Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is coming — here’s why I’m not upgrading

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Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is coming — here's why I'm non upgrading

(Image credit: Time to come)

Update: The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 has been announced with official specs.

The consumer tech manufacture has e'er been focussed on what comes next. The side by side big phone, or laptop. Similar the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, which is rumored to exist arriving next week. It'southward ever well-nigh the next opportunity for you to upgrade your devices, despite the fact yous likely dropped hundreds of dollars on the concluding model.

Obviously companies desire your money, and flashy new products are the way to become it. Just should we really be that focussed on upgrading our machines at every available opportunity?

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I got thinking about this recently after having some issues with my laptop, a Huawei MateBook X Pro from 2018. I almost dropped it onto a tiled floor, just in the process somehow managed to interruption the swivel separating the screen and the keyboard.

That'southward what happens when your hands are full, and yous instinctively wind up slamming an open laptop against the door. And so now my laptop screen can move a full 180-degrees, rather than stopping at a 150-degree angle like before

Fortunately, that'south the extent of the damage, and isn't nearly as bad every bit what might take happened if information technology had hit the hard floor at a foreign angle. But the incident, along with some other damage the machine has accrued over the by 3 years, got me thinking well-nigh whether it's fourth dimension for an upgrade.

Until I realized there wouldn't be much signal. Because my laptop still works just fine.

This iterative upgrade cycle isn't exciting

There's never any shortage of new tech. Particularly the laptop manufacture, which seems to have new models launching every couple of weeks. Except none of them seem to offer anything particularly exciting. Not compared to the machine I accept, which is still running incredibly well. Even with all the cosmetic impairment.

The Surface Laptop 4 would be new and shiny, though. I wouldn't have to contend with scratches, the dented casing, or a hinge that tilts further than Huawei likely intended. But in terms of actual operation there doesn't feel like there would exist much to proceeds.

Chips are faster than they were three years ago, efficiency has improved and some of the best laptops can even display content in 4K. But how serious are those improvements compared to what I already have?

The MateBook 10 Pro I own was pretty much top of the line when I got it back in leap of 2018, and in those three years it hasn't done much more be a basic work computer. The specs it has however perform perfectly for what I need.

Sure, I could selection up the Surface Laptop four, which is rumored to come up with an 11th gen Core i7, rather than an eighth gen bit, and should come up with more RAM and a better graphics bill of fare. But in that location'southward no real benefit for me. Plus, I don't need the boost in CPU or graphical power for my day-to-solar day apply. Maybe if I wanted to play games, simply I've never been much of a PC gamer.

A beefier battery would be overnice, considering three years of utilise does have its toll. Though so does all the software I tend to keep open all day.

Then why spend anywhere between $1,000 and $ii,000 for something I don't actually need, and become to the problem of setting information technology upwardly just the fashion I similar it? As I found with my recent buy of an Xbox Series X, it often feels like shopping for new tech is more heady than actually owning it.

I feel much the aforementioned way with my phone. I'm still using a OnePlus 7 Pro as my twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours phone, despite the fact that the OnePlus nine Pro only launched. I will admit I accept been tempted by the prospect of picking up that new device.

Just at the aforementioned fourth dimension, there's little point in spending $1,000 on a new phone when the i I have works perfectly well. And I don't have to go to the trouble of transferring everything to a new phone, logging into all my apps, and so on.

Security won't be an result for a long fourth dimension

Of course, smartphones do finer come with congenital-in expiration dates at the moment. Android phone makers typically only support a phone with new software for iii years - with that terminal 12 months unremarkably only getting essential security updates.

Later on that window closes, your phone isn't simply unsupported past the manufacturer. It's an active security risk because any bug that arise won't be fixed. So replacing a phone afterward three years isn't just about upgrading, it'southward near keeping you and your data secure.

Laptops don't tend to have that problem, and certainly not Windows laptops. Security issues do come up up, but Microsoft has a history of supporting older operating systems long afterward users should have upgraded. Support for Windows XP concluded in 2014, 12 years after it kickoff launched, but even that wasn't the end. Security threats like WannaCry and BlueKeep prompted Microsoft to release emergency updates for XP in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

Fifty-fifty if Windows x wasn't finer the "final version" of Windows, with updates in perpetuity, it would still be a very long time before my own laptop posed enough of a security risk to warrant an upgrade.

Never say never, but don't hold your breath

Upgrading for the sake of upgrading is a waste. That's how I see it. Not merely does it cost a fortune to swap out tech for the latest models on a recurring cycle, at that place are environmental factors to consider.

A lot of harm tin exist done in the evolution by a new piece of tech, whether it's to do with mining, product or transportation beyond the planet. Plus, there's the issue of disposing of your existing motorcar responsibly, and hoping the components get recycled properly.

Obviously, a time volition come when I need to buy a new laptop. Whether that's because my current car has aged beyond its usefulness, or if I manage to damage something more important than aesthetics.

But that doesn't seem similar it's going to exist happening anytime soon. Or at least, I hope non, because I have much more important things I need to spend my money on at the moment. Like actual windows, because mine are long overdue an upgrade.

• More than: Microsoft Surface Pro viii: What we know about Microsoft's next tablet

Tom is the Tom'due south Guide's Automotive Editor, which ways he tin usually be constitute human knee deep in stats the latest and best electric cars, or checking out some sort of driving gadget. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo Britain, when pretty much everything was on the table. He's usually plant trying to squeeze some other giant Lego gear up onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining that Ikea won't let him buy the stuff he really needs online.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/microsoft-surface-laptop-4-is-coming-heres-why-im-not-upgrading

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