Currently in review: Microsoft Surface Laptop 13, unfortunately still with a fan

We are currently testing Microsoft's new Surface Laptop 13, which is equipped with the efficient Snapdragon X2 Plus (X2P-42-100, 6 cores) in its second generation. This chip is also used in the entirely passively cooled Surface Pro 12, so we briefly hoped that Microsoft would also do away with the fan in the Surface Laptop 13 to finally offer a genuine alternative to Apple's MacBook Air. 

Unfortunately, that is not the case, although it would certainly have been possible. However, we can already say that the fan very rarely kicks in and remains very quiet even under full load. Access to components such as the fan or the compact M.2-2242 SSD remains less impressive, however, as it requires removing the top of the base unit, including the keyboard, and disconnecting cables. This is complicated, but at least the SSD can still be replaced. 

For the display, Microsoft is sticking to its approach of using an IPS touchscreen with a 3:2 aspect ratio, which is now supposed to be brighter at 500 nits. One drawback, however, is the refresh rate, which is just 60 Hz. Here, too, the Surface Pro 12 convertible has an advantage, as its refresh rate has been increased to 90 Hz.

In terms of pricing, the Surface Laptop 13 is clearly positioned against the MacBook Air: The starting price is $1,199 for the configuration with 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. That is significantly more than the previous model, but at least it now comes with a minimum of 16 GB of RAM (the old model started with 8 GB). We are currently testing the model with a 512 GB SSD, which is available for $1299. Our review will be published in the coming days. If you have any specific questions or suggestions about this device, please feel free to leave us a comment.