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Surface Laptop 5 13.5” vs. Surface Laptop 2 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface Laptop 5 13.5” and Surface Laptop 2 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest November 19, 2023

Surface Laptop 5 13.5” vs. Surface Laptop 2

The 2022 Surface Laptop 5 13.5” features the 15W 12th Generation Intel Alder Lake U 10-core Intel Core i5-1235U up to 10-core Intel Core i7-1265U with the boost speed up to 4.80 GHz. While 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.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 13.5″ Surface Laptop 5 13.5” (2022) and the 13.5″ Surface Laptop 2 (2018), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Laptop 5 13.5” vs. Surface Laptop 2: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Laptop 5 13.5” See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Laptop 2 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.
What's missing		Graphite Gold is no longer available Windows 10 Pro isn't available for consumers

Availability	Surface Laptop 5 13.5”	Surface Laptop 2
Released	2022	2018
Release Info	Introduced: October 12, 2022 Pre-ordered: October 12, 2022 Released: October 25, 2022	Introduced: October 2, 2018 Pre-ordered: October 2, 2018 Released: October 16 2018
Pricing	Consumer models Windows 11 Home Intel Core i5-1235U $999.99 8GB 256GB $1,299.99 8GB 512GB $1,499.99 16GB 512GB Intel Core i7-1255U $1,699.99 16GB 512GB Business models Windows 11 Pro Intel Core i5-1245U vPro $1,099.99 8GB 256GB $1,399.99 8GB 512GB $1,599.99 16GB 512GB Intel Core i7-1265U vPro $1,699.99 16GB 256GB $1,799.99 16GB 512GB	Starting at 999$

Surface Laptop 5 13.5” Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 13.5" Touchscreen Notebook - 2256 x 1504 - Intel Core i7 12th Gen i7-1265U - Intel Evo Platform - 16 GB Total RAM - 512 GB SSD - Matte Black By Microsoft $1,110.18 $1,799.99 38% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 13.5" Touchscreen Notebook - 2256 x 1504 - Intel Core i7 12th Gen i7-1265U - Intel Evo Platform - 32 GB Total RAM - 512 GB SSD - Matte Black By Microsoft $1,399.00 $1,599.99 13% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 13.5" Touchscreen Notebook - 2256 x 1504 - Intel Core i7 12th Gen i7-1265U - Intel Evo Platform - 16 GB Total RAM - 256 GB SSD - Matte Black (Renewed) By Microsoft $686.99	See at Amazon
Surface Laptop 2 Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB) - Black (Renewed) By Microsoft $299.95 $317.40 5% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB) - Burgundy (Renewed) By Microsoft $347.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - Platinum (Renewed) By Microsoft $335.62 $414.95 19% OFF	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Laptop 5 13.5”	Surface Laptop 2
Size	13.5 Inches
Info	13.5” PixelSense™ Display Resolution: 2256 x 1504 Density: 201 PPI Color profile: sRGB and Vivid Individually color-calibrated display Refresh rate: 60Hz Aspect ratio: 3:2 Contrast ratio: 1300:1 Touch: 10-point multi-touch Brightness: 400 nits maximum (typical). 5 nits minimum Dolby Vision IQ™ support Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 Models with Alcantara keyboard finish. Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 Models with Metal keyboard finish.	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

Exterior	Surface Laptop 5 13.5”	Surface Laptop 2
Size Comparison
Dimensions	12.1” x 8.8” x 0.57” 308 mm x 223 mm x 14.5 mm	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)
Weight	Metal 2.86 lbs (1.297 kg) Alcantara 2.80 lbs (1.272 kg)	Intel Core i5 › 2.76 lbs (1.26 kg) Intel Core i7 › 2.83 lbs (1.28 kg)
Colors	Metal Matte Black Sage Sandstone Alcantara Platinum	Black Platinum Burgundy Cobalt Blue
Keyboard and Trackpad	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 gestures.	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.
Ports	1 x Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C interface supports USB 4.0, Power Delivery, DisplayPort, and data transfer up to 40Gbps. 1 x Full-size USB 3.1 Gen 2 Data transfer up to 10Gbps. 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Headset jack	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Headset jack

Internal Specs	Surface Laptop 5 13.5”	Surface Laptop 2
Processor	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1235U 10 cores, 12 threads, 1.30 → 4.40 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1245U vPro 10 cores, 12 threads, 1.60 → 4.40 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1255U 10 cores, 12 threads, 1.70 → 4.70 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1265U vPro 10 cores, 12 threads, 1.80 → 4.80 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W	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
Integrated Graphics	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1235U Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 80 Execution Units, → 1200 MHz 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1245U vPro Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 80 Execution Units, → 1200 MHz 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1255U Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 96 Execution Units, → 1250 MHz 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1265U vPro Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 96 Execution Units, → 1250 MHz	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
Memory	8GB 16GB 32GB 5200 MHz LPDDR5 RAM	8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Storage	256 GB 512 GB 1 TB Removable M.2 NVMe SSD	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB Soldered BGA PCIe SSD

Connectivity	Surface Laptop 5 13.5”	Surface Laptop 2
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 5.1 technology	Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology

Battery	Surface Laptop 5 13.5”	Surface Laptop 2
Size	47.4 Wh Nominal battery capacity. 45.8 Wh Minimum battery capacity.	45.2 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 18 hours of typical device usage	Up to 14.5 hours of typical device usage
Power Supply	60W power supply with USB-A (5W) (65W total) Supports Fast Charge (0-80% in about one hour)	44W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Connect output: 39W

Software

Surface Laptop 5 13.5”

Surface Laptop 2

Consumer models

Windows 11 Home

Business models

Windows 11 Pro

For Consumer: Windows 10 Home
For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro

Free upgrade to Windows 11

Built-in Apps

Consumer models

Preloaded Microsoft 365 Apps
Microsoft 365 Family 30-day trial
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 30-day trial

Business models

Preloaded Microsoft 365 Apps
Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, or Microsoft 365 Apps 30-day trial

Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Laptop 5 13.5”	Surface Laptop 2
Camera	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 720p HD front-facing video camera
Audio	Dual far-field Studio Mics OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos®	Dual microphones OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium

Misc	Surface Laptop 5 13.5”	Surface Laptop 2
Inking	Designed for Surface Pen Supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel 0.1mm precision	Supports Surface Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency
Sensors	Ambient light sensor
Security	Firmware TPM 2.0 is a security processor that is designed to give you peace of mind. Windows Hello face sign-in	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface Laptop 5 13.5” Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Laptop 2 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty Commercial: Advanced Exchange warranty service with expedited device replacement
More		Supports Surface Dial Supports off-screen interaction only