Microsoft’s new generation of notebook Surface Laptop 5 was released this month. The processor was upgraded from the previous generation Intel 11th-generation Core to the 12th-generation Core. This device also comes with a new green colour option. However, it does not have an AMD processor version. According to Tom’s Guide, Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 seems to be “reversing” in terms of battery life. The tests reveal that the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 with the AMD R7 4980U has a battery life of 12 hours and 4 minutes. This includes web browsing, playing video games and OpenGL tests. The test has the brightness set to 150 nits and is connected to Wi-Fi.
When testing the Surface Laptop 5 with Intel i7-1255U under the same conditions, the battery life was only 9 hours and 50 minutes. This is 2 hours and 14 minutes worse than the previous generation. Microsoft previously said that the Ryzen 4000 Surface Edition is optimized for Surface Laptop 4. But, abandoning AMD in Surface Laptop 5 is equivalent to giving up an advantage.
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However, the Intel i7-1255U scored 1674 (single-core) and 8709 (multi-core) in Cinebench 5.4. This is significantly higher than the AMD R7 4980U’s 1173 (single-core) and 6748 (multi-core). It seems that the price of performance improvement may be battery life.
The following is a comparison of the parameters of the two models:
| | Surface Laptop 5 | Surface Laptop 4 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-1255U | AMD Ryzen 7 4980U (Microsoft Surface Edition) |
| graphics card | Intel Iris Xe | AMD Radeon Vega graphics (Integrated) |
| Memory | 16GB LPDDR5x | 16GB LPDDR4-4266 |
| hard disk | 512GB SSD PCIe NVMe SSD | 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
| display | 15-inch, 2496 x 1664 touchscreen | 15-inch, 2496 x 1664 touchscreen |
| Internet connection | Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX 201 and Bluetooth 5.2 | Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX 200 and Bluetooth 5 |
| interface | Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A | USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A |
| Camera | 720p IR | 720p IR |
| Battery | 47.4 WHr | 47.4 WHr |
| charger | 65 W | 65 W |
| operating system | Windows 11 Home | Windows 10 Home |
| size | 339.5 x 244 x 14.7 mm | 339.5 x 244 x 14.7 mm |
| weight | 1.54 kg | 1.54 kg |