Microsoft’s $950 Surface Laptop Can’t Handle 8GB of RAM

Microsoft’s 13-inch Surface Laptop keeps the excellent hardware from last year, but its new $949.99 base model comes with only 8GB of RAM—and Windows 11 regularly runs out of room.

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Verge Score: 6/10

The laptop still has a strong keyboard, an excellent trackpad, a sharp 1080p webcam, and battery life that easily reaches 10 hours. Its eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-46-100 processor is nearly identical to the chip in last year’s model, with a slightly faster boost speed. The chassis, build quality, and overall feel remain among the best available in a thin-and-light Windows notebook.

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But last year’s $900 model included 16GB of RAM. This year, the price rises to $950 while memory is cut in half. The new base configuration also includes just 256GB of UFS storage, which feels more restrictive as SSD prices rise.

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Windows 11 performance with 8GB of RAM

Basic browsing and video streaming were generally fine, but modest multitasking caused repeated freezes. During a Microsoft Teams call, a short streamed video made the entire laptop hang for several seconds while roughly 10 Chrome tabs, Slack, and Signal were open across two desktops. The webcams were off.

Similar pauses occurred several times a day, including while working only in Google Docs. Task Manager showed memory use at roughly 6.7GB of the available 7.6GB. After a fresh reboot with only essential startup apps, Windows 11 was already using 4.2GB—about the minimum Microsoft requires to run the operating system.

Restricting the system to around six Chrome tabs, closing Signal, and avoiding virtual desktops reduced usage to approximately 5.5GB. That makes the laptop workable for light loads, but not pleasant to manage on a new $950 computer. It also raises questions about how usable the machine will be in five years.

The 8GB MacBook Neo has a similar limitation, but the review found that macOS handled more multitasking. The Neo also costs $250 less than the Surface Laptop, even after Apple’s recent price increase.

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Surface Laptop specifications and alternatives

Microsoft has said its focus this year is improving Windows 11's performance and reliability on lower-cost hardware, partly to compete with the MacBook Neo. The review argues that the company has more work to do—particularly as upcoming 8GB laptops from Dell, Acer, and Asus are expected to arrive amid a RAM shortage likely to last years.

The reviewed Surface Laptop includes:

• Display: 13-inch, 1920 x 1280, 60Hz touchscreen
• Memory and storage: 8GB non-replaceable LPDDR5X RAM, 256GB UFS
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, one USB-A 3.1, two USB-C 3.2, and a 3.5mm audio jack
• Biometrics: Fingerprint sensor in the power button
• Size and weight: 2.7 pounds; 11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 inches
• Battery: 50Wh

The 8GB model scored 2348 in Geekbench 6 single-core and 9421 in multi-core testing. Its PugetBench for Photoshop score was 288, while Premiere Pro testing crashed; a 4K Premiere export also crashed. Sustained SSD read and write speeds were 3804.31MB/s and 3310.94MB/s, respectively.

The same Surface Laptop with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage costs $1,249.99 in the comparison data, while the reviewed 8GB model is listed at $949.99. The better choice is to spend more for 16GB, consider a reputable refurbished or open-box machine, or choose the $699 MacBook Neo. The 8GB Surface Laptop is a case of getting less for more—and prices could rise again to $1,050 next year or $1,200 the year after.