Following the Surface Pro 12, Microsoft has unveiled a new compact Surface Laptop with a smaller 13-inch display and a Snapdragon X Plus processor. It starts at $899 and is available for pre-order now, with shipping starting on May 20.
Most of the laptop's specifications remain unchanged from previous models, with the exception of a smaller 13-inch display and a lower resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Microsoft previously released the Surface Laptop 7 with a 13.8-inch screen and a resolution of 2304 x 1536 pixels. The new version also has a 60Hz refresh rate, down from the 120Hz of the older model, and lacks HDR support.
Inside the Surface Laptop 13 is an octa-core Snapdragon X Plus processor, paired with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. This is Qualcomm's latest chip, but it only has 8 cores instead of the 10 in previous models. Microsoft will also offer a 512GB storage option for $999.
Another change in the new Surface Laptop is the absence of the Surface Connect charging port. The new device features two USB-C 3.2 ports that support charging and data transfer, or for DisplayPort 1.4a support. The laptop also has one USB-A 3.1 port and a combo headphone jack.
Another feature that has been removed from the Surface Laptop 13 is Windows Hello. Instead, buyers will have to use a regular PIN code or a fingerprint scanner built into the power button. Despite some deterioration, the new product will receive all the features of Copilot+ computers, including the rather controversial Recall feature, which has recently finally begun to be implemented among insiders.