The newMicrosoft Surface Laptop Studio 2takes the leading asMicrosoft ’s most - powerful fellow member of its long - running Surface product line of PCs . It also take in some extra credit for ingest a complex mashup of a name , draw from both the fantabulous Surface Laptop line of high - end clamshell and the Surface Studio personal line of credit of all - in - one desktop PCs .
That ’s because this system , like its precursor , feel a little like a clamshell laptop and a little like an all - in - one desktop , thanks to its unusual ( if not unequaled ) horizontal hinged display . It also folds down to a full tablet mode , like the Surface Pro line . And it has the discrete computer graphic choice once found in the now - discontinue Surface Book business , making this genuinely a mix of just about every Surface Cartesian product that ’s add up before .
show more : Microsoft ’s Surface Laptop Studio 2 in Pictures
Photo: Dan Ackerman
I ’ve only had the Surface Laptop Studio 2 for a pair of days , so regard this a preliminary hands - on . In those couple of years , however , I ’ve used the system for role and productivity work , Photoshop editing , video watching and even gaming , all to dear effect .
Price and configurations
Of of course , I would expect that , considering I ’m using the very high - end configuration of the system Microsoft sent us to test . TheSurface Laptop Studio 2starts at a reasonable $ 1,999 , with a thirteenth - gen Intel Core i7 , 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD and Intel Iris Xe graphics .
The configuration tested here is a banging $ 3,299 , with the same CPU , but also 64 GB of RAM , a 1 TB SSD , and an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU . Several in - between configs are available , and you could go all the way up to $ 3,699 for a alike model with a 2 TB SSD .
Design and hybrid options
All the Surface Laptop Studio systems function the same way , however . The sieve is hinged horizontally at the halfway point , allowing you to pull the display forrard over the keyboard , so it rest just in front of the haptic touchpad . This turns the system into a 14.4 - inch stall - mode presentation ( with a 2,400×1,600 resolution ) , which is enceinte for media usance and gaming with a gamepad .
Pull the screen further down and it cover the keyboard completely , close into a chunky pad . In tablet mode , it does n’t consist only flat , like a Surface Pro or Lenovo Yoga would , instead it ’s slightly higher at the back end , similar to the original Surface Laptop Studio from a couple of years ago . At 4.37 dog pound , it ’s a hefty tablet to carry around , especially if you ’re going to have it in one hand and use Microsoft ’s Slim Pen 2 stylus to delineate or take notes with the other .
One affair I appreciated about the design here is that unlike loan-blend or 2 - in-1 laptops that have 360 - level folding hinge , when this organisation is in tablet mode , the keyboard is entirely cover and out of sight . On something like a Lenovo Yoga , the nonoperational keyboard becomes the back surface of your tab , which I find distracting , both tactilely and visually .
Photo: Dan Ackerman
Even pose on a desk in clamshell mode , this is a bulky system of rules . It sit down on top of a small riser , which is essentially rooter vents and room for cooling , so the keyboard deck hovers more or less above your desk . The intact matter is almost 22 mm duncish when close , which is more than a 16 - column inch MacBook Pro , which clocks in at just shy of 17 mm boneheaded .
Benchmarks and gaming
Below are some initial benchmarks of the system , show that it is indeed a powerful system for both creativity and productiveness . Plus , while the Nvidia 4060 is n’t the most hefty laptop computer GPU out there , it ’s more than enough for current game , if you keep your expectations small .
by nature I had to mate Microsoft ’s late high - goal PC with itslatest high - conclusion game , Starfield . By setting the computer graphic presets to medium and the plot ’s resolution to basic full HD , I was capable to keep my frame rates in the mid-40s most of the metre , and the answer face better and ran smoother than playing the game on an Xbox Series X , where it ’s mesh to 30fps .
In this fount , I played the game by pull the show over the keyboard and using an Xbox gamepad connected via Bluetooth , which made for a very immersive experience . One thing to remark , if you ’re not using the add Microsoft ability connection , and instead using a random USB - ascorbic acid power adapter , you might run out power quicker than it can be supplied when play . Using a modest 45W Lenovo USB - C courser I had consist around , I got about two minute of Starfield in before getting a low bombardment word of advice .
Photo: Dan Ackerman
We ’ll continue to test theMicrosoft Surface Laptop Studio 2and update this initial hand - on into a full review with buy recommendation in the approximate time to come . Features we ’ll expand on include the improved haptic trackpad , the kick upstairs webcam , expand port wine and the inclusion of an NPU , or neuronic processing whole , which should help with onboard processing of some of the AI sweetening Microsoft pronounce are come soon to the Windows operating organisation .
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Photo: Dan Ackerman
Photo: Dan Ackerman
