Microsoft dropped a bombshell yesterday with the announcement of a brand new addition to the Surface line-up, the Surface Book.
Described by the company as the “Ultimate Laptop”, the device combines laptop performance with the portability of a tablet computer, thanks to a detachable screen that can be removed on the fly. The design is almost industrial in appearance, with an all-metal brushed aluminium finish.
The screen portion of the device carries the CPU, which will be one of the new 5th generation Intel Skylake processors (up to i7). The keyboard portion acts as a docking station which holds a discrete Nvidia GPU, though the exact model remains unknown. All we currently know is that it uses the Maxwell architecture and will include 1GB of GDDR5 memory. It’s thought that it could be a semi-custom chip designed in partnership by both companies and equatable in power to the current GTX 960m. The hinge for this device is possibly the most-engineered thing we’ve ever seen, with an incredible snake-like mechanism where it bends and compresses according to exact angle needed.
The 13.5-inch screen has the highest resolution of any notebook currently available; an eye-watering 3000 x 2000 pixels. It uses a 3:2 aspect ratio which is modelled on a piece of A4 paper and has a higher pixel density than the Macbook Pro at 267 pixels-per-inch. The Surface Book also comes with dual 5 megapixel front-facing cameras for face authentication and an 8 megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video recording. Connectivity is the same as the new Surface Pro 4, which means no USB-C but plenty of standard USB 3.0 connectivity. Battery life is quoted as 12 hours, though it remains to be seen how long the thing will actually last.
The Surface Book will be available from October 26th and pre-orders start today. Now for the depressing part; it’s way out of reach for mere mortals. The base model starts at $1,499 alone, with the highest configuration setting you back a soul-destroying $2,699. UK pricing is yet to be confirmed but it’s likely to be even more expensive than our American friends.
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