[HN Gopher] Surface Laptop 4
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Surface Laptop 4
        
       Author : layer8
       Score  : 197 points
       Date   : 2021-04-13 18:06 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (blogs.windows.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (blogs.windows.com)
        
       | Multicomp wrote:
       | I just bought myself a laptop so while I was on the market, I'm
       | out now, though I'm glad they mentioned the Surface Duo at the
       | end of the page as part of their push for seamless multi-device
       | coordination for productivity.
       | 
       | I just hope its cousin the Surface Neo manages to see the light
       | of day! Or maybe it will be the 2020s version of Microsoft
       | Courier grrrr.
        
       | jjjeii3 wrote:
       | Oh great, Home and End buttons are located on the same keys as F8
       | - F12... So basically you will not be able to use both at the
       | same time with a single click. Microsoft learned from Apple how
       | to decrease developer's productivity (Touchbar).
        
       | Kaytaro wrote:
       | I see Microsoft is fully embracing their boring reputation by
       | announcing this in a blog post.
        
       | ispaceman wrote:
       | That video is missing voice of Jony Ive.
        
       | ksec wrote:
       | The video [1] has much more explanation.
       | 
       | 3:2 screen ratio, I really wish the whole PC industry including
       | Mac moves towards it. Even 16:10 is not enough when we
       | increasingly clutter the vertical space with OS menus, controls,
       | dock. And then Browsers address bar, tab bar, then we have the
       | WebSite layout which is also taking vertical space at the top for
       | navigation.
       | 
       | 1.3mm Key Travel. Which is the same as the old perfect MacBook
       | Scissors Keyboard. Instead Apple went to 1.0mm Key travel in
       | their magic keyboard just to save face.
       | 
       |  _Sane_ size precision trackpad, no more absurdly large trackpad
       | that has easy false positive when you are typing on it.
       | 
       | Replaceable SSD, Keyboard, and Monitor for easy repair. Wow.
       | 
       | Surface Connect - Is that Microsoft version of MagSafe?
       | 
       | Larger sensor for better quality HD Video Call. They even compare
       | it to MacBook Air 2020 LoL.
       | 
       | I haven't looked at PC Laptop hardware for quite some time, but
       | in mid 2010, Dell or HP's motherboard and Laptop layout just
       | aren't anywhere near as good as Apple. But this Surface Laptop
       | definitely took lots of clues from the old MacBook ( I am
       | wondering if they have ex-Apple MacBook Engineers on their team
       | ).
       | 
       | Ignoring the Software, this Laptop looks exceptionally good!
       | 
       | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3N3u6NyWSY
        
         | smoldesu wrote:
         | I had a Surface Pro for a few years, it ran GNOME like a champ.
         | These Windows laptops also have pretty good Linux support
         | afaik, so the software issue isn't that big of a deal!
        
           | withinboredom wrote:
           | I remember those kernel patches fondly.
        
         | ziml77 wrote:
         | I actually feel cramped on 3:2. It's great if I maximize one
         | window, but as soon as I try to split the width between two
         | windows, everything is too narrow. It's especially bad when the
         | windows are Firefox with Tree Style Tab and an IDE with a
         | project navigation pane.
        
           | kitsunesoba wrote:
           | Wouldn't this depend on how the ratio is achieved?
           | 
           | For example, with 16:9 - 16:10, you're often just gaining
           | some vertical pixels (like 1920x1080 vs 1920x1200), so
           | everything that was comfortable on 16:9 is equally workable
           | on 16:10.
        
             | ziml77 wrote:
             | Yes it does depend on that, but usually there's some width
             | lost for the gained height. You don't even need to measure
             | it against another display to know that's the case. If you
             | only add pixels to the top of a display, the diagonal size
             | will increase. So if the display isn't any larger then it
             | means that the horizontal size of the screen was reduced.
             | That of course also means that each pixel is smaller.
             | Depending on how much smaller, you might need to scale
             | everything on the display up which has the same effect on
             | fitting things in as having fewer pixels.
        
           | twobitshifter wrote:
           | Yeah I've maximized my use of a wide screen. Dock on the side
           | and tree style tabs is the way to go IMO.
        
         | ansible wrote:
         | > _Replaceable SSD, Keyboard, and Monitor for easy repair.
         | Wow._
         | 
         | I realize that making a replaceable battery is not easy this
         | days, but I would like to see manufacturers at least not make
         | it absurdly hard to replace. Here's hoping MS didn't use too
         | much glue and tape to secure the battery in place on the
         | Surface Laptop 4...
        
           | nfoz wrote:
           | In what sense is it "not easy these days"? The Panasonic
           | "Let's Note" series (Japan only) has had models with two
           | batteries -- one internal, and one removable (hot-swappable)
           | that you could charge with USB while the laptop keeps running
           | on the main battery. I'm not sure why our imagination for
           | laptops is so limited.
        
             | jolux wrote:
             | Lenovo did that for a while. I believe they called it Power
             | Bridge.
        
         | dylan604 wrote:
         | > 3:2 screen ratio, I really wish the whole PC industry
         | including Mac moves towards it. Even 16:10 is not enough when
         | we increasingly clutter the vertical space with OS menus,
         | controls, dock. And then Browsers address bar, tab bar, then we
         | have the WebSite layout which is also taking vertical space at
         | the top for navigation.
         | 
         | I hated the 16:9 popularity of computer flat screens.
         | Definitely agree about needing lots of vertical space. I was
         | content with 1600x1200 for years, and then 1920x1200 (1.6 vs
         | 1.5 ratio) was available that was acceptable. Amazing how much
         | smaller 1920x1080 felt, and is just a joke for anything other
         | than watching videos (maybe games? i'm not a gamer) in my daily
         | usage. Never tried one of those rotated 90, but it might be
         | more useful as 9:16.
        
         | pwthornton wrote:
         | On the dock front, I recommend putting it on the left for a
         | 16:10 display.
         | 
         | I almost never use the dock on the bottom anymore. I find this
         | a lot more useful, and it fits with the aspect ratio of the
         | screens that are being shipped.
        
           | addison-lee wrote:
           | Best solution is to just have the dock hidden.
        
             | dylan604 wrote:
             | I've been playing with the option in macOS to hide the menu
             | bar as well. The extra screen space is significant to me.
             | The one draw back is that I have a habit of glancing up at
             | the clock from time to time. Now, that's hidden, and I find
             | myself totally losing track of time. Not such a big deal
             | now for WFH, but I do spend more time on things than I
             | would if the clock were still in view. Other than that, I
             | don't miss the menu bar either.
        
         | saboot wrote:
         | > Replaceable SSD, Keyboard, and Monitor for easy repair. Wow.
         | 
         | By far the biggest selling point for me! I wouldn't even
         | consider apple products for this reason.
        
           | rvz wrote:
           | Exactly. At least Microsoft has courage.
           | 
           | Unlike Apple who seems to like to solder everything onto the
           | board, such that to fix the SSD would require an entirely new
           | logic board and a trip to the Apple Store.
           | 
           | That alone makes the Surface 4 'look' like a good deal, but
           | at the price of $1000? No thanks and no deal (For now).
        
             | swordsmith wrote:
             | Compared to the pricetag of Macbooks, $1000 is a great
             | deal, no?
        
               | FearlessNebula wrote:
               | The $999 Air will outperform this most likely. Build
               | quality will be similar
        
               | alien_ wrote:
               | Yeah, the M1 will kill whatever CPU they'll put in this,
               | I wish they had also an ARM version.
        
             | klodolph wrote:
             | It's super weird to see this phrased as "courage". I can
             | understand the desiderata--"I want a user-servicable
             | laptop" is entirely a reasonable position--but framing this
             | narrative as "courageous" is bizarre. It's all a mix of
             | branding and utility.
        
               | dragontamer wrote:
               | "Courage", as well as "A sense of pride and
               | accomplishment" means different things now, because some
               | presentations have given those words new life.
               | 
               | In the case of "Courage", Apple branded their decision to
               | remove the headphone jack as "courageous".
               | 
               | "A sense of pride and accomplishment" is from the
               | Battlefront video games, when marketers were talking
               | about some features that either cost hundreds-of-dollars,
               | or literally hundreds of hours of gameplay to unlock.
        
               | unishark wrote:
               | What is the new meaning of the word "courage" then? I
               | presume it just means a decision other than the "safe"
               | option. It's a bit melodramatic, perhaps, but not really
               | a new definition. From an individual perspective, someone
               | may have felt they were sticking their necks out and were
               | in danger of hurting their career if the decision led to
               | backlash and a reversal.
               | 
               | (Talking about the audio jack change, no idea how making
               | easy-to-maintenance parts is not the safe choice).
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | drusepth wrote:
               | AFAIK, companies "having courage" has been a meme for a
               | few years after Apple said it took great courage (or
               | similar) to remove the headphone jack.
        
               | CoolGuySteve wrote:
               | If anything, Apple's environmental impact and their
               | advertising around it is a staggeringly courageous amount
               | of bullshit considering how hard they make it to service,
               | upgrade, and repurpose old devices.
        
               | lotsofpulp wrote:
               | I use my Apple devices for a substantially longer time
               | than the alternative, so I would say I've probably
               | consumed less.
        
               | unishark wrote:
               | They generally have a much better resale value compared
               | to other brands too. People are still buying old macs on
               | ebay.
        
               | edaemon wrote:
               | I'm pretty sure they're referencing Apple saying it took
               | "courage" to remove the iPhone's headphone jack.
        
             | ValentineC wrote:
             | > _At least Microsoft has courage._
             | 
             | I see what you did there:
             | https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12838024/apple-
             | iphone-7-pl...
        
             | bsd44 wrote:
             | Soldering "everything" is not specific to Apple.
        
               | NetOpWibby wrote:
               | But boy, the crowd here loves to harp on it though.
        
             | wil421 wrote:
             | Really hoping that Jony Ive leaving will have a positive
             | impact in regards to serviceability. Hopefully the blowback
             | for their obsession with thinness was due to Ive.
        
           | NotPractical wrote:
           | Is the battery replaceable, though? The Surface Laptop 3 also
           | had some repairable parts, but the big disappointment in my
           | mind was the glued-in battery.[1] Batteries are consumable
           | and are guaranteed to start wearing down within a few years,
           | whereas the SSD, keyboard, monitor, etc. are likely to last a
           | long time, so it was surprising that they advertised its
           | repairability even with this significant omission.
           | 
           | I feel weird using my MacBook Pro, knowing it's essentially a
           | ticking time bomb, with its slowly degrading battery that
           | can't be replaced.
           | 
           | [1] https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Laptop+
           | 3+(...
        
             | penagwin wrote:
             | I worked in computer/phone repair and a bit of design,
             | 
             | You can see [1] that they are using multiple cells
             | essentially taped together to make their "battery". This
             | isn't uncommon, especially recently in smaller devices, as
             | it lets them fit unusual shapes and other size issues, and
             | saves space because you don't need a shell around them. The
             | biggest (only?) issue is that you have a very delicate
             | batteries taped together, if ripped/torn they may explode.
             | To add to this, because they aren't riggedly attached, they
             | are more prone to movement (and thus tearing). Their
             | solution was to use adhesive across the bottom to make sure
             | they are all firmly in place [0].
             | 
             | From a repair perspective this isn't great. It's not hard
             | to remove if you have a heated plate, isopropyl, and
             | patience, but not very user friendly. The best thing they
             | could do to fix this would be to give the battery a rigid
             | enclosure, but that will of course eat up valuable space,
             | and I have no idea how that would affect the rest of their
             | design. They could also use different tape that's easier to
             | remove, but they may see the taped-together battery as
             | something they don't want to be liable for people replacing
             | (in case they tear it), so I really think the best solution
             | is a rigid shell for the batteries.
             | 
             | tldr; This appears to mostly be a design limitation instead
             | of a purposeful decision. I wish they'd change their design
             | instead though....
             | 
             | [0] https://guide-
             | images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/FkZHQOAv2sPqKSBE.med...
             | 
             | [1] https://guide-
             | images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/VJBBLeHLWsRBQeIS.med...
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | IAmEveryone wrote:
               | Yes, of course it's a design Limitation or, as I'd call
               | it, trade-off. A very few conspiracy theorists may belief
               | it's "planned obsolescence". But a model that just places
               | a larger premium on thinness than HN professes to do is
               | far better at explaining this and a number of similar
               | decisions by all sorts of companies.
        
               | ClumsyPilot wrote:
               | We have had countless corporate conspiracies for hundreds
               | of years, from the Standard Oil collusion with railroads
               | to remove competing oil companies, Automanufactureres
               | conspiracy to remove streetcard, The Phoebus cartel
               | limiting lightbulb longevity and FAANG anti-poaching
               | agreement designed to depress developer salaries.
               | 
               | What the hell has to happen for you to realize
               | corporations are not your friends and 'mah free market'
               | becomes mafia without law enforcement.
        
               | jasonfarnon wrote:
               | It could be that apple places a greater premium on
               | thinness and that position just so happens to have as a
               | byproduct early obsolescence and better profits. But I
               | don't see why that's any more plausible than what you
               | call conspiracy theories.
        
         | johncessna wrote:
         | > Surface Connect - Is that Microsoft version of MagSafe?
         | 
         | Basically. I was disappointed to see it on my 2nd or 3rd
         | generation. I thought we were past the days of proprietary
         | connectors.
        
           | 908B64B197 wrote:
           | They kept this one for a few generations now/across a few
           | models.
           | 
           | I wish they made it open.
        
           | dygd wrote:
           | The video mentions that the Surface 4 USB-C port allows
           | charging, which is great.
        
           | orev wrote:
           | The Surface connector is fine, and has the added benefit of
           | being magnetic, unlike any other connector available. For
           | basic charging it's very easy to get a USBC to Surface
           | Connect cable, or if you really want you can use the USBC
           | port directly for charging. The magnetics really make a
           | difference in portability and I would not want to give it up.
        
           | ziml77 wrote:
           | A bad proprietary connector at that. The device side has
           | failed on me a few times, requiring replacements. After about
           | a year the connector needs to be pulled at just the right
           | angle to charge the device. It would slowly get worse until I
           | couldn't get it to make a connection at all.
           | 
           | I'm sure the issue is that I have it plugged in while it's on
           | my lap a lot of the time, but barrel plugs and USB-C have not
           | given me any issues under the same conditions.
        
             | withinboredom wrote:
             | Just wipe it down with a bit of alcohol (while unplugged
             | from the wall of course). I've found the connector tends to
             | wear from "sparking" when connecting and disconnecting and
             | gets a thin layer of carbon on it.
        
         | nailer wrote:
         | > Ignoring the Software, this Laptop looks exceptionally good!
         | 
         | Paying attention to the software, WSL2 is one of the most
         | convenient ways to run nix. No more messing with homebrew, you
         | get real apt-get (and the breadth of packages and speed of
         | updates that come from running real Ubuntu or Debian) or
         | whatever else you want.
        
           | dylan604 wrote:
           | I really need to read up more on WSL2, but I'm on a windows
           | box so rarely I haven't spent the cycles on it. However,
           | every single time I am on a windows box, I really wish I had
           | it setup for WSL2. Every other box I connect to has
           | essentially the same CLI features, until those rare times I
           | hit a windows box. <shudder>
        
         | bosswipe wrote:
         | Laptop vertical space is why I always setup my docks on the
         | left or right. And one of the reasons I still use Firefox Tree
         | Style Tab even though Mozilla keeps making it harder and harder
         | to use.
        
         | robertoandred wrote:
         | 3:2 and 16:10 are very very close.
        
           | Synaesthesia wrote:
           | 3:2 is 15:10. It's a pretty big deal, almost as big as going
           | from 16:9 to 16:10
           | 
           | More vertical space is a win in my book.
        
             | derekp7 wrote:
             | Is it giving more vertical space, or taking away horizontal
             | space? A 16:9 screen would be fine if it had the same
             | vertical resolution as the 3:2 screens. In that case you
             | work off the center of the screen and put various gadget
             | items to either side. Or for the larger screen laptops that
             | include a number keypad, put your workspace on the left 80%
             | and things like your Slack / chat and email notifications
             | on the right side.
             | 
             | Actually come to think of it, a perfect window manager
             | would be something that allows for overlapping windows in
             | the central region, and lets you have adjustable left/right
             | regions as tiling window areas. Combined with something
             | that can tell an application which region it is in, so it
             | can adjust the interface (optionally) to fit that region's
             | purpose and limitations.
        
             | mixmastamyk wrote:
             | If only they hadn't done away with 4:3:
             | >>> 4/3         1.3333333333333333                  >>> 3/2
             | 1.5                  >>> 16/10         1.6
             | >>> 16/9         1.7777777777777777
             | 
             | I use an external portrait monitor for this reason, and it
             | is quite luxurious. So much less scrolling.
             | 
             | Also, if one is complaining about the dock, move it to the
             | side.
        
               | cheschire wrote:
               | I (literally) went the opposite direction with a 32:9
               | monitor. I guess everyone's got their preferences!
        
               | mixmastamyk wrote:
               | If big enough and hi-res enough, it could be doable.
               | 
               | Also if you often do multiple things at once.
               | 
               | I find most of the time, I'm looking at one or two long
               | documents (web page, source code) and running shells on
               | my landscape laptop monitor so the combo works perfectly
               | for me.
        
               | cheschire wrote:
               | I'm usually gaming (immersion is better in superwide) or
               | I'm writing code (more real estate for uncollapsed visual
               | studio windows) or browsing the web with netflix etc
               | snapped to the side.
               | 
               | However I must note that superwide monitors are
               | absolutely unusable in windows without PowerToys
               | FancyZones functionality.
        
             | robertoandred wrote:
             | 3:2 is 16:10.667
        
         | 015a wrote:
         | > Surface Connect - Is that Microsoft version of MagSafe?
         | 
         | Yes & No; its Microsoft's proprietary version of Thunderbolt 3,
         | which does have magnetic connect/disconnect.
        
         | beaner wrote:
         | All of these things are nice, but they're easier to throw in
         | than improving the operating system, and that's the biggest
         | differentiator.
        
         | usaphp wrote:
         | > no more absurdly large trackpad that has easy false positive
         | when you are typing on it.
         | 
         | What are you doing to get those? I've never had issues with
         | that, and I absolutely love the large trackpad on my MacBook
        
           | ngokevin wrote:
           | Yeah, I love it as well. Zero false positives ever. If
           | there's one thing Apple does right, it's a killer trackpad.
        
       | andrepew wrote:
       | Really disappointed they shortchanged Ryzen by not using it on
       | the flagship configuration despite it being the better product
       | right now.
        
       | mfer wrote:
       | Reading that immediately reminded med of https://frame.work. I
       | kinda want a laptop that I can mess with. I realize it's not for
       | everyone.
        
         | nrp wrote:
         | We use the same panel dimensions and resolutions as the 13.5"
         | Surface Laptop and the same Tiger Lake CPUs. Beyond that
         | though, we have 1.5mm key travel vs 1.3mm on the Surface
         | Laptop, four configurable ports supporting USB 4 instead of one
         | each of USB-C and USB-A, FHD webcam instead of HD, memory
         | upgradeable to 64GB, storage upgradeable to 4TB, and a design
         | that is open for end customer repairs (rather than "authorized
         | service centers").
        
         | varispeed wrote:
         | This is a great idea, but Intel is a deal breaker.
        
       | systemvoltage wrote:
       | Everytime I want to use my macbook, the cold metal isn't very
       | inviting. Especially if I want to lay it on the lap with shorts
       | on. It is always cold as hell.
       | 
       | Compare this with Thinkpad's soft-touch coated magnesium chassis
       | - almost as sturdy but feels so inviting.
       | 
       | People get woo'ed by something made of metal. Yeah, its nice from
       | an engineering standpoint but it is not the "best industrial
       | design" just because its made of metal. IMO, best design is the
       | one that is more human centric than marketing bullshit and luxury
       | quality cliches.
       | 
       | I really think Thinkpad X1 series is the best laptop ever in
       | terms of its industrial design (not OS, display quality etc).
       | Keyboard is so incredible.
        
         | whywhywhywhy wrote:
         | Surface metal isn't aluminium it's a "magnesium, PVD finish".
         | Feels more like stone to the touch than metal and doesn't seem
         | to get as cold as macbooks can.
        
         | 650REDHAIR wrote:
         | Yeah, I have the opposite feeling.
         | 
         | My 2020 MBP is so hot I hate using it on my lap.
         | 
         | I have an X1 Carbon 7th Gen that I've been using as a laptop
         | pad for my MBP the last few months... MacOS is just so much
         | more convenient.
        
           | cush wrote:
           | And the M1 macs are freezing cold now. Can't Apple find a
           | happy medium for my exposed thighs?
        
             | hajile wrote:
             | You need the M1 macbook air with a thermal mod then. It
             | connects the chassis to the heatsink. The entire bottom
             | gets warm and the area around the heatsink can get up to
             | 50-55C. On the plus side, with the thermal mod, it doesn't
             | really throttle at all, so on longer workloads it performs
             | about the same as the pro.
        
         | mhb wrote:
         | The X1 display and sound are definitely a big improvement over
         | the x220, but the trackpoint is terrible (drifts all the time)
         | and the keyboard is a big step down. Both sacrificed at the
         | altar of thinness.
        
           | clircle wrote:
           | I've noticed this too. The trackpoint on my X220 is
           | excellent, but something about about the later notebooks
           | feels very wrong. For example, I'm using a T460, and the
           | trackpoint is always drifting, and can't be calibrated to the
           | right sensitivity.
        
         | smoldesu wrote:
         | The X1 is awesome, but Thinkpad T-series had it _down_ in the
         | 2010s. The T440p, the T460s, the T420, and so many other
         | legendary laptops were born from that line.
         | 
         | As a side note, it's a shame they never made any "true"
         | successors to the x230s, I'd love to see them made with today's
         | technology.
        
           | hcurtiss wrote:
           | Presently over two years into the T480s. I love this machine
           | and have no intention of upgrading any time soon.
        
         | outworlder wrote:
         | > Everytime I want to use my macbook, the cold metal isn't very
         | inviting.
         | 
         | You could apply some skins.
         | 
         | I actually like the heat dissipation the metal provides.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | Shadonototro wrote:
       | Good looking laptop with good hardware, but the OS? no thanks
        
         | robertlf wrote:
         | I agree. I'll never buy any hardware that runs Windoze.
        
       | ValentineC wrote:
       | Does anyone have experience with their cheaper Alcantara fabric
       | finish?
        
         | mkl wrote:
         | I have a 5-year-old keyboard/cover with this for my Surface Pro
         | 4. It has discoloured a bit in that time, but is otherwise
         | undamaged.
        
       | pdimitar wrote:
       | This looks great, don't get me wrong, but after so many problems
       | with a Surface Book I completely lost faith in Microsoft's will
       | to make solid laptops.
       | 
       | I'll definitely look for reviews of this unit because it really
       | does look great (including ability to repair and replace
       | components). But I'll be carefully optimistic for now.
        
       | gavin_gee wrote:
       | LOL, Apple announces its event: windows launch team: "shit post
       | the blog post now!"
        
       | sxiao wrote:
       | Do Surface Laptops have a healthy battery charging feature? E.g.,
       | does charging stop at a specific threshold like 60% with Lenovos?
        
         | mkl wrote:
         | Yes: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/battery-limit
         | 
         | I use it with my Surface Pro 4.
        
       | legitster wrote:
       | Once I was given a Surface Pro as a work computer. The hardware
       | was okay, but I prayed for the sweet release of a hinge. That
       | thing was a usability disaster.
       | 
       | I am so thankful Microsoft is being rewarded for making quality,
       | sensible devices.
        
       | zmmmmm wrote:
       | Have been waiting for this as looking to replace my MacBook to
       | get away from some of Apple's recent changes and hopefully get
       | nvidia support as well. But this is disappointing:
       | 
       | - seemingly last generation AMD (4000 series) when there are 5000
       | series laptops starting to ship from other vendors
       | 
       | - only option with 32G RAM is Intel and black?!
       | 
       | - seems like no option for discrete graphics at all
        
       | varispeed wrote:
       | Why do they still bother installing Intel? I am in the market for
       | a new laptop, but I simply cannot buy a reheated vintage CPU that
       | likes to spin fans loudly. Then the Ryzen one is old as well. Why
       | not a new gen? Why not trying ARM like Apple did?
        
         | Wohlf wrote:
         | >Why do they still bother installing Intel?
         | 
         | Because despite getting clobbered on desktop, Intel is still
         | competitive in laptops and produces more than AMD can.
         | 
         | >Then the Ryzen one is old as well. Why not a new gen?
         | 
         | Because there's not enough supply.
         | 
         | >Why not trying ARM like Apple did?
         | 
         | Because people use Microsoft for backwards compatibility. They
         | tried it before with Windows RT, and it was a flop.
        
           | varispeed wrote:
           | These are sane points. However, given the circumstances I
           | don't understand why releasing a new product when it already
           | feels few years old at launch. Just to keep themselves busy?
           | Keep practicing releases? Maybe they could have channelled
           | that energy towards beating Apple instead...
        
             | Wohlf wrote:
             | That I can't answer. My guess is it's to meet some sort of
             | contract they have together, like Microsoft sells laptops
             | with AMD processors and gets a better deal on Xbox
             | components. The AMD SKUs seem to top out at 16GB of RAM and
             | smaller SSDs, which signals to me MS doesn't expect to sell
             | as many.
        
         | bogidon wrote:
         | They do have a Surface Pro X with their ARM "SQ" chips which
         | they work with Qualcomm to make. It's nowhere near as good
         | compared to the M1 according to the layperson's benchmarks I've
         | seen though.
         | 
         | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-pro-x/8qg3bmrhnwhk
        
       | stakkur wrote:
       | Microsoft gets a lot of things right about hardware--but in the
       | end, this is a Microsoft device, built to run Microsoft Windows,
       | Microsoft software, and collect the living shit out of as much
       | data about you as possible.
        
         | netflixandkill wrote:
         | Had surface pro 4, also nice hardware, decide it was going to
         | update Windows _right now_ 30 minutes into a trans-pacific
         | plane flight even though every knob for updates was set to
         | manual only.
         | 
         | Took almost all of the 14 hours over airplane wifi in which I
         | could not work at all.
         | 
         | Gave it away to charity the day after I landed. Its sister unit
         | a coworker had bricked itself about two years later.
        
         | murermader wrote:
         | The worst device I have ever owned was a Microsoft Surface Pro
         | 6. Most problems with the hardware, like the keyboard not being
         | recognized half the time, or the touchpad randomly ignoring my
         | inputs.
         | 
         | Would not recommend to anyone. A friend of mine has a Surface
         | Book, and he has just as many problems as I had, but with the
         | Surface Books most problems are with the GPU in combination
         | with the bad drivers and horrible external display support.
        
         | FearlessNebula wrote:
         | If the surface laptop played nice with Linux it would be a
         | viable competitor to the X1 Carbon or Dell XPS
        
           | bentcorner wrote:
           | I don't know how long it takes to add new devices to this
           | list but I imagine at some point you'll see the SL4 here:
           | 
           | https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-
           | surface/wiki/Supporte...
        
         | notsureaboutpg wrote:
         | Run Linux on it, then you get great software (especially if
         | you're a developer) and great hardware, minimal spying
        
       | schnebbau wrote:
       | But still uses a garbage top-hinged trackpad.
       | 
       | Lenovo has finally started implementing haptic trackpads like
       | Macbooks have had for almost a decade, so I'll keep my fingers
       | crossed for the Surface Laptop 5.
        
       | baybal2 wrote:
       | > Surface Laptop consistently hold the highest customer
       | satisfaction rating in its class
       | 
       | I'm amazed that driver troubles chase Microsoft even on their own
       | designed hardware.
       | 
       | https://www.google.com/search?q=surface+laptop+bricked
       | 
       | The last surface book bricking was borderline tragicomedic.
       | 
       | Microsoft has managed to brick on record:
       | 
       | Surface 1
       | 
       | Book 2
       | 
       | Pro 3
       | 
       | Pro 6
        
         | tedsanders wrote:
         | In addition, the Surface Pro 2 had a firmware issue for months
         | after launch that caused it to get very hot, potentially
         | damaging the battery. I was a very unsatisfied customer,
         | personally.
        
         | kpozin wrote:
         | On my Surface Pro 7:
         | 
         | * The Win10 "Night light" feature became unavailable about half
         | a year after I bought the device. Had to go back to using
         | f.lux. (Meanwhile, on my 2012 ThinkPad with an old NVS5400M
         | graphics card, Night light works just fine.)
         | 
         | * The front camera would regularly get stuck in a bad state,
         | with the light and IR illuminator turned on but camera
         | unavailable, until a reboot. A recent driver update seems to
         | have mitigated the bug; now the camera just reports an error
         | until I reboot, but at least the lights don't stay on.
         | 
         | * There's no S3 Standby state. Either the computer stays on in
         | "Connected S0", with sounds playing, radios on, snagging my
         | Bluetooth headphones' connection, or I can put it into
         | Hibernate, burning through 16 GB of the SSD's TBW every time.
        
         | Lorin wrote:
         | Kept good care of my Surface Pro 6 - wireless/bt chip got
         | damaged somehow and now it won't even recognize it has those
         | capabilities most of the time. Otherwise was a fantastic
         | experience.
        
       | flowerlad wrote:
       | Screen resolution is only 2256 x 1504.
       | 
       | My 5 year old laptop has 3200 x 1800 and it looks like nobody
       | makes this resolution any more.
       | 
       | My laptop is a Samsung ATIV Book 9 [1]. It is getting old and I
       | will have to replace it soon, and sadly no one is making an
       | awesome laptop this good any more, not even Samsung. The display,
       | the backlit keyboard, the general build quality, and the
       | industrial design is better than even MacBooks.
       | 
       | [1] https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/windows-
       | laptops/noteboo...
        
         | ziml77 wrote:
         | I'm actually happy to see that resolution. Usually the only
         | resolutions you can find end up giving a pixel density of
         | 143ppi or 286ppi. 143ppi doesn't look great while 286ppi looks
         | excellent but comes with a large penalty to battery life with
         | the extra power needed to drive the display.
         | 
         | Microsoft picked the lower side of the middle-ground with
         | 201ppi. I'd obviously have to see it to be certain, but I'd
         | expect it to not be perceptibly worse than the ~226ppi that
         | Apple uses on their laptops.
         | 
         | This lack of middle-ground options was actually something that
         | frustrated me last year when I was buying a laptop. It was one
         | of the big motivators for me picking up a MacBook Pro instead
         | of going with another Windows machine.
        
       | bob1029 wrote:
       | I'll be skipping this and future MS hardware for a while.
       | 
       | Using a Surface Laptop 3 right now and everything except for the
       | display is pretty much a dumpster fire. The display _hardware_ is
       | incredible in every way. 3:2 is the correct aspect ratio for
       | laptops if you care about running visual studio or other apps
       | which gobble up vertical real estate.
       | 
       | I have reloaded this thing from official image 3x and it will
       | still randomly fuck up important things like hardware accelerated
       | video playback and WiFi, both of which require a hard reset to
       | resolve. There is also some really annoying bullshit with the
       | ambient brightness adjustment feature where I have to manually
       | disable it in the registry every time a driver or windows update
       | hits.
       | 
       | The most painful problem with the machine is that WiFi is
       | entirely unusable if you are simultaneously using bluetooth. I
       | have had to get external dongles to resolve this.
       | 
       | All of that said, I have had few-to-no issues with the Surface
       | Pro product line at work, and my sample size is 1. Might be bad
       | luck or just really demanding expectations. I have been debating
       | going back to Apple, but there are some HP/Asus machines that
       | look compelling now.
        
         | programmertote wrote:
         | I don't own a Surface laptop, but my sister bought a Surface
         | Pro (2 or 3, I'm not sure) a couple of years ago. She has
         | already replaced the original charging adapters twice. The
         | batteries also don't work unless they are plugged in. I think
         | she also complains about wifi connectivity issues.
         | 
         | I thought Surface devices are built well, but after seeing my
         | sister struggle with her Surface Pro, I have decided to not
         | take the risk.
        
         | helipad wrote:
         | As a counter point, I love my Surface Laptop 3 as my personal
         | device.
         | 
         | I had a pre-M1 MacBook Air for when I'm not working and I hated
         | its fans constantly whirring and the industrial design that
         | hadn't been updated in years.
         | 
         | I dived deep into different Windows laptops having spent 10+
         | years away and been really pleased with the purchase. The
         | design is very simple, aspect ratio great, and the keyboard
         | better than the Mac I was transitioning from.
         | 
         | I didn't like the Dell XPS's keyboard or display, and I tried
         | the Razer Blade Stealth 13 but it was overkill.
         | 
         | Having not really used Windows for years and given that lots of
         | Windows laptops still had shockingly cheap industrial design or
         | weird quirks (webcam at the bottom?!), the Surface Laptop 3 was
         | unfussy and a delight to use.
        
           | dylan604 wrote:
           | > or weird quirks (webcam at the bottom?!),
           | 
           | whoa!! what? i can't believe that someone did that, but then,
           | yes I can. i guess that's useful if you have to look at the
           | keyboard while typing. in that case, the bottom based cam is
           | just a glance up???
        
             | outworlder wrote:
             | Dell XPS has (or had, not checked) the covid-test-webcam.
        
         | kitsunesoba wrote:
         | Yeah, the Surface Laptop 3 was on the list of my considerations
         | a couple months ago because it checked most of my boxes, but
         | reports of odd problems (like those you've mentioned) along
         | with a common hairline screen crack problem pushed me to buy a
         | ThinkPad instead.
        
         | wobblykiwi wrote:
         | >hardware accelerated video playback
         | 
         | Is this the same issue that I'm having where video and audio
         | become increasingly out of sync as playback continues?
        
           | bob1029 wrote:
           | I have only noticed sync issues on a few live streams. Never
           | on any local media.
           | 
           | My issue is that the video is completely black (or green in
           | VLC). Disabling hardware acceleration resolves, but then it
           | runs like garbage and cant resize with high quality
           | interpolation.
        
         | archsurface wrote:
         | I'm running Arch on mine, 2.5 years old, everything works fine,
         | and I love it. I get dells at work, and also have a mbp, but no
         | contest - surface laptop 3 is the bar for me.
        
         | paulpan wrote:
         | Likewise I've wanted one for a long time but at this rate will
         | probably never come to pass. One reason are the reportedly
         | weird but very persistent bugs as OP mentioned.
         | 
         | Bigger reason is uncertainty about the Windows platform.
         | ChromeOS and macOS both run mobile apps, which bring a vast
         | library and a level of integration (especially macOS + iOS)
         | that seems increasingly hard to overlook. Add to this
         | Microsoft's goal of switching to ARM and fragmenting its
         | ecosystem, it becomes an even harder buy.
         | 
         | In general, the Surface lineup seems to be ~1 year behind in
         | hardware compared to the rest of the industry, e.g. only now
         | switching to TigerLake and Ryzen 4000 series CPU. Hardware
         | itself is well packaged but a hard sell for its premium price.
         | Furthermore Microsoft is delusional to sell RAM and SSD
         | upgrades from 8GB to 16GB and 256GB to 512GB respectively for
         | +$200.
        
           | pitterpatter wrote:
           | > Bigger reason is uncertainty about the Windows platform.
           | 
           | Of all platforms to be worried about, I feel like Windows is
           | the last one here (Web aside perhaps). It wouldn't be
           | unreasonable to try running a program from Windows XP era and
           | have it run fine in Windows 10.
           | 
           | As for the ARM fragmentation, fair enough but doesn't macOS
           | face the same challenge? Windows 10 on Arm also supports
           | running x86 apps without recompiling too.
        
         | varispeed wrote:
         | > The most painful problem with the machine is that WiFi is
         | entirely unusable if you are simultaneously using bluetooth.
         | 
         | Wouldn't that be a problem of Windows itself? For me bluetooth
         | has been a mess on every Windows machine. It's a miracle if
         | something works and to get something working you even need to
         | buy a dongle with a specific chip on it...
        
           | Stratoscope wrote:
           | Bluetooth and Wi-Fi work together with no issues on my
           | ThinkPad X1 Extreme. I'm using Wi-Fi on 5GHz. Haven't tried
           | it on 2.4GHz; I imagine there could be more potential for
           | interference there.
           | 
           | I mostly use Bluetooth with Apple AirPods. I tried running
           | Ubuntu on the ThinkPad but it had the same problem I've seen
           | on other Linux machines: the AirPods would only pair as
           | headphones, not as a full headset with microphone.
           | 
           | I like Windows better anyway on the hardware, especially its
           | support for different scaling factors on multiple monitors.
           | So I run Linux in a VM or use WSL2.
        
           | vel0city wrote:
           | When you have good Bluetooth hardware, modern Windows
           | versions seem to be pretty good with Bluetooth. Playing back
           | on Bluetooth speakers or having Bluetooth mice or game pads
           | seems to work pretty well. The most frustrating part is the
           | issue of switching between Headset Profile and A2DP with
           | bluetooth headsets. That always seems like a nightmare and
           | prone to lots of frustrations.
           | 
           | I've definitely experienced what a bad Bluetooth adapter on
           | Windows is like though. Things just failing to pair for no
           | apparent reason, things randomly disconnecting, the thing
           | seeming to forget all previous pairings, etc. I think that's
           | usually been due to poor drivers. Earlier versions of Windows
           | didn't really have much Bluetooth support out of the box,
           | most of the stuff seemed to be implemented by each hardware
           | vendor at the time. Compatibility issues were so common. This
           | has largely seemed to go away especially when using modern
           | Intel WiFi/BT chips and modern Windows.
        
           | neogodless wrote:
           | I had one Asus laptop that required me to occasionally toggle
           | Bluetooth off and on again to reconnect my mouse. The rest of
           | my laptops and my desktop's USB Bluetooth dongle have worked
           | without issue for my mice and headphones. I don't think it's
           | a common issue, but I'm just one person!
        
           | davidwparker wrote:
           | Anecdote here, but I'm on a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme, and
           | I've never had any issues with the Bluetooth (or WiFi), or
           | either, simultaneously.
        
       | motiejus wrote:
       | Is there a non-video technical description? Specs and connector
       | placement pictures. :)
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | layer8 wrote:
         | Here you go: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-
         | laptop-4/946627fb1...
        
           | nfoz wrote:
           | - 1 x USB-C
           | 
           | - 1 x USB-A
           | 
           | - 3.5 mm headphone jack
           | 
           | - 1 x Surface Connect port
           | 
           | So I guess this is their "Macbook Air" equivalent?
           | 
           | It's funny to compare with something like
           | https://us.vaio.com/collections/vaio-sx14 which is still very
           | thin. I guess the main trade-off is battery life.
        
             | zmmmmm wrote:
             | No dedicated video port? If the USB-C has to be occupied by
             | a monitor connection (assume I don't want to carry surface
             | connect thingy everywhere) then this thing basically offers
             | a single port based on dated technology. Such an odd
             | decision.
        
               | pitaj wrote:
               | Generally people use a USB-C "dock" which has networking,
               | display, and extra USB ports.
        
             | jazzyjackson wrote:
             | Yeah I miss the vaio philosophy, but I'll at least give
             | props to microsoft for having an awesome power-dock that
             | gives me 4x USB-A, 2x mini display port, ethernet + line-
             | out. Really enjoyed clipping the magnetic power cable on
             | and booting into my desktop. Have had an alienware last
             | couple of years and if I wanted a dock I think I'd be
             | looking at their eGPU and that's still 2 cables.
        
       | satysin wrote:
       | No 1TB SSD or 32GB RAM models with Ryzen is a damn shame.
        
         | Synaesthesia wrote:
         | 32gb RAM ... meh it actually consumes a lot of power. This is a
         | thin and small laptop. But I agree about the 1tb SSD.
        
           | legohead wrote:
           | wont disk swapping use more power than extra RAM?
        
         | texasbigdata wrote:
         | Just Remote Desktop into a virtual machine with sufficient RAM
         | to run Google Chrome for your elitist web browsing jeez :)
        
           | k__ wrote:
           | lol, the main reason I need a laptop with much memory IS
           | Chrome.
        
             | texasbigdata wrote:
             | That was the joke :( haha sorry
        
         | layer8 wrote:
         | Also, the Ryzen APUs (custom model numbers 4680U/4980U) are
         | unfortunately still Zen 2.
        
         | rvz wrote:
         | Well you really need to feed those Electron apps you're using
         | don't you? Since they primarily feast on tons of RAM and disk
         | space.
         | 
         | At 'least' the SSD is replaceable, so you can upgrade the space
         | after you bought it. Unlike the M1 Macbook Air that has
         | everything soldered.
        
           | believeinskills wrote:
           | So much insecurity in your comment
        
       | mikl wrote:
       | Quite cheeky to have their video featuring a laptop that looks
       | like an alternate-reality version of the MacBook end with the
       | tagline "Original by Design".
       | 
       | Brushed aluminium unibody, polished company logo in the middle,
       | "MagSafe". You should think there were other possible ways to
       | design a laptop.
       | 
       | But other than that, looks like a pretty great machine. Lets hope
       | it runs Linux.
        
         | rw2 wrote:
         | I was looking for this comment, this is pretty much a copy of
         | the MacBook 3 years back.
         | 
         | Although I am happy they are doing this since no one else is
         | bringing a high quality metal laptop with the same "feel" that
         | you would get from a Macbook aluminum Unibody laptop.
         | 
         | The best windows laptop before was a Macbook running bootcamp.
        
       | Graffur wrote:
       | Built for MS Teams .. closed it after I saw that
        
       | rubyist5eva wrote:
       | No 32gb memory configuration is a deal breaker for me. Maybe next
       | time.
        
         | mey wrote:
         | Take a closer look, you can get 32gb in both the 13" and 15"
         | models. Unfortunately only with the Intel CPU.
        
       | w-m wrote:
       | The AMD versions are much cheaper, and have longer battery life:
       | 
       | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-laptop-4/946627fb1...
       | Up to 19 hours of battery life on 13.5" with AMD Ryzen(tm)
       | Microsoft Surface(r) Edition processor         Up to 17 hours of
       | battery life on 13.5" with Intel(r) Core(tm) processor
       | Up to 17.5 hours of battery life on 15" with AMD Ryzen(tm)
       | Microsoft Surface(r) Edition processor         Up to 16.5 hours
       | of battery life on 15" with Intel(r) Core(tm) processor
       | 
       | The 13" AMD version only seems to be available with 16GB RAM and
       | 256 GB storage, while the Intel versions go up to 32 GB and 1 TB.
        
         | iamcreasy wrote:
         | Does any know how they are getting this numbers when it took
         | Apple to move to a different architecture to improve the
         | battery life?
        
           | neogodless wrote:
           | From the footnotes
           | 
           | > Up to 19 hours of battery life based on typical Surface
           | device usage. Testing conducted by Microsoft in February 2021
           | using preproduction software and preproduction 13.5" AMD
           | Ryzen(tm) 5 Microsoft Surface(r) Edition processor, 8GB RAM
           | device. Testing consisted of full battery discharge with a
           | mixture of active use and modern standby. The active use
           | portion consists of (1) a web browsing test accessing 8
           | popular websites over multiple open tabs, (2) a productivity
           | test utilizing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook,
           | and (3) a portion of time with the device in use with idle
           | applications. All settings were default except screen
           | brightness was set to 150nits with Auto-Brightness disabled.
           | Wi-Fi was connected to a network.
           | 
           | I think the key in there is "modern standby." What is the
           | ratio of standby to active use? That and 150nits brightness,
           | though that is common for a lot of battery tests. (I
           | personally like 250-300 even indoors.)
        
         | vesinisa wrote:
         | Why is the AMD version limited to "just" 16 GB of RAM? That's
         | sadly not enough for modern development environments.
        
           | jackTheMan wrote:
           | Yes this quite outrageous, probably intel is paying to have
           | the "highest" configuration sadly. And this 16G is also
           | soldered, so cannot be replaced afterwards...
        
           | distances wrote:
           | Seems like a deal with Intel to carve out some reason to buy
           | an Intel model. AMDs are much faster, cheaper and consume
           | less power, so the conspiratorial explanation is that Intel
           | bought the high-spec exclusivity. It's been the same with
           | other laptop manufacturers too.
        
             | ThatMedicIsASpy wrote:
             | Yeah some configs only allow you to get 3080 GPUs on mobile
             | with intel. That doesn't mean there aren't any with AMD
             | though
        
         | flixic wrote:
         | 19 hours on 47.4WH battery and x86 CPU seems incredible. Almost
         | unbelievable.
         | 
         | M1 Macbook Air has larger, 49.9WH battery, and only boasts 18
         | hours as maximum battery life.
        
           | mrkstu wrote:
           | As I first saw noted on an Ars comment, it is unbelievable
           | because their testing regimen has no reflection with real
           | world testing, and I'm sure significantly different than
           | Apple's, which I believe doesn't include 'standby' testing
           | included in usage:
           | 
           | "Testing consisted of full battery discharge with a mixture
           | of active use and modern standby. The active use portion
           | consists of (1) a web browsing test accessing 8 popular
           | websites over multiple open tabs, (2) a productivity test
           | utilizing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook, and
           | (3) a portion of time with the device in use with idle
           | applications. All settings were default except screen
           | brightness was set to 150nits with Auto-Brightness disabled.
           | Wi-Fi was connected to a network. Battery life varies
           | significantly with settings, usage and other factors."
           | 
           | [0]https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-
           | laptop-4/946627fb1...
        
           | jackTheMan wrote:
           | Haven't checked, but screen resolution might helps to
           | explain.
        
           | twobitshifter wrote:
           | Windows laptops usually overstate battery life, we'll have to
           | see if it's reproducible.
        
         | vladvasiliu wrote:
         | > The 13" AMD version only seems to be available with 16GB RAM
         | and 256 GB storage, while the Intel versions go up to 32 GB and
         | 1 TB.
         | 
         | For the 15" you can only get 16 GB ram too, but the ssd goes up
         | to 512 GB.
        
         | kvark wrote:
         | It puzzles me why there are no Ryzen 5000 variants in this
         | list. Microsoft used to collaborate with AMD tightly in recent
         | years.
        
           | Synaesthesia wrote:
           | I think they're on a tight squeeze right now at the fabs.
        
         | satysin wrote:
         | If the past Surface Laptop's are to be our reference then
         | expect 30% less than the numbers stated by Microsoft.
        
           | ianai wrote:
           | So over 12 hours of battery life for the 15" sounds right?
        
           | xiphias2 wrote:
           | It's the same for Apple M1 Macbook Pro after I set it to the
           | maximum 500 nits outside, but for the Surface Laptop they
           | don't specify the maximum diplay brightness.
        
           | scarecrowboat wrote:
           | I'd still expect the AMD version to have better battery life
           | because the numbers are probably 30% lower across the board
           | right?
        
           | Topgamer7 wrote:
           | Isn't that pretty much SOP for most laptop battery duration
           | marketing?
        
             | satysin wrote:
             | Microsoft seem to be exaggerate more than Dell, HP, Lenovo
             | and Apple in my experience.
             | 
             | Shockingly with the M1 Apple's battery life claims were
             | quite conservative. I have been able to get an hour longer
             | than Apple's claims without having to resort to any extreme
             | measures.
        
               | dimitrios1 wrote:
               | Just my tidbit, as a salty owner: The battery life on the
               | 13' MBP is poor, and does not come close to what is
               | advertised with any sort of moderate use (email, chat,
               | couple browser tabs).
        
               | kitsunesoba wrote:
               | If you have any electron apps that are still running
               | through Rosetta (seems possible with chat apps), those
               | are known to chew through battery like crazy. It may be
               | worth keeping those in a browser tab until they get ARM
               | native builds.
        
               | satysin wrote:
               | The M1 MBP? That is what I am using (1TB/16GB model) and
               | I easily get the 17 hours stated for web use. Even doing
               | development in Xcode I can go 13-15 hours. It is the most
               | impressed I have been with a laptop since the
               | introduction of multi-core mobile CPUs.
        
               | xiphias2 wrote:
               | What display brightness are you using? When I bought my
               | M1 MBP it had a setting that made the display darker when
               | I am not plugging it, but in reality when I'm outside on
               | the sun, that's when I really need it to be bright.
               | Still, even if I get 10-14 hours, I love it (also the
               | fact that I can use 1 charger for almost all of my
               | devices).
        
               | satysin wrote:
               | I am usually around 50-60%. I don't work outside though
               | so never need to crank it up. I find it automatically
               | adjusts it fine.
        
               | smoldesu wrote:
               | My M1 Air tends to get 7-8 hours of "real world" use
               | (when configured with all of the programs I have on my
               | Thinkpad). Considering that my Thinkpad gets 5-6 hours,
               | with a better screen/GPU/keyboard to boot, I don't reach
               | for the Macbook as often as I'd like. Especially when I'm
               | doing real work.
        
               | satysin wrote:
               | Interesting. What is "real world use" for you?
               | 
               | I bought my daughter an M1 Air for Christmas, she is a
               | university student that mostly does written work in Word,
               | research (so mostly web and PDF stuff) and obviously
               | video conferences right now. She has no trouble getting
               | 13-15 hours of uni work done (a little less if a lot of
               | video calls).
               | 
               | Compared to the 2018 Air it replaced she says it is
               | "insane". Although battery life is great it isn't a huge
               | deal for her. The thing she loves the most is no fan
               | noise when on video calls. This was actually the reason I
               | bought it for her as she constantly complained about how
               | loud the old Air was as soon as Zoom started up.
        
               | smoldesu wrote:
               | "Real world" for me is working on lightweight container
               | tech and it involves a couple VMs at a time. I also
               | normally keep Spotify or Discord open, and I also have
               | Nextcloud open since it doesn't natively support syncing
               | to it. Combined, this workflow is a disaster for ARM. My
               | $300 T460s actually manages to stay cooler on the same
               | workload.
        
               | satysin wrote:
               | Ah yes that makes more sense. Are these containers and
               | VMs native or running under Rosetta 2?
               | 
               | I use VMware Fusion a lot on my Intel MBP but haven't had
               | a look at virtualisation on the M1 just yet. Waiting for
               | it to mature a little more.
        
               | smoldesu wrote:
               | They're all native, to the best of my ability. Obviously
               | Docker and ARM go together like toothpaste and peanut
               | butter, so it's not I went into this expecting good
               | performance (don't even get me started on stability
               | though...)
        
               | dividedbyzero wrote:
               | What is "real work"?
        
       | jbverschoor wrote:
       | Loving the screenratio
        
       | jitix wrote:
       | This looks like a good improvement but I'm waiting for a Windows
       | equivalent of the M1 MacBook Air (long battery life ultra book
       | with good performance AND backward compatibility for apps).
       | 
       | Any in-development products worth following?
        
         | hu3 wrote:
         | In-development? Not yet that I know of.
         | 
         | To compare what AMD can do with 5nm dies we will have to wait
         | since these chips are scarce currently.
        
         | skavi wrote:
         | There just aren't other chips with M1 levels of performance and
         | efficiency. The Surface Pro X, however, is an ARM option,
         | albeit with a now fairly outdated chip.
         | 
         | I have high hopes for the laptop chip Qualcomm plans to build
         | with the former Nuvia team though.
        
           | varispeed wrote:
           | I am looking for a new laptop, but seems like only way to get
           | something that feels like an upgrade is going to go with
           | Apple's M1. I hate this company, but I might hold my nose and
           | get one if someone gets Linux working reasonably well. I'll
           | wait few months and see...
        
       | helloworld653 wrote:
       | No Thunderbolt 4? Pass.
        
         | mgamache wrote:
         | No Thunderbolt anything... They claim it's not secure...
        
       | jefft255 wrote:
       | This might sound like heresy, but how's Linux support on existing
       | surfaces? This looks like a pretty attractive laptop, but I'd
       | like to have the option to run linux for ROS stuff.
        
         | jasonshaev wrote:
         | Just a note: one serious limitation I've encountered is that
         | linux running under WSL2 (or WSL1 I believe) is unable to
         | access USB. This was a show stopper for firmware development
         | for me.
         | 
         | The solution seems to be uh, patch the kernel?
         | https://github.com/jovton/USB-Storage-on-WSL2
        
         | drewrv wrote:
         | This doesn't answer your question, but it appears ROS can work
         | with WSL.
         | 
         | https://jack-kawell.com/2020/06/12/ros-wsl2/
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | yakubin wrote:
       | This video looks like special effects in a Bollywood action film.
       | :)
        
       | gigel82 wrote:
       | I like the Surface quality, but damn, why couldn't they integrate
       | the Ryzen 5000 series!?
       | 
       | It's been out for a while, even the "PRO" business lineup is
       | launching with other laptops this month :(
        
         | jpalomaki wrote:
         | Are the others actually shipping or just launching?
         | 
         | Sometimes there's a big difference in the PC world between
         | those.
        
           | gigel82 wrote:
           | The PRO Ryzens (like 5850U or 5650U) are not shipping as far
           | as I know. Several models from HP, Dell and Lenovo are
           | announced ("launched").
           | 
           | The non-PRO Ryzens (like 5900HX, 5800H, etc.) have been
           | shipping for a while (and you can actually find some in stock
           | most days).
        
       | drcongo wrote:
       | The dedicated Teams button on everything is peak Microsoft.
        
         | dekerta wrote:
         | My thoughts exactly. That dedicated Teams button won't age well
        
         | jayd16 wrote:
         | Where is it? I don't see what key it is. Or is it only on the
         | accessories?
        
         | varispeed wrote:
         | The hope is you can program it to kill Teams if you
         | accidentally open it.
        
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