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Microsoft's ARM Surface laptops hit the shelves [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2024-06-18  

Microsoft's 7th-edition Surface Laptop and Surface Pro tablets are out today, and mark the lineup's switch from Intel to ARM-based processors. Built around the 12-core Snapdragon X system, the high-end machines start at $1,000 and aim to beat the performance and efficiency advantages offered by Apple since it began its own migration from Intel chips in 2020.

Available today, the all-new Copilot+ PCs from Microsoft Surface – Surface Laptop and Surface Pro – are thin, light and beautiful devices that help you do more of what you love. Whether it's starting a new creative project, connecting with friends and family or pursuing a new business venture, these devices are designed to support your journey. The new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are Copilot+ PCs, which are the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs on the market. They are available in four color options at an incredible value, beginning at $999 Estimated Retail Price (ERP) USD on Microsoft.com and the Microsoft Experience Center.

Though the ARM machines are fast and efficient (and come with a Rosetta-style translation layer to run x86 apps), Microsoft erred in coupling them with 'Recall,' a keylogging and screenshotting addition to Windows that looked more like a surveillance scheme than a useful feature. Recall was sent back to the drawing board after public outcry. The appeal of the AI features exposed in the "Copilot" branding also seems questionable. To me it seems like a second example of something administrators and marketing people love which users mostly just find alarming and intrusive—but perhaps we do need our productivity enhanced and our creativity empowered.

I still like the keyboards made of gray carpet (cf. Apple's FineWoven iPhone cases). These strike me as the sort of design that's invisible in its own time but eventually becomes distinctive of an era. Dare they make the pile deeper? Make the pile deeper. I want laptops to come with little nap brushes. I want to see shag keyboards before the decade is out, laden with the filth and honey of the human touch.

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