The Microsoft Surface 4 laptop reportedly includes AMD and Intel models

For a while, Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 3 was one of the best laptops you could buy. Microsoft is now planning its successor, the Surface Laptop 4, and it looks like WinFuture got details about this next device. According to this report, the laptop will arrive sometime in April.

The biggest news is that the new Surface Laptop will come with Intel and AMD options. AMD models will include Ryzen 4000 mobile series chips, including the Ryzen 5 4680U and Ryzen 7 4980U. These are not AMD’s primary weapons; the current generation of the Ryzen 5000 mobile series was announced earlier this year. Intel models will have the latest Intel 11th generation CPUs, including Core 15-1145G7 and Core i7-1185G7.

Aside from the chips, it seems like very little is changing between Laptop 3 and Laptop 4. Here are some other snacks we learned from WinFuturereport of:

• There will be 13.5 and 15 inch models available. These are also the models that the Surface Laptop 3 offers.
• All models have an aspect ratio of 3: 2. The resolution of the 13.5-inch device will be 2256 x 1504, and the 15-inch will be 2496 x 1664. These are the same resolutions that the Surface Laptop 3 offers. The 3: 2 aspect ratio has been a staple of Microsoft’s Surface products for some years.
• The RAM reaches a maximum of 32 GB. But it looks like if you want so much memory, you need to get an Intel model. AMD’s configurations go up to 16 GB.
• Storage reaches a maximum of 1 TB. Likewise, it appears that only Intel models offer this amount of storage. AMD laptops are a maximum of 512 GB.

If these leaks are true, I hope Microsoft will take a similar approach to Surface Laptop 4 as it did with Surface Book 3 last spring – that is, increase the chips with minimal chassis changes.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

This does not mean that there is nothing to get excited about, of course. Chip upgrades are still big business. One of our main complaints about the 13.5-inch and 15-inch Surface Book 3 models was that the battery life was not long compared to the competition. The 15-inch model also had some performance problems in our tests. He had significant problems running 4K 60fps videos and completing media exports. It will be great if the new chips are able to solve some of these disadvantages.

I would not blame Microsoft for not revising the design; people like that, and why fix what’s not broken? But, as I noted in my analysis of Book 3 of the surface, there is a limit to how the appearance of the surface line can remain relevant. Across the market, laptop frames are shrinking, chassis are becoming lighter and customers are expecting a more stylish and trendy vibe from high and mid range products. The design of the Surface Laptop has never been ugly, but as models like the Dell XPS and HP Specter continue to evolve, I worry that it won’t be long before the look of the Surface line is left behind.

All that being said: these are still rumors at this stage, so treat them with a grain of salt. I will be sure to update it when we have more concrete information about this next device, hopefully sooner or later.