Microsoft's Surface Book (1st Generation) was a sleek and powerful laptop that gave stiff competition to Apple MacBook series, but it never made it to most of the countries including India. Now, the American technology behemoth has finally made up its mind to release the successor, the Surface Book 2 in India.
Microsoft Surface Book 2 is a unique laptop in several aspects. It is a hybrid device, which can detach itself from the keyboard and work seamlessly as a touch-screen tablet, all thanks to armadillo-inspired 'dynamic fulcrum hinge' and innovative 'muscle wire locks', which help in easy detachment of the display from the keyboard.
The new Microsoft Surface Book sports 13.5-inch PixelSense display similar to the 2016-seroes and also comes with bigger 15-inch size as well. As far as the exterior look is concerned, the premium metallic shell and also thermal settings of the device have been re-configured to dissipate heat more efficiently, particularly when the device is used during graphics-intensive gaming session.
Under-the-hood, Surface Book 2 houses a more powerful, faster and more efficient SoC (System-on-Chip) than ever before. It comes with 7th Gen Intel Core i5/8th Gen Intel Core i7 processors and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 and 1060 discrete graphics options.
With such top-notch hardware, Surface Book 2 is said to be five times more powerful than the original and is twice as powerful as the latest MacBook Pro, Microsoft claims.
The Surface Book 2 also supports Surface Pen with tilt and 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity for amazing inking as well as Surface Dial on-screen, making it more versatile than any rival brand in its class.
For those unaware, Surface Dial is a new peripheral designed in a shape of a hockey puck, which has to be placed right on the Surface Studio screen. It integrates with Windows 10 to work with Surface for a faster and more intuitive way to scroll, zoom and navigate.
It is backed by 8GB/16RAM and with such top-notch configurations, Surface Book 2 is well equipped to support 3D gaming, mixed reality and capable of performing functions seamlessly in others forms of work.
Furthermore, Surface Book 2 will come with all-day battery life – up to 17 hours of video playback. That's 70 percent more than the latest MacBook Pro, the company noted.
Being a proprietary device of Microsoft, Surface Book series owners get extra perks such free Microsoft Office Words.
When exactly Microsoft Surface Book 2 coming to India and how much will it cost?
Microsoft has only confirmed that it will be releasing Surface Book 2 series in India, but it has neither mentioned the actual price structure or specific time-frame availability details. But, it is expected to be announced in coming months during local launch event.
In US, 13.5-inch and 15-inch Surface Book 2 models are available in three configurations (check-below) with prices starting at $1,499 (approx. €1,270/Rs.97,557) and at $2,499 (€2,117/Rs 1,62,639), respectively.
We expect Microsoft to offer the Surface Book 2 series in same configuration, but with higher price, due to import duty taxes.
Stay tuned. Follow us @IBTimesIN_Tech on Twitter for the latest news on Microsoft products.
Key specifications of Microsoft Surface Book 2 and new Surface Book (2016):
Models | Microsoft Surface Book 2 (2017) series | Microsoft Surface Book (2016) |
Display | Model 1: Screen: 13.5-inch PixelSense Display
Model 2:
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13.5-inch PixelSense display
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OS | Windows 10 Pro Creators Update 64-bit Office 365 30-day trial |
Windows 10 Pro with Office 365 30-day trial |
Processor | Model 1 and 2 come with two configurations:
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6th Gen Intel Core i7 |
Graphics |
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M 2GB GDDR5 memory |
RAM | 8GB or 16GB RAM 1866Mhz LPDDR3 | 8GB/16GB |
Storage | Solid state drive (SSD) options - 256GB/512GB/1TB | Solid state drive (SSD) options - 256GB/512GB/1TB |
Cameras, video and audio | Camera:
Audio:
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Camera:
Audio:
|
Battery | Up to 17 hours of video playback | Up to 16 hours of video playback |
Wireless connectivity |
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802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking; IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology |
Ports |
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Surface Book
|
Add-ons | Security:
Casing: MagnesiumColor: Silver Physical buttons: Volume, Power |
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Sensors |
|
|
Dimensions | Model 1:
Model 2:
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312.3 x 232.1 x 13.0 - 22.8 mm |
Weight |
|
1.65kg |
Package contents |
|
Surface Book
|
Price (in US) | Model 1:
Model 2:
|
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