starts at $1,999 for models with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage and ranges up to a Core i7 configuration with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage for $3,849.
In the 15-inch AMD department you can get a Ryzen 7 processor with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM for $2,199 or a Ryzen 7 with 512GB of storage and either 8 or 16GB of RAM for $2,499 and $2,699 respectively.
The blue team’s 15 inch options are a choice of a Core i7 processor with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $2,849 or an i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB storage model for $3,999.
On the whole, none of the 13-inch options are overly good value considering you can get plenty of similarly sized devices with 11th gen Core i7s, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of PCIe storage for around $2,000 and some of Apple’s more powerful MacBook Pro and Air laptops for less.
That said, the $1,999 Surface Laptop 4 looks like the best balance of price and performance if you are going to go for the 13 incher. On the 15-inch side the
Ryzen 7 with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is the sweet spot. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these are also the two units Microsoft sent us to test out for APC.
Performance
AMD’s additional core count means that if you want more general computing performance they’re going to be the best option, but traditionally Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics processors have far outpaced AMD’s integrated Radeon GPUs. Interestingly the AMD Radeon Vega 8 integrated GPU on the Surface Laptop 15 was able to keep pace with Intel’s Iris Xe which makes it the undisputedly more powerful processor overall, even though they’re generally priced more affordably here.
For general work tasks the Core i5 processor with 8GB or RAM is more than adequate and all the Surface Laptop 4 units offer similar light 1080p gaming capabilities, so everything up from here will just be gravy for most people.
If you are wanting to dabble in more demanding image processing or you need overhead to work while streaming video you’ll probably want to opt for one of the more powerful 15-inch Surface Laptop 4 models, but you will then have to be willing to accept a 277g heavier 1.5kg overall weight that also comes with a bigger overall footprint. With material finishes including everything from polished metal to a soft Alcantara material and Platinum, Ice Blue, Matte Black and Sandstone colourings you won’t be disappointed by the look and feel of this exceptionally well designed device. The keyboards on both devices are spacious and really nice to type on with the 15 inches offering a little more key travel and the 13-inch units the soft Alcantra palm rests. The trackpad is one of the best we’ve felt and while we’re a little disappointed it doesn’t have a USB 3.2 port, it does at least have two USB 3.1 ports (1x Type-A, 1x Type-C) and an 3.5mm audio jack, in addition to the Surface Connect power port. All units get Wi-Fi 6 and a long lasting 46Wh battery.
Both devices offered solid general work battery lifespans in PCMark 10 benchmarks with the 15-inch AMD unit netting 10 hours and 11 minutes and the 13-inch Intel model lasting 14 hours. This’ll translate to well over a day’s work with the latter unit here being one of the longest lasting Ultrabooks we have on file for this benchmark.
The Surface Laptop 4 range is an uncompromising premium device for those happy to pay a little more for a well-rounded and fashionable laptop.