So you might be wondering by now: how will the Surface Laptop Go 3 stack up against the MacBook Air, its biggest competitor?
We’ve already got a detailed breakdown of the Surface Laptop Go 3 vs the MacBook Air, based on everything we know so far (thanks to Microsoft for the spec sheets). Spoiler alert: it’s not looking too great for the new Surface Laptop Go, although some key features do give it a notable leg up over Apple’s most popular laptop.
2023-09-21T17:52:23.694Z
If you’ve just arrived here and don’t feel like wading through the full blow-by-blow of Microsoft’s big showcase, we’ve got a handy-dandy roundup of everything that was announced at the Microsoft Surface event for you to get the cliff notes super-quick!
2023-09-21T17:21:05.074Z
Strangely, it looks like Microsoft actually revealed a third Surface product today – just not at the event itself. The Surface Go 4 ‘for Business’ was quietly announced via a press release during the event – it looks like Microsoft might be testing the waters with an enterprise-only release before letting the public get their hands on the Surface Go 4.
2023-09-21T17:09:07.847Z
There was also a lot of talk about the neural processing unit (NPU) found in the upcoming Surface Laptop Studio 2. As AI worms its way into more and more of the software we use on a daily basis, having dedicated chips for handling machine learning tasks makes a lot of sense to us.
That’s a bold claim, but it’s nothing new to see Microsoft and Apple taking cheap shots at each other like a pair of bickering children. There’s definitely a non-zero chance that Microsoft rigged the game for their live comparison of the devices, using a high-spec Surface Laptop Studio 2 against the base model of the M2 MacBook Pro.
Here’s what the insides of the Surface Laptop Studio 2 look like – pretty cool!
2023-09-21T15:28:16.630Z
And here’s some Surface Laptop Studio 2 shots:
Here’s some photos of the Laptop Go 3 from Lance:
2023-09-21T15:11:20.873Z
With that, we’ll now wait until Lance gets back to us with his hands-on impressions of the new Surface laptops.
2023-09-21T15:09:07.167Z
While we got some good stuff there, we didn’t see the Surface Go 4, nor the Surface Pro 10, which were both rumored to be shown off.
No tablets at all – has Microsoft fallen out of love with them?
2023-09-21T15:07:02.289Z
We then got the Surface Laptop Go 3, an affordable thin and light laptop, as well as the more expensive Surface Laptop Studio 2, which is aimed at creative professionals.
Microsoft made some big claims for this one, especially when compared to the MacBook Pro with M2 Max. We’ll be very interested in seeing how those claims stack up.
2023-09-21T15:05:20.737Z
So, what did we learn? Microsoft is all in on AI. That was the main focus of the show, with the two new devices feeling a bit like an after thought.
However this makes sense in a way, as Microsoft remains primarily a software company.
2023-09-21T15:04:06.740Z
Yusuf Mehdi is back on stage. “We believe Copilot is going to fundamentally change how each of us interacts with technology.”
He thanks us for being with him for this event, and that’s a wrap!
Lance is now making his way to the demo room to get his hands on these devices.
On stage, the MacBook Pro took one minute 12 seconds to generate an image using Blender – for the Surface Laptop Studio 2, it took just 37 seconds.
Interesting!
Surface Laptop Studio 2 goes on sale for $1,999.
2023-09-21T15:01:12.508Z
“What can we do while we wait for the Mac?” they ask. Burn.
2023-09-21T15:00:00.372Z
Oooh they have now got a MacBook Pro with M2 Max on stage with the Surface Laptop Studio 2 – which is faster? Microsoft says its laptop is (of course) – suggests twice as fast. Another big claim.
2023-09-21T14:58:22.161Z
We are now getting an Adobe Firefly Generative AI demo.
Most inclusive touchpad as well. A person who was born without fingers is on stage, talking about how this helps him.
He uses adaptive touch to make it easier for him to use the mouse, and cried when he first used it. It’s a moving part of the show, and Microsoft has also been excellent with accessibility options – so glad to see that continue.
Comes with NPU (Neural Processing Unit), which is essential for AI, as Microsoft would probably argue. This is built by Intel – some people were expecting Microsoft to announce its own chip, in a similar fashion to Apple.
2023-09-21T14:53:54.910Z
Twice as fast as the previous model.
2023-09-21T14:53:33.695Z
GPU is either RTX 4050 or 4060 – nice! “The most powerful Surface we have ever built.”
2023-09-21T14:52:12.602Z
Comes with microSD card reader (nice!), two USB-C ports, USB-A, and 13th gen Intel processor. Oh! and an Nvidia GPU. All very handy for digital creatives.
2023-09-21T14:50:39.709Z
Surface Laptop Studio 2 coming.
2023-09-21T14:50:17.283Z
Now getting a demo of how Windows 11 can use iCloud Photos and make a video in Clipchamp, Microsoft’s video editor.
2023-09-21T14:49:26.383Z
That’s a great price ($799), but puts it very close to the MacBook Air M1, which remains an incredible laptop.
2023-09-21T14:48:40.057Z
Four color options and “88% faster than original.”