

I know it still has its diehard fans, but I’d much prefer to see the company go with something more universal, like adding another USB-C port - though that impacts the system’s compatibility with a slew of different Surface accessories. Microsoft is still hanging onto its magnetic proprietary charging port here. Performance was solid throughout - though after spending a fair amount of time using Apple’s M1, it’s clear that Intel has its work cut out for it. Geekbench scored the processor at a solid 1378 on single-core and 4876 on multi-core. Another $600 will double the RAM and storage yet again (same processor). As configured, our system runs $1,700, which doubles the RAM and storage and swaps the AMD in for an Intel Core i7. The 13.5-inch system starts at $1,000, which gets you 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, along with the AMD Ryzen 5 4680U process.

The speakers sound great, and the webcam is just fine, but it’s safe to say it’s probably time to upgrade to 1080p across the board as teleconferencing remains front of mind. Honestly, I read it more as a silver/gray. At 13.5-inches, the screen clocks in at 2256 x 1504 at 201 ppi (you get the same pixel density on the 15-inch version, as well). Microsoft sent along the smaller of the two. When you can see it, the display looks great.
