At the Surface event in New York, Microsoft announced a host of new hardware including the Surface Pro 6, the Surface Laptop 2, the Surface Studio 2 and an all new pair of headphones with active noise cancellation and Cortana built-in. The first three products are essentially a refresh, while the headphones are a completely new offering from the company.
At the outset, the new Surface Pro 6 appears similar to the previous generation Surface Pro, but it is the hardware on this one that draws our attention. Sporting Intel’s 8th generation processors, the Surface Pro 6 also boasts longer battery life. Moreover, the Surface Pro 6 will come in a new matte black finish.
Second on the list comes the Surface Laptop 2 with the latest Intel 8th generation processors (8650U). Microsoft claims that the new Surface Laptop is up to 85% faster than its predecessor. The display has been improved and the device now sports a 1500:1 contrast ratio. Citing Microsoft from the closed door event, Digit India reported that the keyboard has been upgraded to be quieter than the one found on the current gen Surface Laptop.
Lastly, Microsoft’s innovative all-in-one for creatives, the Surface Studio has also been upgraded and Microsoft is calling it “the fastest Surface ever.” All variants of the upgraded Surface Studio 2 are powered by the Intel Core i7 -7820HQ chip. Users can choose between 16GB and 32GB of high-speed DDR4 RAM, along with a significantly beefier GPU, the Nvidia GTX 1070. The 28-inch PixelSense display has been upgraded as well, with a new liquid crystal material to create deeper blacks.
Pricing and availability
The hybrid Surface Pro 6 is expected to go on sale on October 16th at a starting price of $899. It will come with 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5 processor and 128GB of NVMe storage. And the highest variant, which happens to pack an Intel Core i7 processor paired with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of NVMe storage, is priced at $2,299.
About the availability of the Surface Laptop 2, it will be available starting October 16 as well, priced at $999 for the 8GB RAM, an 8th gen Intel i5 processor and 128GB of NVMe storage model. A fully loaded version, on the other hand, will cost $2,699 and includes 16GB of RAM, an Intel i7 processor and 1TB of storage.
And finally, the pricing for the Surface Studio 2 starts at $3,499 for the base configuration goes up to $4,799 for the premium model.
Surface Headphones
This year’s all-new pair of wireless headphones with active noise cancellation was the surprise reveal at the event. Microsoft claims that these can last for up to 15 hours on a single charge. They also offer Cortana integration and, of course, the usual suite of touch-based controls on the side of the ear cups. However, the interesting bits are the rings around each of the ear cups. While one controls volume, the other allows users to tune the active noise cancellation up to 13 levels.
Apart from being wireless, the Surface Headphones also offer both USB-C and 3.5mm input connectors. The headphones are priced at $349 but don’t have a release date yet. Microsoft says they will ship “later this year.”
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