Microsoft engineer talks about the evolution of thermal design in the Surface line
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A leaked presentation has given us an insight into several design features in the Surface line of laptops and PCs.
Uncovered by WalkingCat, we earlier heard how the Surface Neo was designed to activate more of your brain, and why no Surface device has Thunderbolt 3 ports or socketed RAM.
Now WalkingCat has posted another video talking about the evolution of thermal design in the Surface line.
The presented, who appears to be an engineer on the Surface team, explained that despite the fan on the Surface Pro 3, the device became so hot over the processor that it could be uncomfortable to hold.
The Surface Pro 4 however moved on to a combination fan and heat pipe design, which improved the thermals significantly, and in the Surface Pro 5,6, and 7, for the Core i5 model and below, Microsoft was able to go completely fanless.
This is significant because it reduces the noise emissions from a PC, which can interfere with voice conference calls for example and can be distracting, and it also allows the fanless devices to be used in cleanrooms.
https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/1254071521879810053
This dedication to low noise even extended to the Surface Hub, which uses an advanced cooling design which makes it unnoticeable even in a quiet library.
https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/1254082028200267776
Given that my Lenovo is currently burning my legs, it seems to me that Microsoft has not made enough noise about their thermal design efforts. Do our readers agree? Let us know in the comments below.
