Performance-wise, the Laptop 4 is a huge step up. While chip updates are pretty standard for a new laptop release, Microsoft claims these changes, along with some other tweaks, deliver not only better performance but also improved battery life compared to the previous Surface Laptop. If you're not sure which is best for your use case, check out our laptop buying guide. If you prefer AMD, you'll get Ryzen 4000 series processors.

If you opt for Intel, you'll get 11th-generation Core i5 or i7 chips. What's different in this update is that you can now get both the 13-inch and 15-inch models with either Intel or AMD chips (this was previously only a luxury for the 15-incher). At least the USB-C port can be used to charge the thing, helpful if you carry an external battery capable of charging laptops. Depending on your situation, the USB-A port on the Surface Laptop 4 might be more of a win than the lack of Thunderbolt. I mention this mainly because both the Dell XPS 15 and MacBooks support Thunderbolt, which means better connections to external monitors and faster data transfer speeds. I appreciate the latter two, but it's disappointing that neither the Intel nor AMD Surface Laptops support Thunderbolt on the USB-C port. The 3:2 screen ratio also remains, as does Microsoft's proprietary charging port along with one USB-C, one USB-A, and a headphone jack.

Surface laptop 4 review