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Best Microsoft Surface Laptop (2026): Which Models to Buy and Avoid
Microsoft’s Surface Line has a product to fit a variety of needs and budgets, including flexible 2-in-1 tablet-laptops. The company also recently announced new versions of its Surface Laptop and Surface Pro as follow-ups to its 2024 models, making it even trickier to pick the best model that matches your priorities.
When those 2024 Surface models launched, they were among my favorite devices of the year. Over the past couple of years, those models have held up, making them great buys—especially when on sale. But now, with the new Surface Laptop 8th Edition and Surface Pro 12th Edition (not to be confused with the Surface Pro 12), we finally have some next-gen silicon to pair with them. Just bear in mind that the new Snapdragon X2 chips come at much higher prices, bringing the devices’ value into question.
I weighed these details, among others, in outlining which Microsoft Surface device is best for every need.
Be sure to read our other buying guides for more, including the Best Laptops, Best Cheap Laptops, Best 2-in-1 Laptops, Best MacBooks, and our tips for choosing a laptop.
Updated October 2026: I've rewritten this guide with notes from my testing of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra and updated pricing for other models.
Recommending a laptop from 2024 as my top choice feels embarrassing. Not for me—but for Microsoft. I adore this laptop, and I actually still find myself returning to it over newer, flashier options. The 3:2 aspect ratio screen is my favorite feature, and it can't be found almost anywhere else right now. The taller shape of the display is preferred if you spend most of your time on a laptop looking at documents, spreadsheets, or websites. Beyond that, it gets great battery life, performs well (in just about anything other than games), and has a gorgeous, high-resolution display.
But I hear you say, why not the 2026 model (also known as the 8th Edition)? Microsoft launched a refresh this year with new chips inside (the Snapdragon X2 lineup, if you care to know). I've tested these chips in other laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x, and they speed things up in meaningful ways—especially on the graphics front. Unfortunately, Microsoft made the poor decision not to send these out to reviewers for independent testing, so I've never had one to try myself.
The real problem, though, is the pricing. Like many laptop manufacturers this year, Microsoft has dramatically increased the price of its products. You can thank the ongoing memory shortage for that. Right now, you can still buy the 2024 Surface Laptop with 512 GB of storage for $999 on Amazon. It's only for the Dune color right now, whereas the Black and Silver models are $50 more. These are not quite as cheap as they were in 2025, but it's a great deal. It's especially affordable compared with the 2026 version. It's over $400 more for an otherwise identical configuration, and sometimes it jumps to the retail price of $1,600. That's just too much for what you're getting. I just don't think the performance difference is worth that much. It'd be a different story if the 2024 model were unavailable, but I have a hard time suggesting someone buy the newer one at the moment.
The Surface Laptop comes in two main variants: 13.8-inch and 15-inch screen sizes. Both are great, but I think the 13.8-inch model offers plenty of screen real estate for the average person, especially with this aspect ratio.
The Surface Laptop Ultra might bear some resemblance to the standard Surface Laptop, but it's a completely different animal under the hood. It's no thicker than the 15-inch Surface Laptop, despite offering far more performance. That's thanks to the Nvidia RTX Spark N1X chip inside, which delivers GPU performance typically found only in discrete graphics cards, like those in gaming laptops. In many ways, this is Microsoft's answer to the MacBook Pro—a laptop designed for content creators, media pros, and a burgeoning new demographic: AI enthusiasts. It can be