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

The Surface Book 2 is Microsoft's latest attempt to make the ultimate hybrid laptop. We give you the low-down on the new device and what you can expect from it.

Surface Book 2: release date

The 13in Surface Book 2 model is on sale now, following its release on 16th November 2017. At the Redmond giant's Future Decoded event in London in November, Surface chief Panos Panay also confirmed that the 15in configuration will go on sale "early next year".

Surface Book 2: price

Four configurations of the new Surface Book 2 are currently available, with prices varying depending on your processor, internal memory and RAM requirements. The base model hybrid is priced at £1,499 and ships with 256GB storage, an Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM. An i7 processor variant is also available, retailing from £1,999 from the Microsoft store.

Should you require larger storage, the Surface Book 2 with 512GB memory, Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM is available for £2,499, whilst a 1TB version will set you back £2,999.

Surface Book 2: specs and features

With the Surface Book 2, Microsoft has opted for two screen sizes: 13in and a larger 15in version (available in early 2018). The 13in model looks and feels much like its predecessor on the exterior, retaining its premium, aluminium feel - whilst the keyboard and touchpad are both predictably outstanding.

Under the hood, the hybrid is powered by Intel's latest 8th-gen Coffee Lake processor, which Microsoft says makes it the "most powerful Surface device ever" - as well as boasting graphics performance that is "five times more powerful" than the original Surface Book. The top-end configuration boasts Intel's 8th-gen quad-core i7-8650U, making it one of the most powerful devices of its kind, notes sister site IT Pro. Models with 7th-gen processors are also available.

Microsoft has also finally decided to include USB-C with the Surface Book 2 instead of the mini DisplayPort found on its predecessor - but this does use USB 3.1 connection standard rather than Thunderbolt 3, resulting in a capped data transfer rate of 5Gbps.

In terms of battery life, using the Surface Book 2 with keyboard attached will offer 17 hours of battery life, Microsoft says, thanks to much of the battery capacity being incorporated into the keyboard. When detaching the keyboard for use as a tablet, the Redmond firm estimates that the device will provide 5 hours of video playback (double that of the original Surface Book).

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