Microsoft Goes Back to Intel; Surface Laptop 7 with Lunar Lake is Coming
Oct. 16, 2024When Microsoft announced that the newly designed Surface Laptop 7 would exclusively feature Qualcomm’s ARM-basedSnapdragon X Elitechipset, many thought Intel had hit the end of the road. However,Intel’s latest Lunar Lakeaka Core Ultra 2 chipsets have delivered impressive battery life and performance, without the niggling issue of compatibility. As a result, Microsoft is embracing Intel again.
AReddit postby Akaza_Dorian shows that Surface Laptop 7 with Intel Core Ultra 7 268V has surfaced on a Chinese websiteGoofish. The post is no longer available, butWindowsCentralhas managed to extract some images, and they look legit.
The images show the upcoming Surface Laptop 7 features the Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor (second-most powerful SKU) with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. It packs 8 CPU cores and an Intel Arc 140V GPU. The NPU can deliver up to 48 TOPS. The listing shows that it would cost around 19,000 CNY, which translates to around $2600.
A recent report byDigitimesrevealed that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite underperformed in the market, and the stocks didn’t move as was expected with theCopilot+ PCbranding. Meanwhile, Intel and AMD have partnered and formed anx86 advisory groupin a major resurgence to expand and promote the x86 architecture. Many tech titans in the industry have joined the group.
With the latest development, Qualcomm’s future in the PC space doesn’t look very promising. App/game compatibility and poor GPU performance have been a major problem on Qualcomm’s latest ARM-based chipsets, discouraging users from jumping ship. That said, Qualcomm is reportedly working on the next generation ofSnapdragon X2 Elitechips.
Now, all eyes are on laptop manufacturers whether they will continue supporting Qualcomm or move back to the x86 architecture.
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