Surface Day! - Surface Go 2, New docks, Surface Book 3, Headphones, Earphones

[GoodBytes]

Microsoft is announcing the release of its new Surface product lineup of product. It includes new products and refreshes.

Traditionally, a press event is held, but due to the current situation, such event has been canceled in favor of a web release.

 

Surface Go 2

• New screen. Thinner bezel, same device size. The Go 2 features 10.5-inch "PixelSense display"
• improved battery life (no numbers given)
• Much faster CPU option (Core M3 CPU) Microsoft claims: "up to 64% faster performance than the original with 8th Generation Intel® Core™ M options for the first time"
• Now sports dual "Studio" mic that the Pro series has. The company claims that their Studio mic: "increase voice clarity and reduce background noise"
• 5MP front-facing camera with improved low light performance.
• Includes a new camera app built-in to easily take pictures and transform flat: whiteboards and documents (basically the same feature you have with Office Lens or OneDrive app you have on iOS and Android)
• Storage options: 64GB eMMC, 128GB SSD, 256GB SSD (256GB is for commercial model)
• MicroSDXC card up to 2TB supported still there
• Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (Wifi 6)
• Bluetooth 5.1
• For the LTE model: LTE Advanced Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE 
• 1x USB-C (3.1 Gen1), 1x Surface Connect, 3.5mm headphone jack
• Claimed: Up to 10 hours of battery life
• Ships with Windows 10 Home with S mode enabled by default (can be turned off at the click of a button)
• New Type Cover keyboard and Surface Pen colors  - Platinum, Black, Poppy Red, and Ice Blue
  

Device starts at: 399$ US
Release sate: May 12

 

Old vs New

Windows Central posted a comparison shot of the 2 devices. Left shows the old model, and the right the new one

 

 

Surface Book 3

 

• The company claims that the new model provides up to 50% more performance than Surface Book 2.
• and claims up to 17.5 hours of battery life (previously claimed: 17h, but same battery as before, so probably just CPU power consumption being marginally improved)
   
• Availible in 13 an 15inch like before, and sports the same "high-DPI PixelSense Display". (3000 x 2000 (13inch) and 3240 x 2160 (15inch), 3:2 both)
• It now features: 10th Generation Intel Core series CPU. (i5-1035G7  and i7-1065G7)
• GPU Upgrade an options:
    - 13inch: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q (13inch)
    - 15inch: NVIDIA 1660Ti Max-Q or Quadro RTX 3000
• Faster NVMe SSD then before (no details). And like before availible in: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and for the 15inch 2TB option is available).
• 32GB of RAM option available. (options are: 8GB, 16GB and of course: 32GB all on LPDDR4x)
   
• Faster screen (2x faster) release of the screen from the base.
• Intel Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (WiFi 6)
• Bluetooth 5.1
• Dolby Atmos
• Ports layout are the same as before. However, now the USB ports are now upgraded to USB 3.1 Gen 2 from Gen 1.
• DisplayPort 1.4 via USB Type-C
• Cameras are the same (5MP front  and 8MP rear w/ autofocus)
• Same weight and size

Starting price: 1599$ US

Available: May 21

 

 

Surface Headphones 2
 

 

• Now in black
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Improved battery life

Now starts at 250$ US (version 1 was 350$)

Available: May 12

 

 

Surface Earbuds

 

Was announced in the past, but finally going to be released. The Surface earphones features a large touch sensitive side allowing you to control your music, volume and activates your voice assistance

 

Priced at at the low low price of: 199$ US

Available: May 12

 

 

Surface Dock 2

After many years, it is finally being updated.

 

Running off the Surface magnetic quick connect/disconnect port, it features:

• 2x front-facing USB-C ports.
• 2x rear-facing, video-enabled USB-C ports
• 2x rear-facing USB-A 3.2 (10Gbps) ports
• 1x Gigabit ethernet port
• 1x 3.5mm audio in/out port
• Kensington compatible lock
• Enterprise can control each port. So if a company has a no USB drive policy, that can be set.

Available May 26

Price: 260$ US

 

Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub

 

This one runs from USB Type-C port, and can work with any USB Type-C device, not just Surface line. So if you like it, and you have the USB Type-C you can use it (including Macs).

• 1x USB-C (10Gbps data transfers and pass-through accessory charging)
• 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps data transfers and pass-through accessory charging)
• 1x Gigabit ethernet port
• 1x HDMI 2.0 port
• 1x VGA port (for companies that never updated their equipement)
• 1x 3.5mm audio in/out combo jack

Price: 100$ US

Available May 26

 

 

Source 1: https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2020/05/06/introducing-surface-go-2-surface-book-3-surface-headphones-2-and-surface-earbuds/

Source 2: https://www.windowscentral.com/microsofts-surface-dock-2-and-surface-travel-hub-embrace-usb-c

 

 

Update

Surface Book 3 SKUs and pricing (US)

Spoiler

Surface Book 3 13.5 Consumer
10th Gen Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB, Iris Plus    $1,599
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 256GB, GTX 1650    $1,999
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, 512GB, GTX 1650    $2,499
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB, GTX 1650    $2,699

Surface Book 3 13.5 Commercial
10th Gen Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB, Iris Plus    $1,699
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 256GB, GTX 1650    $2,099
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, 512GB, GTX 1650    $2,599
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB, GTX 1650    $2,799

Surface Book 3 15 Consumer
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256GB, GTX 1660Ti    $2,299
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 512GB, GTX 1660Ti    $2,799
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1TB, GTX 1660Ti    $2,999
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 2TB, GTX 1660Ti    $3,399

Surface Book 3 15 Commercial
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256GB, GTX 1660Ti    $2,399
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 512GB, GTX 1660Ti    $2,899
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1TB, GTX 1660Ti    $3,099
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 2TB, GTX 1660Ti    $3,499
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB, Quado RTX 3000    $3,499
10th Gen Intel Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1TB, Quadro RTX 3000    $3,699

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/surface-book-3-2020-announce

 

Surface Go 2 SKUs and Pricing:

Spoiler

Surface Go 2 Consumer
Intel Pentium GOLD 4425Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC    $399
Intel Pentium GOLD 4425Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD    $549
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD    $629
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, LTE    $729

 

Surface Go 2 Commercial
Intel Pentium GOLD 4425Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC    $449
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC    $499
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD    $679
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, LTE    $779
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, LTE    $879

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/surface-go-2-announcement-399

 

Update 2:

Panos Panay posted a short presentation for the reveal:

Update 3

Microsoft released videos detailing the specs of each system:

 

 

 

[captain_to_fire]

12 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

This one runs from USB Type-C port, and can work with any USB Type-C device, not just Surface line. So if you like it, and you have the USB Type-C you can use it (including Macs).

• 1x USB-C (10Gbps data transfers and pass-through accessory charging)
• 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps data transfers and pass-through accessory charging)
• 1x Gigabit ethernet port
• 1x HDMI 2.0 port
• 1x VGA port (for companies that never updated their equipement)
• 1x 3.5mm audio in/out combo jack

The VGA port alone is a good reason to get it because my university refuses to replace those installed VGA projectors and even for those rooms with 1080p TVs, none of them have USB C (at least I’m not aware of any TV with USB C port). The struggle is real when you’re about to present in class but there’s no working dongle. 
 

I wonder if this will work on an iPad Pro because many USB C hubs that works on a Mac is a hit or miss on the iPad Pro unless it’s MFi certified. 

[Arika]

Earbuds still look terrible.

 

Only 2 things I want from Microsoft to add their their Surface line.

 

Surface Pro 15"

Surface Studio Display (give me that amazing thing that I can plug into my existing PC)

[GoodBytes]

On 5/6/2020 at 10:26 AM, Arika S said:

Surface Studio Display (give me that amazing thing that I can plug into my existing PC)

By the time that comes out, you'll be like "What? Only 4500 x 3000? Where is my 8K OLED HDR 9000 Full color spectrum with IR factory color calibrated display? And for THAT price? Sheesh... the 6K model of the mentioned specs is only 200$ at BestBuy."

[kelvinhall05]

Actually happy about this, I personally love the Surface Go (although I sadly don't own one) and would love to get one some day.

 

 

Maybe this will drive down the prices of the first gen lol

[Commodus]

25 minutes ago, captain_to_fire said:

The VGA port alone is a good reason to get it because my university refuses to replace those installed VGA projectors and even for those rooms with 1080p TVs, none of them have USB C (at least I’m not aware of any TV with USB C port). The struggle is real when you’re about to present in class but there’s no working dongle. 
 

I wonder if this will work on an iPad Pro because many USB C hubs that works on a Mac is a hit or miss on the iPad Pro unless it’s MFi certified. 

I at once sympathize, but at the same time I kinda wish vendors would stop supporting VGA.  It epitomizes that problem the Windows PC world has with being chained to the past, where companies and schools keep 20-year-old platforms around because of misguided priorities or simple inertia.  (See also: "nooo, don't make us upgrade our circa-1998 database software, that would involve actual migration work.")

[GoodBytes]

17 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Actually happy about this, I personally love the Surface Go (although I sadly don't own one) and would love to get one some day.

 

 

Maybe this will drive down the prices of the first gen lol

If you want to keep this device for a long time, my recommendation is get the Go2 with the Core M3 CPU. Pentium Gold is slow. Granted not Atom slow (well a 386 CPU is faster than an Atom), but slow nonetheless. Will be fine for note taking, and limited web activity.. but if you want to do something more, that have a device that is nice and responsive, look at the faster CPU model. Or look at the used market Pro series.

[kelvinhall05]

1 minute ago, GoodBytes said:

If you want to keep this device for a long time, my recommendation is get the Go2 with the Core M3 CPU. Pentium Gold is slow. Granted not Atom slow (well a 386 CPU is faster than an Atom), but slow none the less. Will be fine for note taking, and limited web activity.. but if you want to do something more, that is nice and responsive, look at the faster CPU model. Or look at the used market Pro series.

Eh, I mostly would use it as a content consumption device. As long as it can stream or play video at the native resolution or 1080p or whatever, it's fast enough tbh.

 

This wouldn't replace my Thinkpad as my only portable device, but I personally love tablets for content consumption and light work.

[captain_to_fire]

5 minutes ago, Commodus said:

I at once sympathize, but at the same time I kinda wish vendors would stop supporting VGA.  It epitomizes that problem the Windows PC world has with being chained to the past, where companies and schools keep 20-year-old platforms around because of misguided priorities or simple inertia.  (See also: "nooo, don't make us upgrade our circa-1998 database software, that would involve actual migration work.")

Macs and iPads still support VGA, Firewire 800 is still supported by Macs via dongle. But yeah, it would be nice for Microsoft and Apple to push a software update to make VGA ports a brick but that’s not gonna happen anytime soon. 

Edited May 6, 2020 by captain_to_fire

[Arika]

6 minutes ago, Commodus said:

See also: "nooo, don't make us upgrade our circa-1998 database software, that would involve actual migration work.

Our dos database system at work is so old it's literally called 3270

[captain_to_fire]

7 minutes ago, Commodus said:

(See also: "nooo, don't make us upgrade our circa-1998 database software, that would involve actual migration work.")

Reminds me of government websites crashing because it’s still uses a programming language from the 50s made for the UNIVAC. 

[Commodus]

8 minutes ago, captain_to_fire said:

Macs and iPads still support VGA, Firewire 800 is still supported by Macs via dongle. But yeah, it would be nice for Microsoft and Apple to push a software update to make VGA ports a brick but that’s not gonna happen anytime soon. 

True, although I don't think Apple highlighted it as much as Microsoft is at the moment.  Really, I'd just ask Microsoft to not include VGA in a hub and focus on, say, more USB-C ports.

[Curufinwe_wins]

If anyone is wondering, that cpu (in the SB3) is infact the 10nm advanced part, so even though clock speed are (slightly) lower, the IPC gains are around 20% from the 9-series reference. In fact in Spec2017 it was capable of almost matching single core perf of a 5GHz 9900k.

 

The GPU from a 1060 to a 1660ti (both laptops) should also be around a 20-40% perf improvement in the 15 in models afaik, while the 1050 to 1650 jump in the 13s should be around 40-60%.

 

Battery life should be mostly a wash, but that isn't a bad thing when the SB2 already had amazing battery life. 

https://www.anandtech.com/show/14664/testing-intel-ice-lake-10nm/4

 

[GoodBytes]

I forgot mention, on the fancy Surface dock model, enterprise can set  policy to enable/disable ports, and block things like USB flash drives. This is done via Surface Enterprise Management application available for ITs.

[Curufinwe_wins]

2 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

I forgot mention, on the fancy Surface dock model, enterprise can set  policy to enable/disable ports, and block things like USB flash drives or only select USB approved items. This is done via Surface Enterprise Management application available for ITs.

One other final thing, I can't see the data on the docks unfortunately, but Microsoft did confirm that the power supply included for the SB3 has been upgraded to 127W (from 102W), so it won't have the same 'issue' of slight discharge/extremely slow charge while under 100% load on everything.

[Doobeedoo]

I like the Surface Laptop though.

But in general for all Surface lineup, base modes are kinda anemic and it's outrages how much extra they charge to double that memory and storage capacity.

 

[AlTech]

Honestly quite disappointed by Surface GO 2. I hoped Microsoft would learn their lesson and make the the base model 8GB RAM + 128GB SSD and then a 256GB model for retail customers but nope.

 

I feel like the Surface Book 3 was rushed out. They could have waited for RTX 30 series launch or at least launched with RTX 20 series across the board. 1650 Max Q for 13.5" is quite depressing considering that isn't much of an upgrade of the 1050.

[GoodBytes]

14 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

I feel like the Surface Book 3 was rushed out. They could have waited for RTX 30 series launch or at least launched with RTX 20 series across the board. 1650 Max Q for 13.5" is quite depressing considering that isn't much of an upgrade of the 1050.

Well.. it could be that Nvidia schedule wasn't inline with MS. What I mean is that, for any manufcature, putting in a new CPU or GPU isn't (most of the time) like on desktop PC a nice plop in card/chip. On laptops, the circuit board needs to be designed by the manufacture. Sure they get blue prints of the basic design from the CPU or GPU manufcature, but they need to make it fit in their product, they might need to replace components for higher grade ones, or more heat resistant one, or replace several components by a single more expensive one to fit in the form factor they need the chip to fit. Another possible factor is that the Surface Book has its detachable GPU from the base. That means that they need Nvidia drivers early.. Nvidia might not have been ready in time.

 

So when they were working on the refresh of the Book 3, Microsoft probably went to Nvidia, and said "Hey! what is coming next that you need to keep secret but ready to give us, us trusted manufactures, plans for so that we can implement it in our products and buy your chips. I am sure you have something nice coming up for mobile systems", and Nvidia responded "We do not comment on rumors and speculations. We have nothing to reveal at this time.". And that is what Microsoft (or whatever other manufcature) has to work with. So they either wait and poke Nvidia each week, for maybe something... or not... and waste maybe possibly not have anything for 1 or 2 years before it comes out (see GTX 1000 series) also the desktop chip might be out before mobile, too). So, in MS case, they decided to got with existing solutions.

 

As clearly this is a refresher that was planned, as there is no actual change, heck even the digitizer for its pen has no improvement, and they own the company that makes that, they probably went and said, let's keep the good stuff later with the Book 4, for now, we have Intel new CPU specs that we can implement, let's do that and some minor improvements here and there, and update teh GPU with what exists.

 

Yea it sucks, but such as life. For those looking to upgrade, this one is probably a skip. For those waiting and was fine with the Book 2 specs, this is a more polished versions with the latest tech available toady.

 

So I agree with you it sucks, but I am sure it also sucks for MS. But I don't think it is rushed.

[rawrdaysgoby]

UGH I wished the book 3 had at least up to 6 cores and a 2060 max-q.... Maybe even a faster screen... Like newer products these days...

 

But the base price of the 15 inch is 2300$?!?! I will wait for a price drop + bundle deal....

[Curufinwe_wins]

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

Well.. it could be that Nvidia schedule wasn't inline with MS. What I mean is that, for any manufcature, putting in a new CPU or GPU isn't (most of the time) like on desktop PC a nice plop in card/chip. On laptops, the circuit board needs to be designed by the manufacture. Sure they get blue prints of the basic design from the CPU or GPU manufcature, but they need to make it fit in their product, they might need to replace components for higher grade ones, or more heat resistant one, or replace several components by a single more expensive one to fit in the form factor they need the chip to fit. Another possible factor is that the Surface Book has its detachable GPU from the base. That means that they need Nvidia drivers early.. Nvidia might not have been ready in time.

 

So when they were working on the refresh of the Book 3, Microsoft probably went to Nvidia, and said "Hey! what is coming next that you need to keep secret but ready to give us, us trusted manufactures, plans for so that we can implement it in our products and buy your chips. I am sure you have something nice coming up for mobile systems", and Nvidia responded "We do not comment on rumors and speculations. We have nothing to reveal at this time.". And that is what Microsoft (or whatever other manufcature) has to work with. So they either wait and poke Nvidia each week, for maybe something... or not... and waste maybe possibly not have anything for 1 or 2 years before it comes out (see GTX 1000 series) also the desktop chip might be out before mobile, too). So, in MS case, they decided to got with existing solutions.

 

As clearly this is a refresher that was planned, as there is no actual change, heck even the digitizer for its pen has no improvement, and they own the company that makes that, they probably went and said, let's keep the good stuff later with the Book 4, for now, we have Intel new CPU specs that we can implement, let's do that and some minor improvements here and there, and update teh GPU with what exists.

 

Yea it sucks, but such as life. For those looking to upgrade, this one is probably a skip. For those waiting and was fine with the Book 2 specs, this is a more polished versions with the latest tech available toady.

 

So I agree with you it sucks, but I am sure it also sucks for MS. But I don't think it is rushed.

If anything I'd say it was overly delayed....

Probably because they wanted a serious CPU upgrade before refreshing.

 

But Microsoft kind-of got into an unfortunate cadence with this, 9th gen wasn't really an improvement from Intel unless you were willing to massively uppower your cooling solution (which for this type of device is honestly not a good idea or real solution), and icelake took so long. On Nvidia's side they fell right between one of the less ambitious generational leaps and an expected (sometime later this year) refresh that should really matter.

 

I mean the SB2 is OLD by this point. It's still really good, but Microsoft probably waited as long as is remotely reasonable, and that Nvidia wasn't ready with the next gen really isn't their fault. They probably couldn't have afforded not to make this one and wait an entire year so they could get Ampere involved. 

 

Hopefully this simply means a SB4 won't take as long to arrive. 

 

From an upgrade perspective... I mean it's still a 20-50% cpu and gpu improvement. It isn't like it's literally nothing. In different circumstances that's reasonably respectable. But no, I won't be replacing my SB2 15in this year.

 

Original Surface Book owners should definitely start considering it though. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

3 minutes ago, rawrdaysgoby said:

UGH I wished the book 3 had at least up to 6 cores and a 2060 max-q.... Maybe even a faster screen... Like newer products these days...

 

But the base price of the 15 inch is 2300$?!?! I will wait for a price drop + bundle deal....

Two more cores to throttle faster and get less work done (reminder that in many situations because the cooling is insufficient, the higher core count MB Pro is actually slower than the lower core one). Also 1660ti is more power efficient than the 2060, so that's self-evidently why.

 

Same with screen. This is a hyper-flexible productivity machine first and foremost, gaming is second, and sacking a few hours of battery life to increase refresh rate is an understandably non-automatic choice. They literally can't increase the battery size to compensate (IIRC the 15 uses a 97 wHr battery).

[Dylanc1500]

This all seems very surface level.

[williamcll]

Misspell on OP
 

Quote

GPU Upgrade an options:
  - 13inch: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q (13inch)
  - 15inch: NVIDIA 660Ti Max-Q or Quadro RTX 3000

Looking at the price and performance, it seems like razer has a better deal here, I'm not playing a 1650 for the price of a 2080 Ti build.

[Commodus]

46 minutes ago, williamcll said:

Misspell on OP
 

Looking at the price and performance, it seems like razer has a better deal here, I'm not playing a 1650 for the price of a 2080 Ti build.

You're paying for the detachable tablet function -- this isn't meant to be a gaming system, it's just technically capable of that.

[suicidalfranco]

7 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Much faster CPU option (Core M3 CPU) Microsoft claims: "up to 64% faster performance than the original with 8th Generation Intel® Core™ M options for the first time"

 

7 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Surface Go 2 SKUs and Pricing:

  Hide contents

Surface Go 2 Consumer
Intel Pentium GOLD 4425Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC    $399
Intel Pentium GOLD 4425Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD    $549
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD    $629
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, LTE    $729

 

Surface Go 2 Commercial
Intel Pentium GOLD 4425Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC    $449
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC    $499
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD    $679
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, LTE    $779
Intel Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, LTE    $879

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/surface-go-2-announcement-399

 

seriously: just get an iPad, you'll thank me later