Microsoft introduced its new high-end convertible laptop, Surface Laptop Studio 2, at its launch event in New York. Laptop Studio 2 retains the general design and operating logic of its predecessor, including its 14.4-inch fold-out screen, which makes it a much more touch-friendly device. However, it is now much more powerful in terms of hardware and yes, it is still quite expensive.New Surface Laptop Studio 2 features
The new Surface Laptop Studio 2, as we said above, is similar to its predecessor in terms of design or operation. This includes its 14.4-inch fold-out screen. On the hardware side, it includes Intel’s 13th Generation chips – especially the i7 H class – and Nvidia RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 graphics cards. The device also features the Intel Neural Processing Unit, or NPU, the first Intel NPU in a Windows computer.
This NPU unit can be thought of as a hardware accelerator for native AI operations. We will definitely see the NPU unit in most future computers, and NPU will become the main focus material in the coming years.
Surface Laptop Studio 2 can also be configured with up to 2TB of storage and 64GB of RAM. As a result, Microsoft says this is “the most powerful Surface we’ve ever built” and promises twice the performance of the previous device. The Studio 2 also introduces some new connectivity options: two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, a microSD card reader, and the Surface Slim Pen 2. It also features what Microsoft calls “the most immersive touchpad on any laptop.” A new customizable and more sensitive tactile touch surface, called the device, also accompanies the device.
- Processor: 13th Generation Intel Core i7-13700H
- Graphics card: Intel Iris Xe, RTX 2000 Ada 8GB (80W), RTX 4060 8GB (80W) or RTX 4050 6GB (80W)
- Memory and storage: 16GB, 32GB or 64GB LPDDR5x RAM and 512GB, 1TB or 2TB removable Gen 4 SSD
- Screen: 14.4” PixelSense Flow Display 2400 x 1600, 120Hz
- Ports: 2 x USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 with USB4 – USB-A 3.1 – MicroSDXC – 3.5 mm jack – Surface Connect
- Network and connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E: 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.3
- Battery life: 19 hours with Intel Iris Xe, up to 18 hours with Nvidia graphics card
Surface Laptop Studio 2 2023 release date and price
The 2023 model Surface Laptop Studio 2 will be available next month, on October 3. The starting price of the device is $1,999. Depending on the configuration, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 price can rise up to $ 3,699.By the way, we need to open some parenthesis on Microsoft’s side. As we previously reported, Panos Panay, who runs both Windows and Surface, suddenly announced that he was leaving the company at the beginning of this week. In recent years, Panay has been one of the biggest pushers of the company’s versatile device vision. Additionally, Panay was naturally not present at the event, and the leader of the Surface product team, Brett Ostrum, made the announcements instead. While Yusuf Mehdi is the new president of Windows and Surface, we may see differences in the software giant’s progress on the hardware side.
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