Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Surface Laptop Studio to get this killer MacBook Pro feature

Alex Blake
By

Apple has been leading the way with adaptive refresh rates in its devices in recent years but has only recently brought it to the MacBook Pro line-up. Now, Microsoft is following suit and delivering dynamic refresh rates to the Surface Laptop Studio in its latest Windows 11 update.

That’s great news for anyone who is concerned about the battery life on their Surface Laptop Studio and should result in a much smoother experience whether you’re watching videos or writing emails.

Related Videos
The Surface Laptop Studio in Stage Mode.

The new feature is contained in two firmware updates for devices enrolled in the Windows Insider Dev or Beta channels. If you want to get this feature, you’ll need to look out for the following updates:

Related
  • Surface – Firmware – 10.0.156.0
  • Intel Corporation – Display – 30.0.101.1340

Once installed, you will be able to tell your Surface Laptop Studio to switch between 60Hz and 120Hz. Just go to Settings > Display > Advanced Display, then select the dropdown menu under Choose a refresh rate and select Dynamic (60Hz or 120Hz).

Features like this are great news for laptops with high refresh rates. That’s because they dial down to a slower refresh rate when you’re doing less taxing tasks like viewing static images, then ramp up during more demanding workloads such as gaming or video editing, thereby prolonging your battery life. After all, running a display at the full 120Hz all day, even when it’s not needed, can gobble up your battery faster than you realize.

Once the option in Advanced Display settings is enabled, you won’t need to manually change between refresh rates, as Windows 11 will handle that for you. Just select that option and your refresh rate will adapt as required.

While it’s not quite the same as Apple’s ProMotion, Microsoft’s change is a welcome one. ProMotion is something of a secret weapon in the MacBook Pro, and it doesn’t immediately seem like a ground-breaking feature. But put it to use and you’ll see what the fuss is about.

Apple’s implementation is slightly different from what Microsoft is doing. Instead of switching between 60Hz and 120Hz, ProMotion can adopt whatever refresh rate is needed up to 120Hz. That could mean 24Hz or it could mean 100Hz. Still, it’s great to see Microsoft coming on board with this kind of technology. Hopefully it will be expanded to more devices in Microsoft’s Surface range in the future.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
HP Dragonfly Pro vs. Apple MacBook Pro 14: a solid alternative?
The HP Dragonfly Pro Support app.

Apple's MacBook Pro 14 has taken over as the best 14-inch laptop you can buy today, thanks to great performance and battery life, a spectacular display, and an elegant, functional design. It's one of the best laptops you can buy, and it's just been upgraded with the newer Apple M2 Pro and Max CPUs for even better performance and efficiency.

HP introduced the Dragonfly Pro at CES 2023 to take on the MacBook Pro, and it has a pretty steep hill to climb. We haven't been able to review the laptop yet, but it marks an interesting switch for the Dragonfly to the consumer segment from the commercial market. Can HP's newly designated 14-inch machine take on the best?

Read more
2 ways the new MacBook Pro may be worse than the 2021 model
Apple MacBook Pro seen from the side.

The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros have arrived, and in almost every way, they're a solid improvement over the 2021 models. They have better graphics, longer battery life, and faster connectivity. They look the same on the outside, but the internal upgrades are real.

But there are two aspects of these machines that may end up being worse than the original models from 2021 -- and they're not unimportant.

Read more
Here’s why people are saying to avoid the entry-level M2 Pro MacBook Pro
A person sitting in a vehicle using a MacBook Pro on their lap.

One thing Mac users have always been able to count on in recent years is the blazing speed of their computer’s storage. The brand-new M2 Pro MacBook Pro and M2 Mac mini, however, look set to be bitterly disappointing in that regard.

That’s because multiple outlets have confirmed that Macs outfitted with entry-level M2 chips (both the M2 itself and the M2 Pro) come with much slower read and write speeds compared to the previous-generation models. For instance, 9to5Mac benchmarked the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip and found its SSD’s read and write speeds dropped by 40% and 20% respectively.

Read more