Microsoft has announced the launch of two new laptops in its Surface series, with the Surface Book 3 and the Surface Go 2 now available for pre-order in select markets. There are now a pretty wide variety of Surface “laptops” in the market, with the Surface Book 3 being a laptop with a detachable display and the Surface Go 2 being the company’s budget tablet/laptop option.
Surface Book 3
Microsoft says that the new Surface Book 3 is the company’s “most powerful laptop ever”, with a performance bump of 50% over the previous Surface Book. You also get up to 17.5 hours of battery life, which is certain impressive by laptop standards.
There are two variants available: one with a 13.5″ display and a larger 15″ model. Both models feature 3K resolutions, with aspect ratios of 3:2. Meanwhile, the smaller 13″ variant has options of a 10th Gen Core i5 and i7 processors, while the larger Surface Book 3 is only available with the i7 processor.
Microsoft has also included discrete graphics options for the new Surface Book, with the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM included on the 15″ model. For the 13″ model, you get a Nvidia GTX 1650 MaxQ with 4GB of GDRR5 VRAM for the i7 version, while the i5 version features integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics.
According to Microsoft, the idea behind the Surface Book 3 is to combine “the power of a desktop” with the “versatility of a tablet” in a laptop. The internals are certainly in line with that thinking, with up to 32GB of RAM available and storage configurations of up to 2TB of PCIe SSD.
Meanwhile, WiFi 6 is supported across the range, and up to 127W fast charging is supported via the Surface Connect port on the 15″ model. The Surface Book 3 is priced from US$1,599 (~RM6,877), with availability to begin on the 21st of May 2020.
Surface Go 2
Meanwhile, the company has also announced an upgrade for the affordable Surface Go line. The Surface Go 2 is the smallest computer/tablet in the range, with dimensions of 245mm x 175mm x 8.3mm, while you get a 10.5″ display pushing a Full HD resolution.
Support for the Surface Pen is available, with Microsoft saying that the Surface Go 2 s designed for “distance learners and remote workers”. Under the hood, the device is powered by either the Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y or 8th Gen Intel Core m3 CPU, paired to integrated Intel UHD Graphics 615. A 128GB SSD storage option is available, along with up to 8GB of RAM.
Battery life is decent, with Microsoft offering an estimate of up to 10 hours with “typical device usage”. However, it’s a tad disappointing that the Surface Go 2 does not have WiFi 6 support, unlike it’s more premium cousin, the Surface Book 3.
The company claims that audio is improved from previous versions, with a dual microphone setup available to help with video calls. As such, you also get a 5MP Full HD front-facing camera, along with an 8MP Full HD rear camera—the camera options cement the Surface Go 2’s positioning as the portable tablet option within the Surface range of devices.
The Surface Go 2 will be available on the 12th of May in select markets, with Type Covers, Sleeves, and other accessories available in colour options of Platinum, Black, Poppy Red, and Ice Blue. Pricing starts at US$399 (~RM1,716).
We don’t have concrete information on when the new Surface devices will hit the Malaysian market, so be sure to keep SoyaCincau bookmarked for any future updates on availability. To find out more, click here.
