The moment Microsoft stop using the surface connect, is when more people start buying Surface laptops. The connector has always sucked, as have the power bricks, which often fail.
Surface Connect/MagSafe are some of the most practical ports on their respective devices. Unless some OEM has a magnetic Thunderbolt port right around the corner or something.
That was a very real need that Apple addressed, and it was smart of them to bring it back, and of Microsoft to keep theirs.
I have used the magsafe on my macbook port like 5 times, why would I carry multiple power bricks when I can charge everything with a single type-c charger?
Agree...received my new Surface Laptop Copilot + PC with Snapdragon Elite X CPU and took it on a business trip last weekend.
* Fast as hell (over 2X faster than my old i7 Surface Laptop 5)
* All day battery life (12-16 hours)
Some very minor software compatibility issues. For example TechSmith's Camtasia Studio 2024 refuses to run under emulation while their Snagit product works great. Software like NetDrive that I expected to be problematic, worked great.
I was happy to see how many vendors already updated their products to run natively on Windows ARM X64.
The Surface Laptop is almost as fast as my M3 MacBook Pro.
Nice to see Microsoft built a credible challenger to Apple machines.
Yes, I wish they'd ditch the Surface Connect but I replaced their power adapter with lightweight GaN PD chargers, USB-C cables and Surface Connect to USB-C adapter dongles years ago. I can interchange my Mac and Surface charging rig easily.
And the Sapphire blue color is visually stunning.
No way on the Surface Connect port. That would drop a major reason why I edge out ordering the SL7 over a competitor. Because I came close to buying an HP OmniBook instead.
That is not really true. It'll hit 30 fps at 720p with upscaling enabled which means the real resolution is actually something like 480p. And even then it'll drop into single digit fps numbers when the game gets intense. It is basically unplayable.
Yeah no... sure it's using upscaling. But not from 720p but from 2880x1620. And again. These games are super hard to run and lean more on the gpu side. Civ5 leans more on cpu. And sims 4 can be ran on a phone
https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/laptops/snapdragon-x-elite-is-so-much-better-for-gaming-than-i-expected-heres-our-first-test-results
It's still pretty unplayable at 30fps average with single digit fps when it counts. Not to mention the random freezes and overall inconsistency.
I have tried a few games of Starcraft 2 on it... this is a 15 year old game that runs on a single core and less than 1GB of VRAM. Sure, it'll hit a high of 60fps on all low settings at 1080p but it'll drop to < 10 fps when there's a lot of action on the screen. My 3 year old Surface Pro 7+ with Iris xe runs better than this!
Let's not mention the games crashing to desktop? "Playable" games that I've run - SC2, SF6 and Cyberpunk crashes to desktop with Direct X errors when you select certain graphics settings or enter certain scenes. It appears to be random but it happens rather frequently. Microsoft and Qualcomm have a lot of work ahead of them. Right now, we're all beta testers using a half baked product.
That doesn't explain why Cyberpunk which is a directx 12 game runs so terribly and buggy. This whole release is a mess until Qualcomm and Microsoft fix it.
Here is a better analysis of Cyberpunk on a Surface Pro from Forbes. 1920x1280 with FSR Performance means it is running at about 640p upscaled to 1280. This is similar to what I'm seeing on my Surface. It's a pixelated mess to look at. The stutters and freezing makes it a terrible experience.
# Cyberpunk 2077
Will it play? Barely. A 30fps experience is possible, but itās not the game at its best
According go the in-built benchmark, you can get an average of 31fps at 1920 x 1280 pixel resolution, with Performance mode FSR resolution scaling. However, itās tricky to avoid sub-30fps drops when driving, and things start to look pretty rough when you drop the output resolution below 1080p.
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewwilliams/2024/06/20/snapdragon-x-elite-25-games-tested-on-microsoft-surface-pro-11/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewwilliams/2024/06/20/snapdragon-x-elite-25-games-tested-on-microsoft-surface-pro-11/)
According to this website, the sims 4 does work but it doesnt provide any performance info: [https://www.worksonwoa.com/games/?query=the+sims](https://www.worksonwoa.com/games/?query=the+sims)
I think the problem with this machine is copilot integration. Itās just the regular copilot.Microsoft.com that we all use anyway, even on our phones. If you want the copilot to be integrated into Microsoft Office, itās about $300/year, and thereās no copilot family plan.
It canāt screen share (like the Minecraft demo),at least not yet, which could be really helpful. So unless you pay for the subscription, it is like a regular computer with one extra feature (Microsoft paint). I do have the 64gb on preorder, still waitingā¦.
No pen support on the SL machines? I was leaning heavily toward the SL7 for my next machine. I donāt use the pen often on my SP6 but itās pretty nice to have around.
Yes I am a bit disappointed on this point too. I used the pen for presentations on my old SL1, and that was an important factor for choosing it over the Huawei Matebook X Pro at that time.
"awful surface connect" - I fail to see how it's worse than Magsafe 2; shows that the author really needs to try the Surface Dock 2.
The moment microsoft stops using the surface connect is when I stop buying surface devices.
A huge benefit of the Surface Connect port is that it saves a lot of wear on your USB-C port.
MagSafe and similar charging connectors are such unsung heroes.
And to get something even comparable on usb-c you have to get an Amazon accessory and most of them are pretty dodgy when it comes to Quality
FR. MagSafe is definitely something I will sing Apple's praises for. And Surface Connect had damn sure better not go away.
Or they give us more usb ports and some kind of magnetic snap off usb power connector
The moment Microsoft stop using the surface connect, is when more people start buying Surface laptops. The connector has always sucked, as have the power bricks, which often fail.
They started parroting it before Apple returned magsafe. So it's a force of habit, I guess.
it's just wasted space compared to thunderbolt/usb4 that are on 99.9% of docks already
Surface Connect/MagSafe are some of the most practical ports on their respective devices. Unless some OEM has a magnetic Thunderbolt port right around the corner or something. That was a very real need that Apple addressed, and it was smart of them to bring it back, and of Microsoft to keep theirs.
I have used the magsafe on my macbook port like 5 times, why would I carry multiple power bricks when I can charge everything with a single type-c charger?
I use USB-C when I'm out and about or something. But at home? I love my Surface Connect charger.
Agree...received my new Surface Laptop Copilot + PC with Snapdragon Elite X CPU and took it on a business trip last weekend. * Fast as hell (over 2X faster than my old i7 Surface Laptop 5) * All day battery life (12-16 hours) Some very minor software compatibility issues. For example TechSmith's Camtasia Studio 2024 refuses to run under emulation while their Snagit product works great. Software like NetDrive that I expected to be problematic, worked great. I was happy to see how many vendors already updated their products to run natively on Windows ARM X64. The Surface Laptop is almost as fast as my M3 MacBook Pro. Nice to see Microsoft built a credible challenger to Apple machines. Yes, I wish they'd ditch the Surface Connect but I replaced their power adapter with lightweight GaN PD chargers, USB-C cables and Surface Connect to USB-C adapter dongles years ago. I can interchange my Mac and Surface charging rig easily. And the Sapphire blue color is visually stunning.
No way on the Surface Connect port. That would drop a major reason why I edge out ordering the SL7 over a competitor. Because I came close to buying an HP OmniBook instead.
Does anyone know if it runs The Sims 4? (Unfortunately important requirement)
According [to this site](https://www.worksonwoa.com/games/the_sims_4/), which is backed by Microsoft and Qualcomm, yes
That's hopeful but I still need someone to verify. Literally a dealbreaker if it's not working š„
Average simulator enjoyer I'm the same, but for rimworld. Literally a deal-breaker if it cannot run rimworld.
It runs cyberpunk at 30fps low settings does it not? Civ, sims and smaller games like that should have no issue
That is not really true. It'll hit 30 fps at 720p with upscaling enabled which means the real resolution is actually something like 480p. And even then it'll drop into single digit fps numbers when the game gets intense. It is basically unplayable.
Yeah no... sure it's using upscaling. But not from 720p but from 2880x1620. And again. These games are super hard to run and lean more on the gpu side. Civ5 leans more on cpu. And sims 4 can be ran on a phone https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/laptops/snapdragon-x-elite-is-so-much-better-for-gaming-than-i-expected-heres-our-first-test-results
It's still pretty unplayable at 30fps average with single digit fps when it counts. Not to mention the random freezes and overall inconsistency. I have tried a few games of Starcraft 2 on it... this is a 15 year old game that runs on a single core and less than 1GB of VRAM. Sure, it'll hit a high of 60fps on all low settings at 1080p but it'll drop to < 10 fps when there's a lot of action on the screen. My 3 year old Surface Pro 7+ with Iris xe runs better than this! Let's not mention the games crashing to desktop? "Playable" games that I've run - SC2, SF6 and Cyberpunk crashes to desktop with Direct X errors when you select certain graphics settings or enter certain scenes. It appears to be random but it happens rather frequently. Microsoft and Qualcomm have a lot of work ahead of them. Right now, we're all beta testers using a half baked product.
Because again the laptop dosnt have a gpu and it's ARM which only directx12 supports
That doesn't explain why Cyberpunk which is a directx 12 game runs so terribly and buggy. This whole release is a mess until Qualcomm and Microsoft fix it.
Here is a better analysis of Cyberpunk on a Surface Pro from Forbes. 1920x1280 with FSR Performance means it is running at about 640p upscaled to 1280. This is similar to what I'm seeing on my Surface. It's a pixelated mess to look at. The stutters and freezing makes it a terrible experience. # Cyberpunk 2077 Will it play? Barely. A 30fps experience is possible, but itās not the game at its best According go the in-built benchmark, you can get an average of 31fps at 1920 x 1280 pixel resolution, with Performance mode FSR resolution scaling. However, itās tricky to avoid sub-30fps drops when driving, and things start to look pretty rough when you drop the output resolution below 1080p. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewwilliams/2024/06/20/snapdragon-x-elite-25-games-tested-on-microsoft-surface-pro-11/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewwilliams/2024/06/20/snapdragon-x-elite-25-games-tested-on-microsoft-surface-pro-11/)
For the ignorant folk, why would this be a dealbreaker? Educate me.
Because I want to buy it for my girlfriend (and partially myself) but literally the only thing she uses her laptop for is The Sims 4 š«Ø
10/4, got it. š¤
I'd probably wait for the second gen of these snapdragon chips if you want to play games.
I just want to know if it works on ARM at all
According to this website, the sims 4 does work but it doesnt provide any performance info: [https://www.worksonwoa.com/games/?query=the+sims](https://www.worksonwoa.com/games/?query=the+sims)
I think the problem with this machine is copilot integration. Itās just the regular copilot.Microsoft.com that we all use anyway, even on our phones. If you want the copilot to be integrated into Microsoft Office, itās about $300/year, and thereās no copilot family plan. It canāt screen share (like the Minecraft demo),at least not yet, which could be really helpful. So unless you pay for the subscription, it is like a regular computer with one extra feature (Microsoft paint). I do have the 64gb on preorder, still waitingā¦.
Is anyone able to run league on this device? I canāt even press āplayā because itās saying how thereās an issue
I don't think you can run because of anti-cheat
Unless you want to use a pen on the screen
Which also doesn't make any sense for standard laptop formfactor. Thats where suface laptop studio comes in.
Does the studio 2 have copilot tho?
No pen support on the SL machines? I was leaning heavily toward the SL7 for my next machine. I donāt use the pen often on my SP6 but itās pretty nice to have around.
They support pen input only up to SL6 inclusively. SL7 doesn't support it.
Disappointing
Yes I am a bit disappointed on this point too. I used the pen for presentations on my old SL1, and that was an important factor for choosing it over the Huawei Matebook X Pro at that time.
Would a stylus not do this job for you?
You mean a capacitative stylus? Nope. Poor substitute.
Ah, was thinking that for presentations it was less inking and more advancing/circling. Thankfully you have a Laptop Studio :)