Surface Laptop 4 One Week Later! The M1 MacBook Air KILLER?!

Today we're following up on the Surface laptop 4. Microsofts answer to the widely popular and powerful m1 MacBook line of computers.

It promises to have amazing battery life, great performance, and a whole host of usability features.

So how has it held up over the past week?

Lets find out!

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

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———————What Gear I Recommend!——————————

First Mac ( M1 Mac Mini)

Best Macbook (MacBook Pro 13)

Best Travel Professional Windows Laptop (XPS 15)

Best Power Windows Laptop (Razer Blade 15)

Best Thunderbolt 3 Dock (cal digit TS3 Plus)

Best Beginner YouTube Camera (Sony A6100)

Best Overall YouTube Camera (Lumix GH5)

Best Advanced YouTube Camera (Blackmagic Pocket 4k)

—————What Gear I Use!————————————————

Main Camera

Main Lens

Secondary Camera

Secondary Lens

Main Computer

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[hansangb]

The magnetic power connector has saved me many times (on my Surface 2). LOVE IT. And I was doubtful on the Alcantara (sp?) but after 2.5 years of use, I can't imagine going back to metal. Oddly, Surface 2 laptop doesn't have any of the flex.

[sfiqah_]

Me everytime he start talking..
"If I can figure it out, you can figure it out!", along with the hand gesture 😂

[brainactivity]

Spot on regarding the keyboard. I was so excited to get the ice blue Alcantara edition which looked gorgeous! A true beauty let down with the flex on the keyboard which made it feel very cheap. However, just go for the metal version and you'll have a solid constructed laptop.

[Antondepadua]

For me personally, I love that I can use a surface pen on it. I annotate a lot of documents and do a lot of math for work, so being able to jot down my solutions on it is crucial!

[Danny-wvec]

I made the switch to Mac last Christmas with the M1 MacBook Air. Man I've never been happier and the build quality is exceptional.

The schematics of the upcoming MacBooks leaked a couple of days ago, looks like I'm gonna have to upgrade next Christmas coz I'm hooked!

[sricharaansriram]

Microsoft has its own surface dock of 250 dollars. But it’s so costly. Love you man waiting for 15 inch model

[gagansohal]

Mate.. It's got Usb C charging capabilities too!
Alcantara since 1st Gen surface and lots of people prefer it... I think the older surface laptops were a little sturdier as they were on solid piece - but after the surface laptop 3, they used separate pieces so that it would be more repairable (At the cost of some sturdiness)

[icebug]

You should be able to charge this laptop via the USB-c port as well, since you can on the Surface Laptop 3. So while there is a proprietary connector for charging, it isn't locked into using that as the only method to charge the device.

[revelationsoundstudio]

I purchased the Surface Laptop 4 last week. I don't see why you have a problem with a power connection. It does not take away from the other ports. I like that the charger plug is angled and the wire is out of the way. The purchase of the 15" computer I purchase is for emails, internet, Word, and watching videos. The 512 storage is what i went as anything less is just silly. The keyboard, the power supply and power for what I need is just perfect. The CPU uses 4.3 gigs of ram to run the programs I use. So with the 8 gigs of ram, it is enough. For daily task, the speed with of AMD is very fast. This is not a gaming laptop and if I wanted to waste hours a day to play videos I would have purchased a Dell high powered laptop. Face recognition is really great. The slim body and the look is really nice. The 15" has the metal and the keys don't flex like the 13". I am a happy campier.

[learntheArabic]

Hi, from Egypt.i am learning English with you ☺️🤍.

[TuFacez]

The Thunderbolt 4 comment is fair! Although I love the Surface connect charger for the magsafe which can run surface dock etc.

[sravi]

Microsoft has done a gr8 job with the surface line. I am using Surface Book 2 since 2018 and love it to date. Windows 11 OS is fine-tuned and compliments the surface laptops. Hardware is gr8 u talk about the keyboard, screen, camera, tablet mode or the pen everything is just mind-blowing. The battery life is still good. The other good thing to mention is that I have never heard the fan going. Many times when I am on a office call with my collegues, I can hear their laptop fan like a chopper going in the background. Also, the windows hello - face login feature is very handy and can't go without it. Once a year I reset the laptop and do a fresh OS install and it has never given me any problems. My only regret is that I went for the 8 GB Ram model at the time and sometimes when I have several apps open and if I am on a vdo call, I get low memory warning. Shame I can't increase the RAM on this.
Agree the limitation on the ports, I am ok with SB2 and its ports, but getting a new laptop in 2022 with just 1 USB-A and 1 USB-C port will make me think twice.

[Geekvangelist]

Very honest review. I also think there are other better options for the same price (or even less). For users that don't need to connect many other devices to their laptop, I think this one is fine, but me personally, I definitely need HDMI and more USB A ports.

[SilverSlayer]

The port being proprietary is because it's essentially Magsafe... If you trip over the cord, your whole expensive laptop won't test gravity along with your own trip to the floor... which is the point... Apple had that right honestly and that was a pro for Macs back in the day. Now? not so much. Charging capability using the USB c wouldn't have hurt though.

[HiAdventureCast]

They keep the surface connect port because businesses have bought accessories that require it. A large part of their demographic are business customers who just want to buy a new laptop and have it work with their old docks.

[zzkeokizz]

In undergrad I used to write papers while watching movies. The older keyboards from the ’90’s were better than the current crop. They were just bigger than current models

[simpromovie]

I think you miss some things about the ports. The power connector is of the "MagSafe" type which even Apple is not offering any more! And this is also the Microsoft Dock connector which allows you to connect 2*4K displays (and everything else you might need) which is a good alternative to a Thunderbolt port. On the other hand you can charge the Surface laptop with a standard USB-C power supply if you like...You also did not mention the best feature of this laptop: the 3:2 aspect ratio display! This a clearly better than the MacBook 16:10 displays....

[brianwheat]

FYI the surface laptop will charge using the USB-C port. You can do this also with a docking station.

[SuperEpicfail]

I think you beat up a bit hard on power while missing some stuff there. Yes it comes with a proprietary surface charger, but you can also charge it over the USB-C port. Also the "Surface Connect" port has more function than just power. You can use it to connect to a dock with 4x USB-C ports & 2x USB-A ports. OR to any number of dongles, for instance one with a USB-C 3.1. I think that the choice not to include Thunder Bolt is important to mention, as it was a choice. Microsoft has said they don't want to do thunderbolt because of security concerns. Only way to change their minds is to have enough reviewers beat them up about it :)
I think you've hit your keyboard impressions on the head. it's a nice feeling keyboard.
For your final thoughts. you talked about how you don't think it fits in very well to the work from home / office environment because of the ports. Again, I think the dock is the answer. I have a dock at home, and a dock at work. My surface laptop travels with me to both desks and I only need to connect one magnetic cable to give me two monitors, keyboard and mouse, wired ethernet, charging, and a headset.
I was also somewhat disappointed you didn't talk about the trackpad. Since the Surface Laptop 3 I have found that the trackpad is exceptional for a windows laptop.

[sentryion]

Why is the proprietary charging port a problem at all? You can charge it through the USB c port...