> Surfaces are very, very custom. Their x86 versions even are almost entirely bespoke: There are custom Surface drivers for nearly every component.

Yet almost all use Intel CPUs, and the performance of the Surface Go / Surface Go 2, is abysmal compared to the M1.

The Surface Pro X?

Single Core score ~800 vs ~1700 for the M1

Multi Core score ~3000 vs ~7500 for the M1

https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/compare/4799088?baselin...

It's a ARMv8 CPU... How is it 'very custom'

> Their hardware team is top notch

That keyboard... it makes the bad Apple ones look top shelf. I know removable keyboards are a different thing but I cringe remembering the clicks and trackpad.

Honestly, the typing experience for me of the Surface keyboard is perfectly fine... it's just that the form factor makes lap-use difficult. I didn't think it'd be a problem for me, but a year or two in, I felt regret there.

The Surface Book seems like a vast improvement in that regard... but it's extremely expensive, and relied on an overengineered latching mechanism. Dell made a really neat Book alternative, the Latitude 7285, which was really compelling, but by the time I was in the market, they'd abandoned that form factor already. :/

I don't know, I think the Surface pro keyboard is surprisingly good all things considered. I agree the trackpad doesn't feel great, but it is accurate and usable enough and the typing experience is certainly no worse than any other similarly sized laptop I've used and better than many. For a removable keyboard I think they've done a great job.