From www.digitaltrends.com

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

The Surface Laptop 7th Edition on a white table.
Luke Larsen / Digital Trends

A new leak has hinted that Microsoft may be exploring an Intel version of the Surface Laptop 7th Edition. A listing for the device was spotted on Reddit, and it will supposedly coming with a Core Ultra 7 268V processor. The listing has since been removed, but the original listing reportedly claimed that it wouldn’t officially be available until 2025.

A Lunar Lake version of the new Surface Laptop has since been supported by Windows Central’s own sources.

But let’s not forget: It was a big deal that Microsoft debuted its flagship laptop exclusively on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X platform. Full-throated support of not only Qualcomm, but Windows on Arm as a whole, was the shake-up the PC industry has needed in the wake of Apple Silicon.

Seeing how good Intel’s recently launched Lunar Lake (or Core Ultra Series 2) is, however, it’s not too surprising that Microsoft might want to get in on these new chips. Intel needed a very impressive response to Qualcomm, especially in terms of battery life, and that’s exactly what it delivered.

The idea of a Lunar Lake version of the Surface Laptop 7th Edition is intriguing to me \. The Qualcomm version has been my favorite new laptop of 2024 so far and quickly secured a spot at the top of our list of best laptops you can buy. It’s been my daily driver since its launch this summer, thanks to its great design and the incredible efficiency of its Snapdragon X Elite chip inside.

But there’s a problem. Since then, the Intel Lunar Lake chips have launched, and they have even better battery life than the Snapdragon X Elite. It was quite an accomplishment to have made in just a single generation, and the latest Surface Laptop would be a perfect vehicle for that extra battery life. Intel’s new chips also have significantly better integrated graphics than the Snapdragon X Elite.

Broader performance comparisons between the two chips depend on the use case, but you could certainly make the argument that Intel’s option is better overall for this type of device.

It’ll all come down to price, however. The Qualcomm version of the Surface Laptop 7th Edition started at $999 and came  with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. This represented a small discount in price compared to previous iterations of this laptop. How the Intel model will fit into this pricing scheme, however, should be interesting, especially if it ends up costing more.

Luke Larsen

Luke Larsen is the Senior editor of computing, managing all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, Macs, and more.

Intel’s new chips just set an exciting benchmark for graphics

intel xe2 igpu performance xe 2 logo

Despite all the talk around the efficiency and AI performance of Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 2 processors, code-named Lunar Lake, the real star of the show just might just be its integrated GPU.

I got all the details at a special event in Berlin just ahead of IFA 2024, and walked away very excited for what the new Xe2 graphics architecture could offer, as it could position Intel as the leader in graphics solutions for low-powered, ultrathin laptops.

Read more

Acer is about to do something it’s never done before

CPU block on the Acer Predator Orion 7000.

With IFA 2024 set to begin this week, the first announcements and teasers are already here, including a slew of new Intel Lunar Lake mobile processors — and those CPUs might appear in some unexpected devices. One of those devices might be a new gaming handheld, and this time, it’s from a manufacturer that hasn’t ventured into that market before: Acer. According to a teaser on X (formerly Twitter), Acer is working on some exciting new releases, and although the announcement is fairly cryptic, one of those products looks like a handheld.

Predator Gaming, an Acer account, dropped a little hint about its upcoming lineup, which will be unveiled on September 4. It’s nothing more than a couple of silhouettes, but that’s enough to get the speculation flowing. One of the silhouettes is clearly an Acer laptop, but there’s also a different product, half of which is obstructed.

Read more

It’s official: AMD beats Intel in gaming laptops

Two Zephyrus G16 laptops sitting next to each other.

We are constantly making comparisons between AMD and Intel when reviewing some of the best gaming laptops on the market. Just like desktops, we’re trying to find which company makes the best processor you can buy. It’s never a perfect comparison, though. Differences between the thermal design and build quality of laptops make it next to impossible to truly get a one-to-one comparison. Now, we finally have the chance for that comparison.

Asus sent out its new ROG Zephyrus G16 equipped with one of AMD’s new Zen 5 CPUs, giving us a chance to compare it to the Intel-based ROG Zephyrus G16 we reviewed earlier this year. I didn’t expect a big difference in performance given that these two laptops are basically identical. Boy, was I wrong.
A rare opportunity

Read more

[ For more curated Computing news, check out the main news page here]

The post An even better Surface Laptop may be coming soon | Digital Trends first appeared on www.digitaltrends.com

New reasons to get excited everyday.



Get the latest tech news delivered right in your mailbox

You may also like

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

More in computing