We tried testing with the Windows performance slider set to maximum, and the results were unchanged.

Also, we’re comparing the first-gen SQ1 chip, which maxes out at 3GHz, and not the current SQ2-though the SQ2 offers a teensy upgrade to a 3.1GHz boost clock. To be fair, Microsoft’s emulator is in preview, and Microsoft promises performance will improve over time. But these benchmarks provide insight into just how slowly the Surface Pro X and its SQ1 chip run with the new 64-bit X86 instruction emulator layered on top. We hewed closely to the test suite from Macworld’s MacBook Air review, including GeekBench 5, Cinebench R23, HandBrake, and a representative game, Rise of the Tomb Raider. We added a third Windows laptop for reference: the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14, a decidedly average $700 laptop with a fairly pedestrian Core i5-1035G1 inside.

We already had a good idea of how slow Microsoft’s Surface Pro X is-that was evident from our original review. (Microsoft warned that not every app would work, even with its emulator.) We used Apple’s MacBook Air (M1) as a comparison. (We did not have an SQ2-powered Surface Pro X to test.) We downloaded and installed Windows Insider Build 21277 and the additional code, such as Adreno GPU drivers, to allow 64-bit X86 apps to run. Our testbed was Microsoft’s Surface Pro X, running on a first-generation SQ1 chip, a more powerful version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx. Apple and its M1-powered MacBook Air have accomplished what Microsoft hasn’t: delivering a viable new Arm ecosystem of hardware and software.

Microsoft sq1 processor