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Microsoft is working on a new Snapdragon-powered Surface laptop
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New reports suggest Microsoft could be working on a new Surface device powered by Qualcomm’s newSnapdragon 8cx Gen 3chip.
German publicationWinFuturehas spotted a newGeekbenchlisting of a device code-named ‘OEMVL OEMVL Product Name EV2’ which features the Snapdragon processor. While there’s no mention in the listing of it being a Surface, WinFuture claims that this is indeed a Microsoft device.
This won’t be the first time that Microsoft has made a Surface device with a Snapdragon chip, with theSurface Pro Xlaunching as recently as 2019. The Snapdragon’s excellent thermal performance enabled the device to be noticeably slimmer than the standardSurface Pro, while also seeing an impressive 13-hour battery life.
However, due to theArmarchitecture that the Snapdragon chip was built on, the Surface Pro X also suffered numerous software compatibility issues, while the performance lagged far behind the AMD and Intel processors found in other Surface devices.
Things could be different this time round though, with Qualcomm claiming thatWindows 11should fix the vast majority of software issues for its next Snapdragon processor, while it’s also seemingly made big strides in improving CPU performance.
The leaked benchmark results imply that the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is achieving a similar performance to an 11th Generation i5 Intel Core processor, which is a big improvement for Qualcomm’s laptop chips. Of course, it’s important to remember that Geekbench 5 only measures CPU performance, so these benchmark results don’t take the likes of GPU power into consideration.
But this is still nevertheless impressive stuff from the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chip if accurate, especially if it’s still able to retain the same high-level battery life and thermal efficiency as its predecessors.
With benchmark results already surfacing, it’s possible that this Surface device isn’t far from release. The SurfaceLaptop 4launched in April 2021, so it’s possible that Microsoft could opt for a similar time frame for this mystery device.
In terms of what this Snapdragon-powered device could be, there’s a good chance it will be a Surface Pro X 2. Although looking at the benchmark scores and Qualcomm’s growing confidence in Arm’s compatibility with Windows, it’s certainly possible that this could be a Surface Laptop Go 2 instead. Either way, it looks like we may not have to wait long to find out.
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Formerly the Staff Writer at Stuff Magazine, Ryan’s been writing about tech since he graduated from Cardiff University. At Trusted Reviews he is focused on everything computer-related, giving him a va…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
