Microsoft Surface Book 2: UK price, release date, specs, and features

Microsoft has taken the wraps off its new notebook.

The next-generation Windows 10 notebook includes the latest Intel Core processors, 17 hours of battery life, and a new 15-inch display option.

says its new hardware is powerful enough to “fuel the next wave of computing across mixed reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and immersive gaming”.

From the outside, you would be forgiven for thinking not a lot has changed.

Microsoft has kept the same aluminium unibody design and dynamic fulcrum hinge that debuted with the first-generation Surface Book back in 2015.

But under the bonnet, Microsoft has made a number of improvements.

According to the Redmond-based company, Surface Book 2 is five times more powerful than the original and is twice as powerful as the latest MacBook Pro.

Surface Book 2 is powerful enough to run even the most intensive Mixed Reality experiences on Windows 10MICROSOFT

Surface Book 2 is powerful enough to run even the most intensive Mixed Reality experiences

That’s more than enough to fuel the Mixed Reality experiences deeply embedded within the latest version of Windows 10, dubbed Fall Creators Update.

The new operating system, which rolls-out to Windows 10 machines today, includes the ability to run Virtual Reality (VR) video games from Stream and the Microsoft Store, as well as a slew of other experiences.

Surface Book 2 is powered by either a seventh-generation Intel Core i5 or eighth-generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor.

This is coupled with either 8GB or 16GB of RAM and internal storage configurations range from 256GB to 1TB SSDs.

Despite the increase in power, Surface Book 2 still keeps its impressive battery life – up to 17 hours of video playback.

For comparison, that’s 70 per cent more than the latest MacBook Pro.

Products are a reflection of the people who make them, and the people who use them

Panos Panay, Microsoft Corporate Vice President


Surface Book 2 ships with a plethora of hardware ports, including USB-A, USB-C, and full-size SD card reader which makes it easy to connect other devices, accessories and memory cards.

Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Devices Panos Panay has published a blog post about the new Surface laptop.

He writes, “The power of Surface Book 2 will help artists and professionals across the creative spectrum take their work to the next level.

Like its predecessor, Surface Book 2 can be used in a number of different modesMICROSOFT

Like its predecessor, Surface Book 2 can be used in a number of different modes

“More power means faster renders and effects so you can make quick edits and decisions to get you to your finished work. And a deeper partnership with Adobe means even better integration between Surface Book 2 and the Adobe Creative Cloud, including new Surface Dial functionality coming to Photoshop to keep you in your flow and let you easily access and modify your most frequently used brush settings.

“As a team, we believe that products are a reflection of the people who make them, and the people who use them.

“We put our heart and soul into building a laptop of the future, for people who want to create the future – creators who see no limits, data scientists designing deep neural networks, engineers, architects, movie makers, and gamers.

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“Surface Book 2 is a tool for everyone who wants to achieve more.”

Unfortunately, Microsoft has yet to reveal full pricing for the Surface Book 2 range.

However, the US technology firm has announced that prices start from £1,499 in the UK.

Surface Book 2 models will become available to pre-order on November 9th, with the first units shipping on November 16th.