Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 with Dolby Vision IQ and up to 18 hours of runtime

Microsoft has given the Surface Laptop 5 numerous upgrades, including new Intel Alder Lake-U processors – the AMD Ryzen option has been dropped without replacement. There are practical improvements on Microsoft Surface 5 with Thunderbolt 4, Dolby Vision IQ, and a better webcam.

In addition to the Surface Pro 9, Microsoft also unveiled the Surface Laptop 5 at today’s launch event. At first glance, little has changed – the design has remained practically unchanged, with the equipment mainly featuring new processors. Buyers can choose between the Intel Core i5-1235U and the Core i7-1255U, each of which is equipped with two performance and eight efficiency cores.

Unlike the previous model, there is no option for AMD Ryzen on the Microsoft Laptop 5 – that’s a pity because the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U is not only more powerful and efficient in tests, but the integrated Radeon 680M iGPU also offers significantly more gaming power than the Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7. Nevertheless, Microsoft promises an hour longer battery life of up to 18 hours for the smaller device or 17 hours for the larger model.

As usual, the Microsoft Laptop 5 is available with either a 13.5-inch or a 15-inch display, each of which is in 3:2 format and achieves a contrast ratio of 1,300:1. New is the support for Dolby Vision IQ so that the brightness of HDR content can be automatically adjusted to the environment.

The peak brightness of 400 nits is below average in this price range. The webcam stays at a 720p resolution, but it gets automatic exposure adjustment. The laptop offers Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), USB-A (5 Gbit/s), AUX, and a Surface Connect port.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 release date and prices

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is available to pre-order on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and will be available on October 25th at a recommended retail price of $1,179 for the smaller 13.5-inch model or starting at $1,529 for the 15-inch model.