I couldn’t help but think back to the 1970s when Microsoft announced the new Surface Book 2 – memories of the opening titles from The Six Million Dollar Man came flooding back. The new Surface Book 2 boasts the latest processors from Intel, upgraded graphics and a massive 17 hours of battery life when playing back video. And Microsoft has one target firmly in their sights. Most of the comparisons Microsoft makes is with Apple’s MacBook Pro, claiming to be better, stronger and faster.
The Surface Book 2 comes in two main variants with 13-inch and 15-inch versions. All the way through Microsoft’s announcement there are comparisons with the MacBook pro, signalling Microsoft placing itself as the maker of premium hardware and not bothering too much with low-cost, entry level machines.
It’s a clever ploy as that’s where the margins are even if the sales volumes aren’t massive.
It’s been a couple of years since the Surface Book was released so the update was certainly due. And the two-year cadence works well as that’s long enough from the last version to encourage people to upgrade from the first model without feeling like they’re being milked with annual incremental upgrades.
Spec-wise, the new machines offer up a variety of options with options all the way to Core i7 processors and 16GB of memory.
A top-of-the-range 13.5-inch model with a Core i7 processor will start at $2999 locally with the cCore i5 version starting at $2199.
Pre-orders for the 13-inch Surface Book 2 will begin on November 9th in the United States and additional markets around the world. The 15-inch will also be available for pre-order then, but only in the United States. Delivery will begin on November 16th. The 15-inch model isn’t currently listed on Microsoft Australia’s website.
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