The Surface Laptop 2 is finally here, courtesy of Microsoft’s annual October devices event in New York. Designed purely as an upgrade to last year’s Surface Laptop, it’ll be released on 17 October.
Prices start at £979, the same launch price as the original Surface Laptop, and comes with the latest line of Intel Core i5 and i7 chips along with a slew of other tweaks. This isn’t a design overhaul though, many of the Surface Laptop 2’s external features remain unchanged from the Surface Laptop.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 2: Release date and price
The Surface Laptop 2 launches on 17 October alongside the Surface Pro 6. It’s available to preorder now from the Microsoft store.
As with any computer, there are various configurations to choose between but prices start at £979 and can reach up to £2,529.
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Previously Surface devices shipped with an option of 4GB memory, however, the Surface Laptop 2 only comes in either 8GB or 16GB options. Storage space options are unchanged, meaning, you can pick from 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB.
The major factor that affects price is the processor. As both 8th-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 are available you’ll have to pay for the power you want. There are also four colours available, including the new black finish alongside last year’s burgundy, teal and silver options. Curiously, different colours offer different configurations to purchase.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 2: Specs and features
The Surface Laptop 2’s main draw is its new 8th generation processors from Intel, who has well and truly cornered the market. It promises a performance boost of up to 85%, a phenomenal amount over last year’s criminally underpowered device. Despite this, Microsoft claims battery life will supposedly last 14.5 hours.
Aesthetically, the Surface Laptop 2 remains unchanged from its predecessor. With the same 2,256x 1,504-pixel 13.5in screen and USB, MiniDisplayPort and 3.5mm headphone jack configuration. Basically, not much has changed externally.
A notable absence is that of USB-C ports which, as in the Surface Pro 6, still haven’t been implemented. This is odd given that Microsoft included them on its new Surface Go only last month.
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As always, Microsoft has a slew of extra gadgets to purchase for the Surface Laptop 2. You’ll have the Surface Pen and Surface Arc Mouse, neither of which have had a separate update but will still set you back at £100 and £80 respectively.
Surface Laptop 2 comes preloaded with Windows 10’s new major October Update, bringing features like Timeline to more apps as well as a Your Phone app to send texts and use apps from your phone to your laptop and easily sending files between devices.
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