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Lunar Lake vs Snapdragon for Development of Machine

Hi folks,

Now that the Surface with Lunar Lake is out, I finally will be making my purchase.

I'd like a second opinion just to avoid regret 🙃. Normally I will just return the device, but I got a one-time use 100 bucks discount, that I want to use wisely.

* I'd like a coding/development machine (desktop replacement so to

say)

* I tend to go with Intel and the fact 32GB RAM is available with Lunar Lake (future proof)

* I compile stuff (C++/Rust) and care for execution speed for interpretated script like Python or Matlab.

There is always edge case that I need to do development locally, having no reliable internet is one usual case or needing to connect to some device.

And there is always obscure driver with no ARM driver or program that performs badly when being emulated (I work with embedded device, so this is quite often the case, the ecosystem is just old).

On the other hand my development workflow has changed gradually, that I know do majority of my developmentwith remote connection either via SSH+VSCode or RDP to a more powerful server machine. Embedded device also increasingly allows debugging over network.

This makes me wonder if the Snapdragon is enough.

* It's cheaper

* 16GB RAM is a bit of a bummer but I reckon typically enough for remote development

* 5G available (more chance of having *reliable* internet

What's your opinion?

12 comments

Comments (12)

darkmagistric

Feb 05

Couple of things I think I can say 1. The Pro 11 5G (ARM) are very likely not going to get additional configs, just the two configs that are. 2. The Pro 11 (Intel) will indeed not have a 5G model - for that get the Pro 10 5G, which has 32GB configs and even a 64GB option (for business/commercial anyway) The Pro 10 5G is very likely going to be on the market for a good long while I'd guess. 3. The Surface Laptop 7 (Intel) however will get some 5G configs, but not till next fall, maybe not until late 2025 or early 2026. Bottomline, don't expect those anytime soon.

james!

Feb 02

I switched to Mac for development and never looked back. I continue to be amazed at how much faster it compiles code. Is there a reason why you need to go Windows, and specifically Surface?

Outside of that, my opinion is get enough RAM to future proof you for awhile. It'll be the longer term bottleneck. But I also think ARM is the future and going that route is preferable if you can get something with the RAM to support it as well. Why can't you get the 32GB Surface with Snapdragon?

I think support will continue to grow for it either way, but Intel will continue to have the legacy support.

WhizzWr

Feb 08

Replying to

Well, I'm not holding my breath. I'm still under the impression this is some sort of strategic move to not gimp the the selling of the Snapdragon variant. There is also rumours about upcoming 11 Inch Surface, which from the perspective of portability, makes more sense to have 5G.

So I agree, it is unlikely there will be 5G Surface Pro 11 Intel.

However, the Snapdragon variant of the very same model has already 5G with all of its certification, and Microsoft has had done "business product refresh" the past with SP 7+ that did introduce 5G to otherwise WiFi only model. Methink it's not completely outside of the realm of possibility 😁

>Also Lunar Lake is from a CPU perspective more of a mouse fart refresh. Battery life efficiency, ARC Graphics , and OLED aside,

That's a mighty mouse you got over there 😂

Edited

darkmagistric

Feb 10

Replying to

Not Gimp the Selling! lol

The Pro 11 5G only has 2 configs, both 16GB, and only one with the OLED Screen

The Pro 10 5G has significantly more (like 10), with 32GB and 64GB configs. While lack of OLED sucks, I doubt that would dissuade many, especially on the business side when you have 32/64GB Ram options. Much like the Pro 11, the Pro 10 5G models were only released back in September. More likey the reason why they don't offer Pro 11 (intel) with 5G is to not gimp the selling of the Pro 10 5G.

WhizzWr

Feb 10

Replying to

Maybe, 😉 but unlike in the US, in the rest of the world the 5G variant of Surface Pro 10 is truly a business device in the sense you can't purchase it retail. Only through business reseller that accept only B2B order. Not even MS Store. So I'm under impression that Microsoft is not trying really hard to sell the Pro 10 5G.

On the other hand the Snapdragon is discounted everywhere worldwide.

Edited