A Week with Surface Pro 11 OLED - Replacing my MacBook Air

[@ScottCStew]

I switched to the MacBook Air M2 15 inch from a series of Intel and AMD laptops that all had the craziest hardware failures of all time. I was wooed by the battery life, heat control, and fanless design. I had a Surface Pro years ago and I really miss it… if all these things would’ve come out a year and a half ago, I would’ve never gone Apple.

[@michaels8607]

smart move...

[@simonm9964]

You can always change, as you have done, I switch between both Mac and Surface (on ARM) and like them equally for different reasons. Really comes down to personal preference and some must have features, that only a few percent of the population, must have. I am now loving my Surface Laptop on ARM, it does everything I need and the battery is incredible. Each to their own.

[@michaels8607]

@@simonm9964 THAT is the Key, that MOST people do not NEED much more than a 3-5 year old computer. Here in YT, or POSERland, people pretend they are doing such intensive work. People PRETEND they NEED 8K and superfast CPU/sGPUs. Chances are if you NEED Call that,you would be rich/wealthy ,and not be on YT making claims. Even I have to admit I have not used 30% of the power capacity of this gamer laptop I am on now, even running two browsers and applications.

[@sterus2283]

Garbage choices.

[@Bizmops]

thank god it starts at 16gb. while apple still sticks to 8gb of ram in 2024 .

[@Nemesis-db8fl]

Imagine if they ship 8gb in 2025

[@vladonutueu]

@@Nemesis-db8fl I'm on an 8gb MacBook Air M1 and multitasking like bat sh*t crazy, this is better than I've ever seen on such little ram. Super satisfied with what I got for office and mid intensive work (editing, productivity hundreds of tabs etc)

[@rnldmts]

Never match and compare 8 GB RAM of apple to any other DDR4s or 5s. :)

[@Htiy]

@@rnldmtsexactly. They read numbers not the experience. Probably the type of guy to say his favorite computer has a bigger sized battery (but omits the fact that it doesnt actually last longer)

[@Nemesis-db8fl]

@@vladonutueu do you know macs extend ram with virtual memory on the fly? Physical ram will always be better than virtual

[@ms_office]

He stirred up apple users. I can feel that from the comments. 😂 Surface pro from the intel version was always been hot, having a short battery life and lack of performance. But now it solves those problems. I think this is the right moment to get a real 2in1 device. unlike apple keep saying ipad is computer which is definitely not. Thanks for your great review.

[@Bizmops]

yeah this video title is appropriate rather than the "replacing my macbook with the m4 ipad pro" like bruh.

[@RemofRenaissance]

This is all been true. I've been on the Surface Pro journey for a whlle and it was always great but compromised because of the heat and battery. Now as you say those are ressolved, I picked up a base SP11 and I am super happy. I liked my SP9 and SP4 but just never liked the fact that battery was only good for a few hours so I didn't need much improvement but with this iteration I am very very happy and now use my iPad a lot less (which is also a good device but I need a desktop OS).

[@michaels8607]

I can less about Apple users because they are all working computers..Yes, the IPad is a computer just like most smartphones. The Ipad or a Galaxy tablet could have run the Whole NASA space mission in the 70s...

[@najimelhaoui]

Copilot, great video. I had the surface pro 4 years ago and it was amazing.

[@williamcopeland2617]

Question. Did you put your Surface Pro 11 in performance mode? I ask because your benchmark numbers are actually much lower than all of the other reviewers. Everyone else were getting over 2800 in single and over 14000 in multi. Yours is significantly lower. Good video overall.

[@julierabot3392]

Yeah I confirm that in performance mode, without being charging, I obtain around 2780 in single and 14300 in multi

[@williamcopeland2617]

@@julierabot3392 That sounds more on point opposed to the benchmarks in this video. These benchmark numbers were actually way off and looks to be in normal standard mode.

[@julierabot3392]

​@@williamcopeland2617effectively

[@rezaulkarim7703]

10:04 to 10:12 I guess the he is using the laptop on Recommended mode, which is not the Best Performance mode. I guess his benchmarks are also done on this mode.

[@ZeerakImran]

@@rezaulkarim7703they should be done in this mode. Unless the battery test is also measured in performance mode. Otherwise the information is theoretical and doesn’t apply.

[@cuong2896]

3:34 please, Microsoft, fix this laggy animation, it has been forever

[@ひまりはると]

lol 100%

[@Anunaybera]

Lol i have used the macbook airs both m1 and m2 and i would literally see this lag daily

[@kengerfil]

lmao true

[@ReavenZero]

That is the biggest issue - bloat and features forced onto you which you dont use anyway, but most importantly lack of app support. x86 translation also being lackluster (especially compared to Rosetta and even FEX) doesnt help. And dev kits not being out either is just all you need to know about the software side... Battery life and screen are great, but it is as you say: what good is any of that if my relevant apps dont run?

[@barryjerald4550]

I have had mine for over a month now and I do enjoy it. The ARM processor does limit some of your programs but I usually it mostly for work. It is fast and program execution is smooth. Out of the box the display on the tablet was terrible but then after all the drivers were downloaded, the video in 4K HDR looked flawless. The only thing that I had that beat it was the 2024 11-inch iPad Pro.

[@ZombieOfun]

Do I need to go somewhere to download the drivers?

[@davidemesina3909]

Great review!

[@SarimAshrafi]

I have been a lifelong Windows user. I was confused between Copliot+PC and MacBook Air. I then went with MacBook Air M3. I am enjoying it.

[@jaz-vvr]

Should I get this or the Surface laptop?? So similar yet different I'm confused. Great review!

[@julierabot3392]

I have one with X elite (so in 15") and its very very good at work (while I usually use 7950x in desktop) so, if you want very great laptop for work, you will have more than 15 hours of very high performance! I was very impressed by how it's good 👍

[@JoeNokers]

If you want a traditional laptop and dont feel like you will use the unique features of the surface pro then go for surface laptop. If you think the tablet mode of the surface pro is a really important feature then go for the Surface pro. There are a lot of sacrifices the surface ro makes to get the formfactor it does.

[@nickcu5823]

Copilot, thank you for the video! The Surface Pro 11 OLED looks fantastic. I’m curious what your thoughts are on the iPad Pro M4 13 Inch, I think you would really like this device also.

[@dm-vw4tk]

My understanding was that the so called ‘local AI’ features still needed an internet connection so MS can ensure their suggested images etc are ‘safe’. That’s not a local AI in my opinion.

[@ZeerakImran]

If it can’t be used offline, it’s not local. I agree.

[@thealmostmillennial7570]

Snapdragon chip with the major W. Those speeds are too good, Macbooks finally have competition :)

[@travistouthang341]

Well speed is not everything

[@starstufs]

​@damianwojcikiewicz3951ye absolutely, but it's a first generation product, so fingers crossed that iterations make it cheaper

[@soberanisfam1323]

@@travistouthang341software is also huge and windows has much more than Mac

[@quagmire321able]

Why does single-core performance matter most? Aren't most apps (including MacOS ones) multi-threaded these days? Whilst I haven't been doing software development for years now but I do think MacOS itself is designed to run on multi-core processors, in fact, it is definitely designed on processors with multiple heterogeneous cores. AFAIK, lots of Macbook's performance comes from the hardware accelerators, close OS-app integration and the more powerful GPU... and not just because it scores well in single-core benchmarks.

[@BeingRuthlesss]

Surface pro or ipad pro M4?, Im a MBBS student.

[@tirusbarbaruah4329]

@@BeingRuthlesss Go for an ipad air, you don't need crazy power of the m4 for an MBBS student. m2 air is more than sufficient. Or go for a Samsung galaxy Tab s9 or s9 FE

[@dmitryburlakov6920]

Well not much changed in the prospect of software development toolkits, multi-threaded apps are still much harder to design and support, and most importantly far from many tasks can be parallelized with ease, if at all. Single core is still a very much measure of how fast a device can compute a general task, and probably it will stay like that forever.

[@quagmire321able]

@@dmitryburlakov6920 oic... so software development hasn't really progressed much in the last 10yrs. I stand corrected 😀

[@ZeerakImran]

Single core performance makes everything responsive.

[@Vincent13997]

I switched from Windows to MacOS years ago. Except for gaming, there is no way I'd go back to a Windows machine for productivity. It's about the OS and supporting software and not so much about the machine. And I do not miss the endless hours waiting for my Windows machine to update either.

[@dalelangehennig161]

(Codeword) Copilot is a non-issue. But I like you love the form factor, battery life, screen, etc. I am also awaiting some native arm compatibility on programs I use. I like the larger and haptic track pad as well. Typing this on my Surface Pro 10. So great to see Windows trying to make the leap (correctly) into ARM world for battery life performance and quiet operation. Great review!

[@ひまりはると]

fair review, it will be interesting to see where microsoft goes from here

[@Jen-ic9ce]

Seems like a great device for students?

[@Bizmops]

@@jack_2612 buying surface pro 11, still a lot better and way cheaper than buying m3 air + ipad. sp 11 it start at 1k. ipad is not a workstation device. it's an oversized screen iphone, a lot more expensive than sp 11 and not intended for a workstation device. while m3 air gives good battery life, but it starts at 8gb of ram which is very stupid if you do a lot of work, while all of the snapdragon laptops start at 16gb of ram. for a compact device, fit in a sling bag, sp 11 is not a bad choice at all

[@julierabot3392]

Yeah ! And the surface laptop 7 (laptop version of that) with X elite is really really good for work, and also for students for sure !

[@Tae1717]

Yeah a student of life🙂‍↕️

[@LonesomeBossDaily]

I recorded countless of lectures using the rear camera with good mic recording, it replaced both my macbook and ipad

[@tiemji]

Thanks for sharing your opinion about those new Surface

[@jevgenialtov8504]

Give it linux as a hostOS (will happen soon) , EGPU support, Virtualization of windows with GPU passthrough would be a kick ass work/game + couch device all in one.

[@stwg32]

Arm apps are coming pretty quick. It took Apple what 3 years for only a handful of apps it has compared to Windows? Patience is a bliss.

[@LabTest-z5l]

nice review!

[@Ryanstuff]

Why are they still giving it that proprietary charge port when it can charge via usb-c? Just give it one more usb-c port.

[@yxles]

Because it’s not only for charging, it’s also used on numerous accessories.

[@GermanElias-hd6lc]

​@@yxles USB C is used in waaaaaaaaaaay more accessories than the surface connector

[@yxles]

@@GermanElias-hd6lc yes but there are also numerous accessories that are already made for this proprietary connector. It would suck if Microsoft just suddenly deprecated this and made it not available, it just makes hundreds of accessories not accessible even if it works perfectly fine and serves it purpose

[@GermanElias-hd6lc]

@@yxles same was said about lightning on apple, and the 30 pin connector too, it doesn't make sense for companies to stick with proprietary connectors when a better standard exists.

[@yxles]

@@GermanElias-hd6lc that's a phone, accessories on a laptop are much more vital to its user. You're not really gonna use a hub on your phone don't you? Beside, there is still upside on having the surface connector still being implemented especially with charging, having it be magnetic could be useful in protecting the device that even Apple brought back MagSafe from its grave

[@subramaniamchandrasekar1397]

So.. you are saying a snap dragon device which at present can't run most of the windows software applications is better to a Mac Book Air which can run all the mac applications that you decided to keep the snap dragon device. Your job is casual browsing and watching videos?

[@AhmadQ.81]

I think MS better to release another.x86 version using the new AMD 370 ai and improve the screen with something similar to what iPad have more tuned to writing and drawing and non reflective with paper like .

[@mondotv4216]

Question : Would you replace your iPad Pro with this? It's actually cheaper. And a better OS for general computer work than iPad OS. As soon as Adobe can get Illustrator, PP and AE working I'm in. Great travel option.

[@martaanna9185]

I think that for graphic work Windows is still better, especially with sending files from and to client.

[@daviniocommodoreamiga]

Thanks for the honest and clear review! I think the Windows on Arm will only become better from now on. The portability and the great battery life of the Surface Pro is a winner for me. I Oh and: copilot for a like.

[@craigwoodgate7120]

I was going to get a microsoft surface but based on my experiences with Windows over the last couple of years, i decided to just replace my laptop with a samsung tab S9 because it can do what i need it to do without the need of windows

[@alljustatoms]

Nice review. Thanks.

[@Majid.Shahverdi]

Still repairability almost zero with no screws on the back. The charger stops working after a while and the KB gets frayed in corners by wearing out. Altogether it's not comparable with Macbook

[@EverythingGizmo]

I've tried the copilot features, they're not great but the surface pro itself is great. I'd love to see how Apple responds and brings ai to the macbook. Great video, "copilot".

[@AndrewEthanZeng]

Apple Intelligence will definitely be interesting!

[@vlkhvan]

At least on paper, Apple intelligence looks a whole bunch more useful than MS copilot, but we’ll see

[@ereceeme]

The surface pro is tiny as compared to apple very powerfull. Plus it has 16 gb ram. Thats why mac owners are stunned. Of course they prefer their os

[@keluargaindowakian693]

What about microsoft excel with macro (the xlsm files)?? Do they work on this Windows on arm hardware? Please kindly review that as well, it will be a deal breaker for myself it the macro does not work on arm hardware...

[@somebodymcperson]

It’s a shame they created the spyware recall feature. I would have loved something like this but I’ll never buy anything with windows 11 after that.

[@letsgowalk]

It's interesting how all these tech reviewers make it sound like the average user can simply switch between operating systems (for computers, phones, etc.) like changing clothes. The stats and hardware are more often than not a moot point if we are already tied into an ecosystem.

[@joelt00]

copilot, debating grabbing this guy to be my Windows driver beside my M2 Air. Can you upgrade Windows 11 Home to Pro?

[@maxhou8395]

Can the battery life of the surface pro catch up the MacBook air?

[@fallinginthed33p]

The Flex keyboard is too expensive for what it offers. On the other hand, you can buy a new Signature keyboard or a basic type cover for around $100.

[@sopranosadiyah]

Copilot! Thanks for this awesome review!

[@robllan]

What resolution can it achieve on 2 external monitors, whilst docked? Also, is the NVMe internal hard disk a soldered type? Or can it be end user upgraded? I currently have a Dell XPS 13 (non 2-in-1 form factor) to ensure both these things. I can run both my monitors at 4K. And I recently upgraded my HDD to 4Tb.

[@Kiafoulis1]

Copilot. Great review, thanks for creating it.

[@soberanisfam1323]

you would probably pick the surface oled display over the macbook lcd display? probably? come on this one is a no brainer

[@chaeugene]

Copilot! The display looks good!

[@lausianne]

Too bad it doesn't have a larger screen. Why don't they offer a 14 or 15" version?

[@shayanrezapour3917]

Copilot! Andrew would you suggest an energy systems engineering student switch from a gaming laptop to surface pro 11?

[@Chiinnature]

is there still HEAT issue when using this for an extended period of time? I have seen surface pro 234567 and even 8 being HOT. They do get really hot during gaming, even the eyes can feel the heat. I use it for art and drawing, making the drawing on screen experience very bad. How is this new one so far? have you hated it for the heat issue compare to like android tablets by samsung?

[@SomeRndomGoose]

Heat should be much better as it's running an arm chip

[@simonm9964]

I haven't had any heat issues on the Surface Laptop on ARM.

[@CraigEstep]

“I would definitely pick this up over an M3 MacBook Air. But since the Arm processor doesn’t support many of my workflows, I’m switching back to my M3 Macook Air.”

[@zaccamden5016]

Oohhh Attack on Titan!

[@pouyamahmoudi]

How's Handbrake significantly faster on Surface Pro? A few seconds doesn't mean significantly faster!

[@AndrewEthanZeng]

My bad, I should've made it more clear! For the sake of the test, I converted a relatively small video file so the difference's aren't big. When converting larger MXF files or really long videos, the time saving compounded and I saw 30s+ differences.

[@Dan_D380]

I am curious to see how this thing runs as a IT Tech tool. Can the arm chips run SCCM? AD? Wireshark? ect ect

[@deter1101]

Curious about this as well. If it can run all the daily CRM software we use (which is practically all being migrated to web anyways), might just pull the trigger on it as a portable troubleshooting laptop, as it seems a lot lighter weight than our company ones. That and touchscreen would actually be quite interesting to use!

[@devdeclan]

Now this is interesting!

[@bigfoot007_83]

Is it fair to compare the MacBook Air to the Surface Pro?

[@DibIrken]

The biggest reason to use this laptop or any other laptop is you don't have a use for the Mac...which is most of us non-content creators. Think about it. Why do they even buy this expensive thing? It doesn't do Excel very well, you are limited to apps available to macOS and you can't game in this as much as you could with Intel/Nvidia laptops. The biggest flaw of the Macbook is the macOS. The rest of the world runs in Windows and Linux.

[@carmm2742]

How would this compare with the New Lenovo thinkpad X12?

[@edvardb-mh7jh]

Ey! For surface , the windows is free?

[@timonkovar5194]

Have the older Surface Pros had an desktop processor?

[@李文浩-b4u]

3:32 Nice Review！ Could you share us the default wallpaper of Surface Pro 11 both dark and light edition download link to us? Thank you! 3:32

[@evdakker]

Talking about weight when taking it outside... the Surface Pro itself is of course a little bit lighter than the Macbook Air (895g vs 1240g). But being a Windows machine, usability is very much limited without keyboard and pen. Comparably equipped with keyboard and pen, it is actually 8 grams heavier than the Macbook Air (1248g vs 1240g).

[@kinkaidw223]

895g+340g(Flex keyb with slimpen2)=1235g,5g less than Mac,by the way,where are you learn math?so bad:(

[@Giovanni2862]

Are there any programs compiled for ARM?

[@josesabat1710]

In 14:23, you said you would pick the mac book air over the Surface Pro because of the disappointment in copilot features, but the mac book air does not have copilot or any other Ai features. I think you were going to pick the mac bookmair anyways. It seem like a bias review. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@ZeerakImran]

It’s about to get them this summer. He might have also meant the ms ai features aren’t worth their negatives (specially given that it’s Microsoft).

[@Giovanni2862]

Does Copilot work offline?

[@VolodymyrBoyka]

Nope

[@koorighorbani3480]

How Does Keyboard Charge ?!

[@bluesunflower1698]

Does this have eye tracker?

[@rnoerachmad]

Does it's OK with VPN?

[@markpettygrove7597]

Copilot 🌞

[@m0nsym0n11]

I really don't understand why Microsoft doesn't make keyboards like the ipad keyboards for their surface. Why?

[@MB-yw7up]

Not necessary with the built in tilt stand that is really really good

[@fabbryx75]

What app doesn't run on ARM?

[@555kyle]

I will say pro 10 with flex keyboard is the best combination right now. Too bad microsoft doesnt want to sell me pro 10 in my country as i am just a normal "home" user.....Sigh.

[@zabidi59-fx8uf]

Great review Andrew. What was it like having both USB-C ports on the same side of the device? Also, what was palm rejection like while writing with the pen? I noticed in your video that your palm was semi off the screen when writing and drawing

[@AndrewEthanZeng]

Palm rejection is fine, no problem with it. USB-C ports is the same gripe with my MB Air, it's inconveninet but not a deal breaker

[@mage1413]

i thought this was david2d. Personally, not legally of course

[@andrerodrigues1886]

it needs a magic keyboard, then I would ditch my ipad

[@kennchri]

Much too simplified to label AI as a chatbot - it is a productivity tool that you appreciate is you care to learn what it can really do

[@BorIlovar]

Copilot

[@ClaytonMiller]

Copilot!

[@agusugian]

How is it as tablet-only device? My iPad is too limited to be used as work device

[@jack_2612]

then buy a MacBook and keep the iPad around for when you want to use a tablet. A good 2in1 device is still not as good as two dedicated devices neither in terms of performance neither in terms of ux

[@MrYupsilon]

@@jack_2612 yeah like a device that capable of 50% tablet and 90% laptop, that adds up as an 140% device for those dont want two devices. The main problems as tablet are: 1. too heavy(900g) 2.some of software doesnt support touch input (e.g. the authentication of my shopping website would fail if i use touch input to complete the "are you human" challenge). The main problem as laptop is that it cant stablely sit on my laptop

[@Bizmops]

just don't use ipad. u're using an oversized screen iphone. new sp 11 is a full workstation device, the tablet only mode is not as user friendly as ipad, but it gets the job done, while ipad is user friendly, but u will almost never get ur job done in that device.

[@Gabeyre]

MS saved money on Snapdragon chips so they shoulve passed o the savings to the customer. This device is expensive for a Snapdragon pc. Wait for competition for price correction.

[@jenniferjones2863]

Copilot 🙂

[@idiotbrownie1525]

i like noone gives a damn about the ai crap. we only care for the battery

[@AmazingVibes1000]

No thin bezels

[@JustinKreule]

That’s probably because it’s a tablet. You need to be able to hold it without touching the screen accidentally with your thumb

[@grzegorzgrzegorz5588]

All thumbs up :)

[@stevenator22]

You can tell when a youtuber is bought for reviews....battery life is scratching the 5hour mark under basic small office works...

[@JJ-we2mh]

copilot!

[@YsmaelGuzmanManalo]

Lol it ran out of battery during set up

[@SUBHAMKUMAR-vk1zd]

copilot

[@blessinginfinity]

COPILOT

[@anderbeau]

So... what's gonna happen with AMD and Intel? 😂

[@chee_wai]

12-14 hours of battery life? I call rubbish. This is a flat out lie

[@bardiahyhd9083]

good boy

[@The_LaZy_HiKeR]

MacBook killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est? Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa

[@dgillies5420]

ARM GPU is really really slow like a vega 7 or something AMD made 5 years ago ... No amount of optimization can fix this!

[@andyH_England]

In the UK it is £2000 for the SP11 OLED with 16GB/512GB and the keyboard and pen. For that price I can get an MB Pro M3 Pro 18GB/512GB that will run rings around the SP11 with best in class keyboard and speakers, 50% greater battery life, and have none of the compatibility issues. Not that they are comparable devices; the SP11 is a one off device that does not compare with anything, it is a niche device that has been in sales decline over the last two years with MS abandoning any effort to make tablet-specific apps. Really for fans of the form factor and I certainly would not swap it for my M1 Pro MB Pro 14 let alone anything M3 or the upcoming M4s.

[@David-Zita]

For me, I would buy SP11 the best in the world, Apple sucks all Apple devices are for nothing but watching KZbin and Netflix videos. Windows is for people who work, people who make the world go around. Plus, the fact that Apple promotes sodomy is a turn-off for me. Any company that engages or promotes sinful behaviour. I throw in the bin.

[@ednasdiscomachine6049]

I can't agree with a lot of this. Shop around. I bought my SP11 OLED, 16gb/1tb for £1199 and bought the non flex keyboard for £139. I also have a MB Pro, iMac, M1 Mini, M2 iPad Pro & M1 iPad Air. Love Apple, but the SP11 for work is a joy, and I can't run a lot of my business apps on OSX. Running apps under emulation is snappy and fast, and *mostly* everything works - but it's an ever changing/improving landscape. The 2 in 1 design is still genius, and I have a seamless dock between work and home. This is my third SP, and I love it. Certainly not a niche or 'one-off' device, they're everywhere. Still prefer Apple for my music production/theatre work, but the SP11 for my day-to-day. There's a place for everything. Embrace diversity.

[@jaglufc2340]

Where did you get the OLED for that price please? Seems too good to be true tbh.

[@balelitas]

🙌

[@parrylim]

😂

[@USA79999]

Nothing can beat a mac

[@NursePeterMAbraham]

May I ask why the title has the extremely misleading "Replacing my MacBook Air" statement when at the end, it is a failure to replace the Macbook Air?

[@richeez83]

I don't think it's misleading? I read it like he's replacing it for a week to review🤷

[@hieuhuhong1993]

you cannot compare this to the MacBook air because it's not at the same price

[@flaviubadea2000]

He can compare with whatever he wants, they are just tools for him to stuff. If he wants to compare it with an air fryer and asses which one is cooking better fries, it's his business. Will you watch it? Probably won't. And yeah, copilot!

[@Aslam_Aliyu]

@@flaviubadea2000why does it matter what he’s saying makes more sense, the MacBook Air should be compared to the surface laptop and this surface pro should be compared to the IPad Pro, in fact the iPad Pro is much more expensive than this device if we’re being honest

[@iamWing0w0]

Am I the only one to think that calling a 13s faster Handbrake result "substantial" a bit too much?

[@AndrewEthanZeng]

My bad, I should've made it more clear! For the sake of the test, I converted a relatively small video file so the difference's aren't big. When converting larger MXF files or really long videos, the time saving compounded and I saw 30s+ differences.

[@adrianjosesobremonte6015]

Copilot

[@mannkeithc]

copilot