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Surface Laptop 2 vs. Surface Laptop 4 13.5” - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface Laptop 2 and Surface Laptop 4 13.5” specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest November 19, 2023

Surface Laptop 2 vs. Surface Laptop 4 13.5”

The 2018 Surface Laptop 2 features the 15W 8th Generation Intel Kaby Lake R quad-core Intel Core i5-8250U up to quad-core Intel Core i7-8650U with the boost speed up to 4.20 GHz. While the 2021 Surface Laptop 4 13.5” features the 15W AMD Zen 2 Architecture 6-core AMD Ryzen 5-4680U Microsoft Surface Edition up to quad-core Intel Core i7-1185G7 with the boost speed up to 4.80 GHz.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 13.5″ Surface Laptop 2 (2018) and the 13.5″ Surface Laptop 4 13.5” (2021), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Laptop 2 vs. Surface Laptop 4 13.5”: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Laptop 2 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Laptop 4 13.5” See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	Better performance It’s now 85 percent faster than the original Surface Laptop. New color Now available in Platinum, Burgundy, Cobalt Blue, and the new Matte Black. Better price $999 for quad-core Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD, and Windows 10 Home.	Better performance - It’s now 70% faster than Surface Laptop 3. New color - Now available in Matte Black, Platinum, Sandstone, and a new Ice Blue. 11th Gen Intel or AMD 4000 processors - The 13.5-inch model now available in both AMD and Intel processors. Longer Battery Life - Up to 19 hours on AMD Ryzen™ R5 models and 17 hours on Intel® Core™ i5 models. Dolby Atmos® Audio - Deliver rich, full-range, and accurate spatial sound from its stereo Omnisonic speakers.
What's missing	Graphite Gold is no longer available Windows 10 Pro isn't available for consumers

Availability	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Released	2018	2021
Release Info	Introduced: October 2, 2018 Pre-ordered: October 2, 2018 Released: October 16 2018	Introduced: April 13, 2021 Released: April 13, 2021
Pricing	Starting at 999$	$999.99 AMD Ryzen 5 8GB 256GB Platinum Only $1,199.99 AMD Ryzen 5 16GB 256GB Platinum Only $1,299.99 Intel Core i5 8GB 512GB $1,499.99 Intel Core i5 16GB 512GB $1,699.99 Intel Core i7 16GB 512GB $2,299.99 Intel Core i7 32GB 1TB Matte Black Only

Surface Laptop 2 Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - Platinum (Renewed) By Microsoft $349.00 $434.00 20% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2, 13.5" (2256 x 1504) Touchscreen, Intel Core i7-8650U Up to 4.2GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 Home (Renewed) By Microsoft $329.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2, 13.5 inches, 512GB, Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM - Cobalt Blue (Renewed) By Microsoft $480.00	See at Amazon
Surface Laptop 4 13.5” Price
	Surface Laptop 4 for Business - 13.5", Matte Black (Metal), Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Fren By Microsoft $444.79 $469.99 5% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 13.5” Touch-Screen – Intel Core i7 - 16GB - 512GB Solid State Drive - Matte Black By Microsoft $599.00 $1,199.99 50% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 13.5-inch Touch-Screen – AMD Ryzen 5 Surface Edition - 8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive - Platinum (Renewed) By Microsoft $598.86	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Size	13.5 Inches
Info	Display Resolution: 2256 x 1504 (3.4M Pixels) Display Density: 201 PPI PixelSense™ Display Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 10nm Oleophobic Coating 100% sRGB color, individually calibrated	Resolution: 2256 x 1504 (201 PPI) PixelSense™ Display Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 10nm Oleophobic Coating 100% sRGB color, individually calibrated

Exterior	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Size Comparison
Dimensions	12.13” x 8.79” x 0.39-0.57” (308.02 mm x 223.2 mm x 9.93 mm-14.47 mm) Width: 12.13” (308.02 mm) Depth: 8.79” (223.2 mm) Height: 0.39 - 0.57” (9.93 - 14.47 mm)	12.1” x 8.8” x 0.57” (308 mm x 223 mm x 14.5 mm)
Weight	Intel Core i5 › 2.76 lbs (1.26 kg) Intel Core i7 › 2.83 lbs (1.28 kg)	2.84 lb (1,288 g) Sandstone and Matte Black 2.79 lb (1,265 g) Cobalt Blue and Platinum
Colors	Black Platinum Burgundy Cobalt Blue	Metal Matte Black Sandstone Alcantara Ice Blue Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad	Keyboard: Full-size backlit keyboard with the soft-touch feel and full 1.5mm travel. Large palm rest with premium Alcantara® material for maximized typing comfort. Trackpad: Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass. Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.	Keyboard: Full-size backlit keyboard with a soft-touch feel and full 1.3mm travel. Large palm rest with premium Alcantara® material for maximized typing comfort. Trackpad: Larger size 115 mm x 76.66 mm, glass. Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.
Ports	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Headset jack	1 x Full-size USB 3.2 Gen 2 1 x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort. 1 x Surface Connect™ + Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Headset jack

Internal Specs	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Processor	8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8250U 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.60 → 3.40 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.70 → 3.60 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W	AMD Ryzen™ 5 4680U Microsoft Surface® Edition 6 cores, 12 threads, 2.10 → 4.00 GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 8MB L3 Cache, 15W AMD Ryzen™ 7 4980U Microsoft Surface® Edition 8 cores, 16 threads, 2.00 → 4.40 GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 8MB L3 Cache, 15W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1135G7 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.40 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 28W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1145G7 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.60 → 4.40 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 28W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1185G7 4 cores, 8 threads, 3.00 → 4.80 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 28W
Integrated Graphics	8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8250U Intel® UHD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U Intel® UHD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U Intel® UHD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz	AMD Ryzen™ 5 4680U Microsoft Surface® Edition AMD Radeon™ Graphics 7 Graphics Cores, AMD Ryzen™ 7 4980U Microsoft Surface® Edition AMD Radeon™ Graphics 8 Graphics Cores, 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1135G7 Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 80 Execution Units, 400 → 1300 MHz 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1145G7 Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 80 Execution Units, 400 → 1300 MHz 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1185G7 Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 96 Execution Units, 400 → 1350 MHz
Memory	8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM	8GB 16GB 32GB 4266 MHz LPDDR4X RAM
Storage	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB Soldered BGA PCIe SSD	256 GB 512 GB 1 TB Removable M.2 NVMe SSD

Connectivity	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.	Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology

Battery	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Size	45.2 Wh	45.8 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 14.5 hours of typical device usage	Up to 19 hours of typical device usage AMD™ Ryzen™ 5 models. Up to 17 hours of typical device usage Intel® Core™ i5 models.
Power Supply	44W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Connect output: 39W	60W power supply with USB-A (5W) (65W total) Supports Fast Charge (0-80% in about one hour)

Software	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
OS	For Consumer: Windows 10 Home For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps	Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Camera	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 720p HD front-facing video camera
Audio	Dual microphones OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium	Dual far-field Studio Mics OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos®

Misc	Surface Laptop 2	Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency
Sensors	Ambient light sensor
Security	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in Secured-Core PC For Surface Laptop 4 powered by AMD RyzenTM Microsoft Surface Edition Windows enhanced hardware security For Surface Laptop 4 powered by 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors
In the box	Surface Laptop 2 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Laptop 4 13.5” Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty Commercial: Advanced Exchange warranty service with expedited device replacement	One-year limited hardware warranty Surface for Business customers: Includes Advanced Exchange, an expedited replacement service, at no additional cost
More	Supports Surface Dial Supports off-screen interaction only