The standout feature of the Surface Laptop 7 is its seamless integration and exceptional responsiveness. It wakes instantly and operates with remarkable speed, whether running native Arm software or leveraging Microsoft’s Prism emulator in the background to smoothly translate x86 apps. The experience is remarkably smooth and indistinguishable in performance.
In performance benchmarks, the Snapdragon X Elite chip on the Surface Laptop 7 exceeds expectations set by Qualcomm. For instance, in Geekbench 6 tests, the laptop achieved multicore scores of 14,400, surpassing similarly equipped competitors like the Dell XPS 14 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chip (11,920). It even outperformed the Core Ultra 9 CPU found in the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16, which maxed out at 12,798.
However, performance on the Surface Laptop 7 varies based on power allocation. The 15-inch model can allocate up to 30 watts to the Snapdragon X Elite chip, while the smaller 13-inch version caps at 20 watts. This configuration ensures solid performance on both models, though the larger variant offers enhanced capabilities.
Despite its impressive performance, the Surface Laptop 7 maintains quiet operation even under heavy workload, unlike the fanless MacBook Air.
While most applications seamlessly function regardless of their native architecture, the transition to Arm-based systems for Windows PCs is still in its early stages. Some major apps, such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, will not be fully compatible with Copilot+ PCs until July. Updates for After Effects and Premier Pro may extend into late 2024, highlighting ongoing software adaptation challenges.
