Microsoft launches Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2 and Surface Studio 2 and more | What a shame

[AlTech]

Microsoft has launched some new Surface devices again.

 

Today they launched the Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2 and Surface Studio 2 and a new Surface wireless headphones.

 

Surface Laptop 2

Firstly, the Surface Laptop 2 features Intel's 8th gen core i5 or i7. Microsoft hasn't specified whether this is Kaby Lake Refresh, Coffee Lake, or Whiskey Lake.

 

Gone is the 4GB RAM SKU and instead the Surface Laptop 2 comes with either 8 or 16GB of RAM.

 

And if you were hoping for USB-C then you'll be dissapointed as the port selection is identical to the previous generation.

 

The only visual differences this year appears to be a new black colour option and storage goes Up To 1TB SSD.

 

Battery life is claimed as being better than the previous gen.

 

The speakers are now Dolby Audio Premium certified - whatever that means.

 

The Surface Laptop 2 starts at $999 for i5, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD.

 

Nothing else really new.

 

 

Surface Pro 6

Like the Surface Laptop 2, it features 8th Gen core i5 or i7. The $799 USD model from the Pro 2017 has been killed off.

 

The Pro 6 starts at $899 USD for the i5, 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD.

Again, we don't know what architecture of CPU they're using.

 

The Pro 6 is not available in the regular Surface Magnesium colour but is now available in either Platinum or Black.

 

Again, the speakers have Dolby Audio Premium certification.

 

Identical port layout and no USB-C.

 

Nothing else really new either.

 

 

Surface Studio 2

Surface Studio 2 is not as big of a jump as the other products and is quite dissapointing to say the least.

 

The Studio 2 is using Intel's 7th gen Kaby Lake i7-7820HQ quad core laptop cpu. Why they couldn't use 8th gen CPUs is beyond me.

 

And the GPUs were upgraded so you either get a GTX 1060 6GB or a GTX 1070 8GB.

 

Again, basically not much new here.

 

This is the only new Surface announced today which has a USB-C port.

 

RAM has been upgraded and the 8GB RAM config is gone so you can either get 16GB or 32GB of DDR4 RAM.

 

The display is also 38% brigher.

 

The Surface Studio with i7, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060 6GB and 1TB SSD starts at $3499.

 

 

And for the unimportant new product announced, Microsoft announced wireless bluetooth Surface headphones

 

 

Funnily enough not a single tech journalism site I consider reputable has covered this launch at this time of writing this. So CNBC it is.

 

I'm quite disssapointed in the Surface Studio 2. It had so much potential but honestly Microsoft seems to not care about the real power users. What a joke

 

Quote

Microsoft announced several new Surface-brand devices, including a new Surface Pro 6 convertible laptop, during a press conference in New York City on Tuesday.

The company also announced the availability of the next version of its Windows 10 operating system.

The new Surface Pro 6 bears a striking resemblance to previous Surface Pro models. The latest one offers up to 16 GB of RAM and a solid-state drive with up to 1TB of storage. And this marks the first-ever quad-core processor in this type of laptop, Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay said at the event.

 

Quote

he Surface Pro 6 includes new Intel eighth-generation processors and are 67 percent more powerful than last year's model, Panay said, with up to 13.5 hours of battery life and an 8MP rear camera. The 12.3-inch device starts at $899.

Unfortunately, as usual, that price still doesn't include the cost of a keyboard required to turn the tablet into a laptop, so expect to pay at least another $100 if you want full notebook functionality.

The new computer comes more than a year after Microsoft announced the Surface Pro -- last year's laptop/computer hybrid. Following that launch, in the fall of last year, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop, the Surface Studio and the Surface Book 2. In July, Microsoft announced a smaller, more affordable version of the Surface Pro computer, called the Surface Go.

On Tuesday Microsoft also announced the Surface Laptop 2, which is a more traditional clamshell laptop with a touchscreen. The new product remains very similar to the original model that came out last year, offering the same 13.5-inch display, but it includes Intel's eighth-generation processors, which delivers an 85 percent performance boost -- along with a quieter keyboard. Microsoft says the battery on the Surface Laptop 2 will last up to 14.5 hours. This product starts at $999.

 

 

Sources:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-laptop/8xqjkk3dd91b?activetab=pivot%3Atechspecstab

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface/8ZCNC665SLQ5/2GDR?ICID=SurfaceDept_R1_CP3_SurfaceFamily_100218&activetab=pivot:techspecstab

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface/8SBJXM0M58T4?ICID=SurfaceDept_Feature_SurfaceFamily_100218&activetab=pivot:techspecstab

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/b/surface#coreui-areaheading-5xrpohn

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/new-microsoft-surface-computers.html

 

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

If only the Studio 2 had 8th gen

[AlTech]

Just now, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

If only the Studio 2 had 8th gen

Yeah. And if only Microsoft delayed the launch and put a RTX 2070 or 2080 in there instead of the 1060 and 1070.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Just now, AluminiumTech said:

Yeah. And if only Microsoft delayed the launch and put a RTX 2070 or 2080 in there instead of the 1060 and 1070.

We're probably not getting RTX mobile till Q4 or even Q1'19 soooo

[BuckGup]

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Yeah. And if only Microsoft delayed the launch and put a RTX 2070 or 2080 in there instead of the 1060 and 1070.

RTX makes zero sense in a computer designed for everything but gaming. The extra tdp, cost, and cooling needed for the same performance is stupid

[BuckGup]

I think MS is trying to combat the Apple headphones coming

[vanished]

I noticed this email last night, was surprised I hadn't heard about it here first

 

Wow, so does that mean the surface pro has had the same IO for 2 generations now?

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I noticed this email last night, was surprised I hadn't heard about it here first

 

Wow, so does that mean the surface pro has had the same IO for 2 generations now?

Part of me wants to say 3 generations. I'm sure it's either 2 or 3 generations.

 

Also, I love how the $399 Surface GO has USB-C and yet the $899 Surface Pro has none

[AlTech]

@AlexTheGreatish I guess this means the Redmondian gods have granted you 16GB RAM .

[AlTech]

7 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I noticed this email last night, was surprised I hadn't heard about it here first

 

Wow, so does that mean the surface pro has had the same IO for 2 generations now?

Also the cliche "your computer is black so it must be professional" look on the Pro 6 and Laptop 2 .

[D13H4RD]

So the laptop and tablet has no USB-C. 

 

When many other laptops, even cheaper ones, have at least one.... 

[mynameisjuan]

All I am pissed at is the lack of TB3 on the Pro 6. Its really doesnt matter on the laptop nor the studio but it would make the Pro the ultimate device. 

 

I mean my Surface GO has Type-c at least. 

[vanished]

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Also the cliche "your computer is black so it must be professional" look on the Pro 6 and Laptop 2 .

Personally I'm more upset about the headphones.  Who in their right mind is going to buy those?  It certainly suits the style of the other devices well, but that doesn't mean it is a good looking product on its own lol

[AlTech]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

Personally I'm more upset about the headphones.  Who in their right mind is going to buy those?  It certainly suits the style of the other devices well, but that doesn't mean it is a good looking product on its own lol

Yeah. And who's gonna buy them for the Cortana integration? Outside of Cortana integration there's 0 reason to buy the headphones.

 

2 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

So the laptop and convertible has no USB-C. 

 

When many other laptops, even cheaper ones, have at least one.... 

Yup and the even cheaper $399 Surface GO has it but the $899 Surface Pro doesn't cos idek.

[suicidalfranco]

so more trash.

Really curious to see what hardware issue on the pro will receive MS's silence treatment this time

[D13H4RD]

Also, the Studio is still using last generation chips? 

 

Why not an 8750H? Yeah, the TDP runaway at turbo can be significant but it's a better performing chip still. 

 

I don't know when the Ryzen H CPUs launch 

[The Benjamins]

14 minutes ago, BuckGup said:

RTX makes zero sense in a computer designed for everything but gaming. The extra tdp, cost, and cooling needed for the same performance is stupid

That makes no sense at all, Ray Tracing is useful for design work and the 2000s has a lot better compute performance which is also useful for a design work.

 

maybe not a 2080 but 2060 & 2070

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Also, the Studio is still using last generation chips? 

 

Why not an 8750H? Yeah, the TDP runaway at turbo can be significant but it's a better performing chip still. 

 

I don't know when the Ryzen H CPUs launch 

They basically have. But nobody is using them yet.

[D13H4RD]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

They basically have. But nobody is using them yet.

Curious on how they perform 

[Drak3]

28 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

I'm quite disssapointed in the Surface Studio 2. It had so much potential but honestly Microsoft seems to not care about the real power users. What a joke

This opinion is a joke. Most power users don't care about the Surface line. No reason to cater to people that won't buy your product anyways.

9 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Yeah. And who's gonna buy them for the Cortana integration? Outside of Cortana integration there's 0 reason to buy the headphones.

 

Yup and the even cheaper $399 Surface GO has it but the $899 Surface Pro doesn't cos idek.

Because the Go is a low end PoS that uses type C the same way an Android or iPad uses their portd.

[mrchow19910319]

microsoft has finally established their own iconic design language on their super-star product.

[GoodBytes]

57 minutes ago, BuckGup said:

RTX makes zero sense in a computer designed for everything but gaming. The extra tdp, cost, and cooling needed for the same performance is stupid

Also there is no mobile chip of the RTX line

[GoodBytes]

45 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Yeah. And who's gonna buy them for the Cortana integration? Outside of Cortana integration there's 0 reason to buy the headphones.

Yes, that is why it is Bose best selling headphones, and one of Sony top selling headphones which are their similarly priced competitor to this headphones.

 

45 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Yup and the even cheaper $399 Surface GO has it but the $899 Surface Pro doesn't cos idek.

The Surface Go has it because USB Type-A doesn't fit (too thin)

The Surface Pro has it, because YOU, YOURSELF, don't have anything USB Type-C. Your USB flash drive: Type-A, Your mouse? Type-A. Keyboard? Type-A. USB Printer? Type-A. Your phone? Unless you got select premium phones, it is on USB Micro, and even then, your phone came with a USB Type A to USB Type-C cable, just in the case you want to plug your phone to the PC.

 

You complain about lack Type-C, but your desktop doesn't even have one, nor is most motherboards, let alone the latest computer cases.

And if you have a Surface Pro already, or another system with mini Display port, you probably already have the adapters and/or cables for it, so why make you run out and buy new adapters.

[GoodBytes]

1 hour ago, mynameisjuan said:

All I am pissed at is the lack of TB3 on the Pro 6. Its really doesnt matter on the laptop nor the studio but it would make the Pro the ultimate device. 

 

I mean my Surface GO has Type-c at least. 

Sure, but why do you care about TB3? Remember that the CPU is not actively cooled, beside on the ludicrously expensive i7 model. Plus, GPU enclosures are still super expensive, and you'll need to buy a GPU for it, which you'll know you'll be bottleneck by TB3.

[mynameisjuan]

4 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Sure, but why do you care about TB3? Remember that the CPU is not actively cooled, beside on the ludicrously expensive i7 model. Plus, GPU enclosures are still super expensive, and you'll need to buy a GPU for it, which you'll know you'll be bottleneck by TB3.

Surface targets certain professionals that could make use of a GPU dock. Docks are still fucking expensive but at least its a choice. And no it wont be bottlenecked if it the display is connected to the GPU. 

 

But like I said, SP is the only model in the line that benefits from it due to its use case.

 

Other than that, TB3 is not really a big deal.