Microsoft Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop 4 leaked — and MacBook Air M1 is laughing

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New Surface Pros are incoming, apparently with little change

Surface Pro 8 Leak
Image Credit: @cozyplanes | Twitter (Image credit: @cozyplanes | Twitter)

In what looks to be a regulatory filing, images of the new Sufrace Pro 8 tablet and Surface Laptop 4 have leaked, and unfortunately there's no change in design from the previous generation.

The leak comes from Twtter user @cozyplanes from Seoul, South Korea. The 17-year-old prides himself on finding these types of filings and reporting on manufacturing issues and delays at major tech companies. 

According to Windows Central, the upcoming Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop 4 should launch in mid-January. Usually, Surface devices tend to launch on October, but delays could be linked to the coronavirus or changes in internal hardware.

The new Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop 4 will feature Intel's 11th-generation processors and its new Iris Xe Graphics, which is a huge step up from the company's last generation of integrated GPUs. 

However, the MacBook Air M1 already soundly beats laptops running 11th-gen Intel chips, including the new Dell XPS 13 and Asus ZenBook 3. You can see the ugly truth in our MacBook M1 benchmark review.

The new MacBook Air also outlasts all of its closest Windows competitors on battery life, as it lasted an epic 14 hours and 41 minutes on our web surfing battery test. The Surface Pro 7 lasted 7:52, though the 11th gen chip should be a little more efficent.

Per sources close to Windows Central's Zac Bowden, they claim that AMD options will be available again with the 8, but which specific chips are uncertain. There will also be an LTE option available. 

Microsoft has had a healthy relationship with AMD these past few years. Not only did Microsoft co-engineer a special Ryzen chip for the 15-inch Surface Laptop 3, it worked closely with the company on the Xbox Series X.

While last year's Surface Laptop 3 did bring stellar design, it lagged in performance, speed, and battery life. Here's hoping that Microsoft can do better with the Surface Laptop 4, as well as the Surface Pro 8. 

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Imad Khan
Imad Khan

Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.