Microsoft's Next Surface Laptop: Lunar Lake Upgrade Promises Advanced AI Capabilities

Microsoft's next Surface laptop might get a massive Lunar Lake upgrade

A strange leak revealed details about an Intel Lunar Lake-based Windows laptop, a machine we've heard nothing about so far. Microsoft's Surface Laptop 7 debuted in mid-June, and reviewers were thoroughly impressed with its Snapdragon X Elite-powered performance and superb battery life. Some Surface Laptop fans weren't as impressed, and instead expressed interest in a non-Windows-on-ARM laptop, one that could run any app without compatibility issues. For those people, we've got some great news. According to a since-deleted listing on a second-hand Chinese Marketplace called Goofish (via Windows Central), a new Surface Laptop decked out with Intel's Core Ultra 7 268v CPU (a Lunar Lake chip) is set to release in 2025. With an Intel-based Surface Laptop on the way, will Qualcomm's impressive chips take a back seat? Although the Goofish listing has since been taken down, Windows Central thankfully managed to grab a translation of the listing: "Surface Laptop 7 Ultra 7 268V processor, latest, not yet on Microsoft Store! Latest, very narrow bezel, not the old Laptop 6, not the old Ultra 7 (Meteor Lake), it's the latest! It will hit Microsoft Store soon for a price at about 19000 CNY. 32 GB RAM + 1 TB SSD, Latest 2024 version to be released in 2025" Based off the listing, this appears to be a higher-end Surface Laptop configuration, packed with 32GB of RAM for incredible multitasking capabilities and a healthy 1TB of SSD storage. All in all, this configuration supposedly costs about 19,000 CNY, which converts to around $2600 USD. But here's the big question: will the Lunar Lake chip's AI power be worthy competition for Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chip? The Surface Laptop 6, equipped with Intel's Meteor Lake chips, didn't have a strong enough NPU to carry out Microsoft's AI-powered Copilot+ features. The new Lunar Lake chips, however, seem to blow the competition out of the water when it comes to NPU benchmarks. Our sister site Tom's Guide took the time to compare Lunar Lake chips against current-gen chips from Qualcomm, AMD, and Apple. While Intel's Lunar Lake chips fell behind AMD, Apple, and some Snapdragon X Elite-powered configurations in terms of performance benchmarks, they were easily top dog in NPU testing. In the Geekbench AI NPU: Precision benchmark, both Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and Apple's M3 chips scored below 2,500. Meanwhile, Intel's Lunar Lake chips soared past 18,000, indicating much stronger AI performance. So if you're looking for one of the best AI-powered Windows laptops (with possibly even better battery life than a Snapdragon X Elite-powered Surface laptop), it might be worth waiting for Microsoft to launch this new Surface Laptop in 2025, possibly in January at CES 2025.

Surface Laptop with Intel Lunar Lake processor spotted, new design launching in 2025

Microsoft plans to launch Surface devices with Intel's new Lunar Lake mobile chips. As seen on Reddit (thanks, Windows Central), a Surface Laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor went up for sale on the Chinese eBay-like website Goofish. The listing even stated that the laptop won't officially be available for purchase until 2025. Surface Laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor, image credit: Reddit/Goofish Microsoft's new Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 launched earlier this year exclusively with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips, marking the arrival of Copilot+ PCs with Windows on Arm tech instead of traditional x86 hardware. With Microsoft mandating a minimum of 40+ TOPS of AI performance to be compatible with Copilot+ AI features, Lunar Lake is Intel's first mobile architecture that meets this requirement. This new mysterious Surface Laptop could be the current Surface Laptop 7 with Intel Lunar Lake or a Surface Laptop 8 refresh on track for next year. In addition to the Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor, the laptop features 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, making it one of the top configurations. Microsoft's Snapdragon-powered Surface devices have received positive reviews, with many praising the extended battery life and performance compared to previous generations. In addition to having a powerful enough NPU for Copilot+, the new mobile Intel Core Ultra chips are efficient and feature integrated Intel Arc 'Battlemage' graphics. The listing looks legitimate, with photos of the device and a screen displaying the Intel Core Ultra 7 268V in Windows Task Manager. It looks like a retail model (or potential sample), so odds are this new Microsoft Surface device with Intel Lunar Lake is on track for early 2025.