A drop chamber is designed to validate Microsoft’s simulation data against the reality of dropping a device on concrete flooring. The drop chamber was key to developing Microsoft’s removable battery packs on its latest Surface devices, for example, to ensure any drops wouldn’t puncture the batteries.

Microsoft is rolling out two lower-end versions of its main Surface devices in a bid to drum up interest in computers that can take advantage of the company’s artificial intelligence tools and better compete with Apple’s range of slim devices.

EDT In a statement to Mashable, Microsoft confirmed that it will no longer sell the $999.99 configurations of its flagship Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 with 10-core Snapdragon X Plus processors,