The Microsoft Surface Book is a high-end laptop with a detachable display that you can use as a tablet. First introduced in 2015, Microsoft hasn’t really updated the entry-level model since, although the company did add a more powerful Surface Book i7 last year.
Now Microsoft is overhauling the product lineup with the introduction of the Surface Book 2.
Actually, there are two models: one is a 3.4 pound laptop with a 13.5 inch display, while the other is a 15 inch model that weighs 4.2 pounds.
Both models support either an Intel Core i5-7300U dual-core processor or a Core i7-8650U quad-core chip, and if you opt for a model with a Core i7 processor you also get NVIDIA GeForce 10 series graphics.
There are some differences though: the smaller model features NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics with 2GB of dedicated memory, while the 15 inch model features GTX 1060 graphics with 6GB of memory.
The 13.5 inch model has a 3000 x 2000 pixel (267 PPI) display, while the 15 inch model has a 3240 x 2160 pixel (260 PPI) screen. Both are PixelSense displays with 1600:1 contrast ratios, 3:2 aspect ratios, and support for pen and finger touch.
Other features include 8GB or 16GB of LPDDR3 1866 MHz RAM, up to 17 hours of battery life (during video playback), 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, two USB 3.1 Type-A ports, a USB 3.1 Type-C port, an SDXC card reader, and a headphone jack.
Unfortunately there are no Thunderbolt 3 ports.
There’s an 8MP rear camera, a 5MP front camera, and support for Windows Hello face authentication. The Surface Book 2 has stereo front-facing speakers and dual microphones, an ambient light sensor, an a silver-colored chassis made from magnesium. The 2-in-1 laptop comes standard with Windows 10 Pro and it will be available with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of solid state storage.
The Surface Book 2 goes up for pre-order starting November 9th and it should be available starting November 16th. Prices are expected to start at about $1500 for the 13 inch model, and $2500 for the 15 inch version.
Nice to see a laptop that doesn’t need a kickstand to keep it from falling down.
(1866) DDR3… I read that twice, is that right?
That jumped out at me too which is why I included it: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/d/surface-book-2/8MCPZJJCC98C/2LCR
Dell’s and HP’s updated Kaby Lake-R offerings are also using LPDDR3. For some reason, only Lenovo with their updated Yoga 720 is using DDR4. In fact, Lenovo has been using DDR4 since Skylake.
DDR4 doesn’t have any benefits especially on devices with dedicated graphics as the faster memory generally only helps the integrated graphics by a small amount. LPDDR3 uses less energy than DDR4 I believe.
Core i4 should be core i5. These new low power quad cores are neat though!