# Microsoft Surface Laptop 33 Hacker News commenters recommended Microsoft Surface Laptop and 26 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 4 years (4 owners). **Verdict:** People recommend it as the closest Windows laptop to a MacBook, praising build quality, keyboard, trackpad, screen and reliability, though driver problems and display scaling are common gripes. ## Why people recommend it - Solid build quality (9 comments): "But the Surface is pretty good, which is weird because it seems like Microsoft isn't really focusing on it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47250135)) "for the time it was excellent, the keyboard and trackpad were both superior to my macbook pro of the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48363555)) "the higher end Microsoft Surface Laptop is on par with Apple MBP build quality wise from my experiences" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46168096)) - Good keyboard and trackpad (4 comments): "for the time it was excellent, the keyboard and trackpad were both superior to my macbook pro of the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48363555)) "The build quality is great, and I even think that the Surface's haptic trackpad is superior." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46912128)) "Surface laptops have good keyboard and trackpad but the display uses 150% scaling" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46578729)) - Reliable compared with other brands (3 comments): "The Surfaces I've owned (3 so far, over the last 8 years) have been much more reliable than the other Windows laptops I've used" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48361732)) "Overall they've been significantly less troublesome than the laptops from other major brands I've had over the same period." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48360992)) "I have had the 15" Surface Laptop 6 as my daily driver and love it. Very reliable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48361407)) - Excellent screen (2 comments): "Checks the boxes for Screen, build quality, and touchpad." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45918200)) "the surface laptop has an excellent screen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47249365)) ## What people warn about - Driver problems on Windows (4 comments): "closest you can get to a "Mac with Windows" in quality/thought (that I've found) and the ARM CPU not being able to use x86 printer drivers is infuriating" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468729)) "the Microsoft Surface Laptops are nice machines but damn if the driver thing doesn't continually piss me off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47517177)) "Somehow the Surface folks can't get enough of their critical drivers in-box with Windows to be able to re-install from stock media." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48481021)) - Display scaling artifacts at 150% (3 comments): "Surface laptops have good keyboard and trackpad but the display uses 150% scaling" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46578729)) "Scaling is set to 150% which causes display artifacts which some people don't notice, but others are distracted by." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46578562)) "it uses 150% scaling (as opposed to the ideal 200%) which means you have subtle display artifacts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47248919)) - Sleep and wake problems (2 comments): "will randomly wake up and sit there with its keyboard backlight full on and act dead" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50315083)) "even on the Snapdragon surface laptop, I can't trust Windows to actually sleep" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48150850)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple MacBook Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-pro.md): 928 recommend - [Apple MacBook Neo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-neo.md): 707 recommend - [MacBook Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-air.md): 633 recommend - [Apple MacBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macbook.md): 499 recommend - [Framework Laptop 12](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-laptop-12.md): 83 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Microsoft+Surface+Laptop+7&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-laptop) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Microsoft Surface Laptop", https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-surface-laptop/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).