The Surface laptop studio 2 (SLS2) is not really outdated yet. There is no 5XXX nvidia gpu yet, and the Laptop Studio 2 has a really decent processor in it. Don't expect better GPUs for mobile device for 7-12 months really. The screen on the SLS2 has really good color reproduction, but keep in mind it does ghost quite a bit (It's worst downfall).

Also, you're paying for the form factor, so unless you really like the way the SLS2 folds down, you can get cheaper 2-in-1s like the HP Spectre x360 series or ROG FLOW Series, although there are no other 14" 2 in 1s that pack a punch like the SLS2 does. (You either have to scale down to a 13" screen with the ROG FLOW, or jump up to a 16" to get that class of GPU.)

So if you want touchscreen & Pen, 2-in-1 capability and RTX 4060+ graphics capability in a 14" size, its really the only option.

If you don't need the tablet feature, but still want touchscreen and pen, take a look at the Zenbook Pro 14 OLED, it can be found for quite cheap and is a really nice package.

Thanks so much for the advice. It's funny, people always say that with the Surface, you're paying for the form factor, but it's a little bit different for me. I moved to the Surface from other computers because I was tired of OEM software, and I like the clean Windows install. I think for Surface, I pay for not having to deal with third any third party bloat. The form factor just happens to be a plus. I was thinking it might be nice to have a small desktop computer, and perhaps a Surface Pro this next time around. But I don't really know what but I don't really know what companies make small desktops. Wish Microsoft would release something like the Apple Mac Mini.

I say wait. Even if ARM comes out as good as I'm hoping, there may still be a use case of x86 chips for certain software. It depends on your use case and how good the x86 -> ARM translation is. Too many unknowns right now.

As a happy SLS2 owner and previous SB2 owner, I can tell you it's a big step up, but you are going to pay a premium for the form factor. If you don't ink and use it primarily as a laptop, consider going for a normal laptop.

The two warnings I have about the device are:

It's not very portable. You can drop it in a bag and take it with you, but if you travel alot, this isn't the device for you.
The battery life is absolutely horrible.

Hope this helps!

The two points are really important to consider, this laptop is quite heavy and not something you'd pull out on a 20 minute train commute for example. But if you are mainly working at desk and with power supply nearby this is a heavenly device for people in the creative field. Drawing, animating, video editing, 3D-Modelling and gaming all in one laptop serves a small niche of people but for those people it's pretty darn good.

it's hard to say. We have no idea when the laptop studio 3, which we can presume to have arm. is gonna come out. And the arm chips kind of make the intel ones redundant

I'm hoping I don't need to wait for the SLS3. Maybe they'll do a mid-cycle refresh. 🤞

If you need something now, then get whatever is available. However, if you can wait, then wait for lunar lake chips for future proofing with better efficiency and ai performance

It is always a bad time to buy a laptop..

I returned my SLS2, but not really for a lack of performance but because I really ended up wanting a smaller device, plus it had the awful audio popping issue (bad speakers)

My dollar would say it's fine for now if you're locked in to Intel and the price is a little bit discounted.