Microsoft has today unveiled the all new Surface Book 2 laptop with a detachable touch display, that also functions as a tablet like its predecessor, and is being offered in 13-inch and 15-inch models (via ArsTechnica). The device aims to be a daily workhorse laptop-tablet hybrid for professionals, featuring the latest 8th Gen Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 and 1060 discrete graphics.
Microsoft claims that the Surface Book 2 is up to five times more powerful than the original and is twice as powerful as the latest MacBook Pro. All this power and Surface Book 2 still provides all-day battery life, with up to 17 hours of video playback. Surface Book 2 with the 13” weighs 3.38lbs and the 15” Surface Book 2 at 4.2lbs. “There has never been this much computational power in a mobile form factor this light”, notes Microsoft.
The 13-inch system is available with either a 7th generation Kaby Lake i5-7300U processor or an “8th generation” Kaby Lake-R i7-8650U processor. In all configurations, the tablet unit is fanless; Microsoft insists that the system chassis can dissipate the full 15W of power that the chip can draw, for extended periods, without suffering any kind of thermal throttling and that it can do so without a fan.
The i5 version comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of PCIe SSD storage; the i7 comes in three RAM/storage configurations: 8GB and 256GB; 16GB and 512GB; and 16GB and 1TB.
Initially available in the U.S. only, the Surface Book 2 is priced at $1,499 for the 13-inch, and $2,499 for the 15-inch version, with preorders beginning on November 9. To learn more, click here.
