Microsoft’s cheaper Surface laptops fix the price, but create a bigger question – The Gadgeteer

Microsoft cut the entry price on its two smallest Surface machines this year. The cut came out of the memory. The Surface Laptop, 13-inch and the Surface Pro, 12-inch both picked up 8GB RAM configurations, at $949.99 and $849.99 in Microsoft’s own store, each with a 256GB drive.

Here’s the catch, and it’s a big one. Copilot+ PCs need 16GB of RAM before features like Recall and Click to Do switch on, so the cheaper pair sits outside the badge both machines launched under.

The hardware isn’t the problem.

So the real comparison isn’t clamshell against tablet. It’s 8GB against 16GB, run twice, and then a hard look at what street pricing does to Microsoft’s math.

Surface Laptop, 13-inch: two prices for the same shell

Of the two, the Laptop is the cleaner buy. A laptop is what you get. There’s no keyboard math waiting at checkout, no pen decision, and the 2.7-pound aluminum shell…