When will Surface Laptop 5 be available? How much does it cost?
Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop 5 at the Surface event on October 12, 2022, alongside other new versions such as the Surface Pro 9 and Surface Studio 2 Plus. Readers interested in the Surface Laptop 5 can order the product right now.
However, the pricing has changed a bit because of the change in specs. With the Surface Laptop 4, the cheapest version used to be the model with an AMD chip, but now that the Surface Laptop 5 doesn’t use an AMD chip, the pricing structure is different. The cheapest model starts at $999. Here’s a price list for all the available SKUs:
Model
Processor
RAM
SSD
Price
Surface Laptop 5 13.5-inch
Intel Core i5-1235U
8GB
256GB
$999.99
8GB
512GB
$1,299.99
16GB
512GB
$1,499.99
Intel Core i7-1255U
16GB
512GB
$1,699.99
Intel Core i5-1245U
8GB
256GB
$1,099.99
8GB
512GB
$1,399.99
16GB
256GB
$1,499.99
16GB
512GB
$1,599.99
Intel Core i7-1265U
16GB
256GB
$1,699.99
32GB
512GB
$2,199.99
32GB
1TB
$2,399.99
Surface Laptop 5 15-inch
Intel Core i7-1255U
8GB
256GB
$1,299.99
8GB
512GB
$1,499.99
16GB
512GB
$1,799.99
32GB
1TB
$2,399.99
Intel Core i7-1265U
8GB
256GB
$1,399.99
8GB
512GB
$1,599.99
16GB
256GB
$1,799.99
16GB
512GB
$2,199.99
32GB
1TB
$2,499.99
What’s new in Microsoft Surface Laptop 5?
After a year and a half of waiting, the Surface Laptop 5 is back with some welcome upgrades over its predecessor, especially in terms of hardware. The exterior of the machine is largely unchanged, so we’ll dig into the main differences.
Perhaps the most surprising thing is that Microsoft no longer offers the option to configure using AMD chips like the previous generation Surface Laptop 4. AMD chips have accompanied this laptop series since the 3rd generation, but after only 2 generations, they have disappeared and Microsoft has not yet stated the reason.
The Surface Laptop 5 will now come with two Intel CPU options, the Core i5-1235U and the Core i7-1255U. The 12th-generation chipset features a hybrid architecture that combines two power-efficient cores and eight high-performance cores, with 12 processing threads. This is a big upgrade over the 11th-generation’s four cores and eight threads, and it increases processing speed while also saving more battery.
The 13-inch Surface Laptop 5 has two CPU options while the 15-inch Surface Laptop 5 only has the Core i7 option. Along with that, the RAM is also upgraded to LPDDR5 RAM with faster reading speed but the capacity remains the same, up to 32GB.
Thunderbolt 4 support
A long-awaited addition to the Surface Laptop 5’s feature set is Thunderbolt 4 support via USB Type-C. Thunderbolt 4 is an Intel-exclusive technology that fans of the laptop line have been waiting for for a long time, but in 2021 it was only available on the Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio. It’s only now that it’s available on the Surface Laptop 5. Now, through Thunderbolt 4, users can connect the machine to an external GPU to turn it into a gaming laptop.
Unlike the Surface Pro 8, however, this addition doesn’t mean a lot of ports on the machine. There will only be a single Thunderbolt 4 port and a USB-A port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and Surface Connect.
New Sage color (13.5-inch version only)
The Surface Laptop 5 also gets a small change to the available color options, especially the 13.5-inch version. The Platinum, Matte Black, and Sandstone color options will remain the same, but Ice Blue has been replaced by a new Sage color, which is a very beautiful color version that is highly appreciated on the Surface Laptop Go 2. Unfortunately, the 15-inch version is still only available in Platinum and Matte Black.
The final improvement on the Surface Laptop 5 is the Dolby Vision IQ-enabled display, which delivers a better HDR experience. Dolby Vision IQ allows the display to use ambient light sensors to optimize HDR in certain situations, so you always get the best viewing experience possible.
Conclusion
And that’s what’s new on the Surface Laptop 5. It’s a bit of a shame that this generation doesn’t have an AMD option, and the 15-inch version doesn’t have a discrete graphics card variant. However, regardless, the Surface Laptop 5 is a worthy choice, suitable for office work that requires good enough performance and fast enough processing speed.
As for whether to upgrade Surface Laptop 5 from Surface Laptop 4 or not, it depends on your choice. Many opinions say that Surface Laptop 5 should be considered ‘Surface Laptop 4 Plus’ because it only has some improvements but does not bring any significant breakthroughs, this is similar to Surface Laptop 4 so it should be called ‘Surface Laptop 3 Plus’, meaning the past is repeating itself. Therefore, if you do not own a Surface laptop or are a fan of this series, feel free to upgrade if you can afford it. But if you own a Surface Laptop 4, it is best not to upgrade yet.
