Microsoft's first laptop ever: meet the Surface Book

Julio Franco

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Microsoft made a surprising announcement today launching their first laptop ever. And honestly, it's not just any laptop. The new Surface Book comes packing a punch with some of the fastest hardware you will find on a portable PC and shall I say, a drool-inducing design that appears as functional as it is beautiful.

The Surface Book sports a 13.5-inch display (227 DPI, 3000 x 2000 resolution), a 6th-gen Intel Core Core i5 or i7 processor, 8GB or 16GB RAM, a GeForce GPU featuring GDDR5 RAM, up to 1TB storage (we assume of the uber fast PCIe kind). The Book has a machined magnesium body, weighs 3.34 pounds, is 0.90” thick and is supposed to last for 12 hours, claiming that its battery won't lose any charge at all while in standby.

Microsoft claims the Surface Book is "pound-for-pound" the fastest 13-inch laptop ever made, making it twice as fast as the MacBook Pro.

Microsoft is calling it the "ultimate" laptop. But wait...

Although the Surface Book is meant to be used as a laptop first (strong hinge and all), it's also a convertible, so you can pull it off its base and act as a tablet. When detached, the OS seamlessly transitions while the dedicated GPU remains on the keyboard base. You can also flip the screen, attach it again and put it down, for using it as tablet + pen mode. The Surface Pen comes as part of the package.

Back to laptop mode, Microsoft was adamant in describing the backlit keyboard on the Surface Book as one of the best keyboards you'll ever type on, bringing back memories about how they've been making keyboard for 15 years in creating the MS Natural Keyboard. They said it's also very quiet -- as if mechanical keyboard owners care. The trackpad is made of glass with five points of touch sensitivity, it better be good.

The keyboard base also houses two USB 3.0 ports and an SD card slot. Other standard connectivity includes a headset jack, Mini DisplayPort, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a 5.0MP front-facing camera, 8.0MP rear-facing camera with autofocus capable of 1080p video recording and front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby audio.

The Surface Book will be up for pre-order starting tomorrow and will start shipping October 26 with prices starting at $1,499 (maxed out model is expected at $2,700).

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Man that 1500 price tag is a little steep for me but goddamn that is a great looking laptop with the power to back it up.
 
Wow. This is the first laptop that I would want to buy despite its price tag, rather than choosing a budget machine for working on the go. I'm more of a desktop guy, but this machine seems worthy.
 
No USB-C?? Would be nice if it had that.
Is that a thunderbolt connection? Not sure how one looks like.
 
The basic SB model is probably the first legitimate Macbook Air competitor Microsoft has produced..but their still not Apple so they can't expect much success at that price. And its big brother? For less money you could have a more powerful gaming laptop *and* either a large, top-end Android tablet or the latest iPad Air. Is the two-in-one factor really that compelling? I just don't see it.
 
Finished writing just now, sorry for the mistake or two in the process... Microsoft didn't publish final specs until about an hour after the presentation was done. Reload and read again :)
 
Is the two-in-one factor really that compelling? I just don't see it.
It is to me. This is literally everything I have ever wanted from a device. Ability to game and do serious work (although at a lesser level than a desktop workstation, obviously) on a more portable system. This replaces my laptop, tablet, and my desktop. I'll wait until I at least see the general consensus of reviews though I'll probably wait until the second generation anyway, but this is super exciting to me.
 
So basically, it's an XL surface pro, with the port replicator style cover so many of my friends wanted, with a battery slice AND a discreet GPU that takes over when "docked"? Hot damn, can't wait to see a review. =o
 
Looks awesome, I'm getting one. With specs like that it should keep me happy for years. Oh and the big brother nonsense is really tired.
 
Looks pretty good.... wonder if it will have a docking station for the enterprise market. I'm quite happy with my SP3. Windows 10 could still do with improvement though.
 
The pen is actually included!!
(Unlike *cough* Apple)

lol
on the other hand don't compare this with that apple crap... they are not in the same league. Ipad pro runs mobile OS, meaning it is a joke when it comes to productivity or enterprise usage...
And don't forget that Apple calls it "Pencil"... not just pen... you know, they invented the "Pencil"... LMAO

Peace
 
The basic SB model is probably the first legitimate Macbook Air competitor Microsoft has produced..but their still not Apple so they can't expect much success at that price. And its big brother? For less money you could have a more powerful gaming laptop *and* either a large, top-end Android tablet or the latest iPad Air. Is the two-in-one factor really that compelling? I just don't see it.
ipad air will not play games like this machine with the nvidia chip. no comparison. now, about the price...
 
Ooooooooooooooo.... I like :)

the detachable GPU is interesting, gaming laptop owners have been screaming for a universal one of these for years. One step closer.
 
The detachable GPU is the best part about this. Now people can finally have a device that fulfills the needs of a laptop and a tablet without making battery life sacrifices.

I think this could only be the start too. What if the detachable interlink was standardized so that OEMs could sell the base and screen parts separately? This would give laptops that customization appeal that desktops have, to a certain degree at least.
 
I was watching those shills from M$ brag about it on stage during their presentation and honestly, I like it but next years offering will be better still.
 
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Looks nice, but how it works - that's the question :)
It works just like any other Windows laptop you've ever seen or used except this one has a detachable display and can be used like any of their Surface tablets. Does that answer your question?
 
The basic SB model is probably the first legitimate Macbook Air competitor Microsoft has produced..but their still not Apple so they can't expect much success at that price. And its big brother? For less money you could have a more powerful gaming laptop *and* either a large, top-end Android tablet or the latest iPad Air. Is the two-in-one factor really that compelling? I just don't see it.

Hahaha it seems like you don't Surface too much. Whole corporation runs on those and are A-mazing.
 
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