TL;DRNew Surface Laptop and Pro have haptic trackpads that vibrate during window snapping and editing. ARM-only via Snapdragon X2. Starting at $1,500.
Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro feature a redesigned trackpad with haptic feedback that vibrates when you interact with Windows 11. Snap a window to one side of the screen and you feel it. Align an image in PowerPoint and the trackpad confirms the placement. Scrub a video timeline and the vibrations track the movement.
Microsoft VP for Surface Devices Brett Ostrum compared it to controller rumble in gaming. The haptics work across Windows 11 and various apps, not just Microsoft’s own software. The Slim Pen also gets the same treatment.
The hardware underneath is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 platform, exclusively. The consumer Surface Laptop and Surface Pro ship with either a Snapdragon X2 Plus or Snapdragon X2 Elite. There is no Intel option. Microsoft reserved Intel’s Panther Lake chips for the Surface Pro for Business line. If you want an x86 Surface, you need a corporate purchasing department.
The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The 15-inch Surface Laptop gets a sharper display at 261 PPI, up from 200 PPI on the previous generation. Battery life promises up to 20 hours on the 13.8-inch model and 19 hours on the 15-inch. Memory options range from 16 GB to 64 GB of RAM, with storage from 512 GB to 2 TB.
