Last month’s release of the Surface Laptop 5 saw Microsoft’s laptop pick up a solid bump in the main specifications. Notably, the AMD option has been dropped, and this iteration of the Surface Laptop has moved exclusively to Intel’s Evo platform and its 12-generation chipsets; that means Thunderbird 4 and Wi-Fi 6
It’s what the Surface Laptop 5 represents to Microsoft that is perhaps more interesting.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5
The Surface range has always been a useful barometer of how Microsoft sees hardware integrating with the Windows platform. The first Surface (now known as the Surface RT) launched in 2012 and helped define the 2-in-1 space, even if it took a few iterations of the hardware to get everything just right..
As an aside, it’s worth remembering that the first Surface used an ARM chip, and while later Surface models moved back to x86 architecture, the Surface Pro X reintroduced Windows on ARM with the Pro 9 fully embracing the platform once more. Microsoft had the jump on ARM-based personal computing but never capitalized in the way that Apple would do years later.
Microsoft has always been keen to talk about how Windows can be used. With the Surface range, it has hardware that is designed to fit into these modes of behavior, tying in the on-device software, the blood-based services, and the hardware designs that go along with it.
The coronavirus pandemic changed the way that people work. During the long periods of lockdown, working from home moved from being a nice idea for a few people to the default way of working. As the world moved away from the immediate effects of the pandemic, hybrid working became the new normal, and Microsoft set about using the Surface line to demonstrate the traits that hybrid working required.
It’s also looking at the more human side., and like any good assignment, it shows the workings. Alongside the Surface Laptop 5, the Microsoft Surface team released a report on the world of work. Titled “The Re-Imagined Office: Not A Re-Design But A Redefine”, it addresses what it calls the hybrid paradox:
“…if employers want to encourage greater in-person presence, it starts by understanding that people value flexibility and human connection and letting go of a one-size-fits-all approach.
Finding the balance between working from home and returning to the office has been a source of tension across the business world. That’s not just finding out the best practice but also the best hardware. Microsoft’s Surface line-up has led the way in defining consumer and enterprise hardware over the last decade; it’s also been looking at the personal and relationship side of the equation as well.
Now read how Google’s Android update has improved Microsoft’s Surface Duo…
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