Microsoft wrapped up its much-anticipated Education event earlier today, and the main highlight was definitely the Surface Laptop announcement. The new member of the Surface family was introduced by Panos Panay, who just wrote a detailed blog post to share all the details about the premium laptop.
Unfortunately, the Surface Laptop already leaked before the event, but it’s still great to listen Panos Panay talk about all the craftsmanship that went into the creation of the new device. Panay describes the Surface laptop as “the most personal and balanced Surface we’ve ever made,” and you can tell that the Corporate VP of Devices cares very much about the details. “We took all of these innovations from Surface and brought them together to make a meticulously crafted laptop that is tailored for Windows 10 S,” he explained. “It is thinner, quieter, more powerful, and more personal because of every hard won lesson of the last five years.”
Here are the most important specs of the Surface laptop :
- 12.13″ x 8.79″ x .57″ (308.02 mm x 223.20 mm x 14.47 mm) aluminum casing available in four colours (Burgundy, Platinum, Cobalt Blue, Graphite Gold) and weighing 2.76 lbs (1.25 kg)
- 13.5 in PixelSense Display with a 2256 x 1504 resolution (201 PPI), 3:2 aspect ratio, Surface Pen enabled
- 7th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7 processor
- Up to 16GB of RAM
- Up to 512GB of SSD storage
- Up to 14.5 hours of video playback
- Ships with Windows 10 S (with free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for a limited time)
Overall, the Surface laptop will likely please those of you who like the the premium quality of the Surface brand, but who think that both the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book are slightly compromised. “The hardware and software are blended so flawlessly you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins,” shared Panay.
The Surface laptop is already available to pre-order on the US Microsoft Store with a $999 starting price, and it will start shipping in the US on June 15. It’s not clear yet if the new Surface will also be available in other markets in June: at the time of our writing, we couldn’t find it listed on Microsoft’s Canadian and UK stores.
Microsoft’s latest quarterly results showed a sharp drop in Surface revenue, and it remains to be seen if the Surface Laptop could drive Surface sales ahead of the release of new Surface Pro and Surface Book models. Just like other Surface devices, the Surface Laptop may will likely be a niche product and Microsoft made it clear that it was mainly targeted at students. The fact that it ships with the locked-down Windows 10 S (though Microsoft is offering a free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for a limited time) could also make it harder to sell, even though Panay emphasised the better performance, battery life and security.
Do you think the Surface Laptop fills a gap in the current Surface portfolio, and do you expect it to be popular among students and Windows enthusiasts? Let us know your thoughts about the new device in the comments below.
