Earlier today, Microsoft made some fresh additions to the Surface lineup. Leading the pack is an all-new Surface Laptop Go that clocks in with a very affordable starting price of $549.99. The company also doubled down on its ARM-powered Surface Pro X by debuting a high-end model with a faster Microsoft SQ 2 processor. Continue reading to learn more.
Surface Laptop Go
Today’s most notable Microsoft announcement is easily Surface Laptop Go. It mimics the company’s budget-focused Surface Go 2 tablet in many regards but comes in a laptop-only form-factor. For some, this could be a setback, but for folks that prefer consistency, Surface Laptop Go could very well be a slam dunk.
Specifications include a 12.4-inch PixelSense touchscreen display, large precision trackpad, a keyboard with 1.3mm of key travel, and the list goes on. While there are several variants of Surface Laptop Go available, each one is powered by a 10th-generation Intel i5 Quad-Core processor. Microsoft touts that battery life should last up to 13 hours.
On paper, this sounds excellent so far, but low amounts of RAM and storage is how Microsoft is able to start at an incredible $549.99 price point. Forking over this amount yields a mere 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. Spending $699.99 will deliver 8GB of RAM and 128GB of room to store files while setting aside $899.99 bumps capacity up to 256GB. Every configuration is slated for shipment beginning October 13.
https://youtu.be/kp4Acofumyg
Surface Pro X
With Apple Silicon-based Macs on the horizon, Microsoft has seen deemed it time to refresh its ARM-powered Surface Pro X. There’s a new high-end model on the block, and it features Microsoft’s new SQ 2 processor. The company cites this chip as being “faster,” but it remains unclear just how much more powerful it actually is. This upgraded Surface Pro X will also come in a Platinum finish. Anyone interested in this upgraded configuration will need to part with at least $1,499.99.
Like Apple, Microsoft plans to expand support for running 64-bit applications on its ARM-powered PCs. The company says that Visual Studio Code has been updated to do all of the heavy lifting for developers.
https://youtu.be/_QobdWOa02o
9to5Toys’ Take
Of both product releases, Surface Laptop Go easily takes the cake. It’s a highly-affordable laptop that I can see many people jumping at. Sure, it doesn’t have much storage or RAM, but for those carrying out light tasks, this may not pose much of a problem.
While nothing on the Surface Pro X front appears to be incredibly ambitious, it’s still good to see Microsoft looking ahead and around the corner with by further backing ARM. Is it a computer I’d buy now? Probably not, but more seamless 64-bit application support is something that will arguably make it more appealing to some.
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