The Surface Book is the latest (and perhaps the last) member of the Surface family to receive an upgrade this year, with Microsoft today announcing the second-generation model that introduces a bunch of upgrades.
First of all, it's worth noting that there are subtle differences in terms of design, so the signature hinge is still there. For those of you who didn't like that detail, there's the Surface Laptop alternative that was released earlier this year that features a more traditional design.
The new version is aimed at users who wanted the convenience of a laptop combined with the hardware capabilities of the Surface Book. The Surface Book 2's specs will make many MacBook owners cry for their money.
The 15-inch display has a resolution of 3240x2160 pixels with 260 PPI and is powered by an eighth-generation Intel quad-core i7-8650U chip running at 4.2 GHz in max turbo mode. The CPU is paired with 16GB of RAM, and Microsoft is selling the device with 3 different storage options ranging from 256GB to 1TB SSD.
The Surface Book is suitable for gaming as it is equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of graphic memory, but also for office use as it weighs only 4.2 kilograms.
The Surface Book 2 comes with a 13.5-inch display with a resolution of 3000×2000 pixels and 267 PPI, and the base model is powered by a 7th-generation i5 processor with 8GB of RAM. The top-of-the-line model is powered by the same chip as the 15-inch model with 16GB and the same storage options. This time, the graphics card is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 with 6GB of graphics memory, which is available for all models.
Both versions feature 2 USB-A ports and 1 USB-C port, as well as the Surface Dock, SD card slot, headphone jack, and Bluetooth 4.1. There's also a Windows Hello camera available, as well as a backlit keyboard with 1.55mm travel.
