Surface Laptop 4 could use AMD Ryzen CPUs across all models

Surface Laptop 3
(Image credit: Future)

Microsoft’s supposedly imminent Surface Laptop 4 could use AMD chips in the smaller version of the notebook, according to the grapevine.

As you may be aware, currently the Surface Laptop 3 uses AMD Ryzen mobile processors for the larger 15-inch version, but not with the more compact 13.5-inch model which is only sold with Intel chips.

However, Windows Latest claims that sources have informed it that with the next-gen Surface Laptop – which might be revealed in January, possibly even at CES this week – the smaller 13.5-inch model will also make use of AMD CPUs. So, you’ll have a choice of either AMD or Intel no matter which size laptop you’re buying, in theory.

Powering up with Ryzen

Previous rumors have indicated that Ryzen 4000 chips will be used in the Surface Laptop 4, which makes sense. These are the latest AMD mobile CPUs, although the company is expected to reveal its Ryzen 5000 successors at CES 2021.

As mentioned, Microsoft may also reveal the Surface Laptop 4 at the virtual show too, potentially alongside the Surface Pro 8 which we’ve been hearing several rumors about of late – including that it probably won’t be that different to the Surface Pro 7, but it could be a chunk more expensive.

The Surface Pro 8 might come with a version that has 32GB of RAM, incidentally, and the same is expected of the Surface Laptop 4 – although that wouldn’t be any different from the Surface Laptop 3 which already offers a top-end 15-inch model with 32GB (and 1TB of storage).

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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