Surface Laptop: Too many wasted opportunities

it can't even live up to Microsoft's own standards

Austin from nexgen

Jul 19, 2023

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🍭 short and sweet

The Surface Laptop feels out of place in Microsoft’s Surface Lineup
It has incredibly thick bezels that make it feel a decade older than it is
The 15” model doesn’t take advantage of its size by using the extra space for upgrades, nor do any models have the modern features found on the rest of the lineup
The Surface Laptop Go, Microsoft’s cheapest laptop, is still the nicer-looking option, which just makes the decisions made for the Laptop 5 more questionable

The Surface Laptop is one of my favorite looking computers, but with five generations behind it, we’ve never gotten a real update to it. Other then the all-metal options and the addition of a USB-C port, we’ve never gotten a real feature or design upgrade since the first generation.

It’s still one of my favorite versions of the “wedge” design that started with the MacBook Air, and it’s one of the only remaining laptops with color options.

But once you begin to look past that, everything starts to fall apart.

so. much. bezel.

When you first open up any generation of the Surface Laptop, the first thing you’re probably going to notice is the bezel. I know the bezel argument tends to be very heated and divided. Some people prefer larger bezels because it makes using touchscreens easier. Others prefer smaller bezels because it makes devices look sleeker while reducing their size and weight.

The Surface Laptop 5 has very thick bezels | Microsoft

As someone who falls into the latter category, I just can’t help but frown up on how thick the bezels are on the Surface Laptop. They’re basically no thinner than they were on the first generation, and with laptops already trending toward thinner and thinner bezels, the Surface just sticks out like a sore thumb.

inferior specs

Not only that, but the extra space in the 15” model isn’t even taken advantage of. The Surface Laptop 5 has plenty of space for a numpad and dedicated graphics, especially with those thick bezels, but Microsoft doesn’t take advantage of that space. Instead, it’s basically just a blown-up version of the 13.5” model. Even Apple at least puts better speakers in its larger models to take advantage of the extra space.

Also, after the release of the Surface Laptop Studio, the Laptop 5 would have been a great opportunity for Microsoft to give it the haptic trackpad, 120 Hz display with rounded corners, and a magnetic dock for the Surface Pen Slim from the Laptop Studio.

Unfortunately, neither of that happened. For a laptop that costs more than a MacBook Air, it would have been great to see Microsoft add features like this, especially since most of these are available on the Surface Pro 9.

it gets worse

But all of this gets worse when you realize that the Surface Laptop Go, Microsoft’s budget laptop, is actually a better-looking laptop than the full-sized version! It has a slimmer bezels and the display has rounded corners. Everything feels like it takes advantage of its smaller size.

The Surface Laptop Go 2 somehow looks nicer than its more expensive counterpart | Microsoft

Meanwhile, I wouldn’t even call the Surface Laptop 5 a “midpoint” between the Laptop Go and the Laptop Studio. It almost feels more like a Laptop 4+ than a 5. It doesn’t even really fit in Microsoft’s lineup anymore. It’s more like a time capsule of what it used to make. Things like this really repel me from wanting to get one for myself.

I say all of this not because I hate the Surface Laptop, but because I want to love it. It’s such a beautiful design, and I’m a massive fan of 3:2 displays. With so many laptops nowadays going for generic black and grey designs with 16:9 displays, it’s great to see Microsoft so willing to stand out.

But without a proper update since the first generation, it’s still a 2023 laptop living in 2017. And if the rumors about the Surface Laptop 6 having minimal changes over the Laptop 5 are true, then it may be a while before Microsoft finally gives it the refresh it desperately needs.