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What’s the consensus on the Surface Book?
However, some reviewers critiqued the Surface Book for its price. The highest end model (1 TB SSD and i7 processor) costed a whopping $3,200. Not only that, but there were a few minute (but deeply irritating) issues with the device that many saw as an indication of unpolished design. One of the most infamous issues that customers had with the Surface Book was known as the “Surface Sleep” bug. Essentially, the Surface Book would go into sleep mode and continue to drain battery at a ridiculous rate, which resulted in overheating and underwhelming battery life. Even for devices that weren’t afflicted with this bug, reviewers found that the battery life of the Surface Book was lower than Microsoft promised to begin with.
So, the Surface Book was definitely a pretty good device, but improvements definitely could be made upon its design. Rumors have been swirling with regards to the Surface Book’s successor for quite some time. Without further ado, let’s take a look at what people are saying about the Surface Book 2.
Surface Book 2 Technical Specs Rumors
There are a lot of different reports out there right now, but there also seems to be a definite consensus on what this new 2-in-1 device will actually look like. The most recent news that we’ve heard is that the Surface Book 2 will sport a 4K display. This is huge news, and it seems like a natural step up from the original Surface Book’s 3000×2000 display. The actual 13.5 inch size of the display, however, will stay the same. As a result, the Surface Book 2’s display will appear much more vibrant and crisp than that of the original Surface Book. 4K is definitely one of the biggest tech “trends” at the moment, and a lot of people were somewhat surprised by Microsoft’s choice to abstain from the resolution with their first laptop. It seems like they’re going all in this time around.
Display isn’t the only thing that it looks like Microsoft wants to update. It’s been alleged that the greatest reason behind the Surface Book’s battery life issue was the Skylake processors. Recent rumors suggest that Microsoft is going to implement Kaby Lake Intel processors into the Surface Book 2, which will drastically increase general performance and battery life. However, Kaby Lake processors aren’t going to release until late 2016, and using them in the Surface Book 2 could impact its release date. I’ll talk more about that a little bit later, though.
The Surface Book 2 is also alleged to make a few other changes. People didn’t like how the original Surface Book had two USB 3.0 port, but lacked USB Type-C ports. It has been reported that the Surface Book 2 will support USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 connections. Finally, it looks like Microsoft may take to redesigning their hinge undocking mechanism, which is what allows users to turn the laptop into a tablet to begin with. The feature wasn’t awful, but many people had issues with the Surface’s hing mechanism to begin with. The Surface Book 2 should be Microsoft’s chance to smooth out those kinks.
Surface Book 2 Release Date and Pricing Rumors
For months, it has been widely suspected that the Surface Book 2 was slated for a release in June of 2016. This would push the device out a little less than a year since the original Surface Book’s release, and it would also coincide with the release of the new Macbook Pro. However, it seems like the implementation of Kaby Lake processors could delay the release of the Surface Book 2 between late 2016 and early 2017. This is due to the fact that the Kaby Lake processor won’t be released until late 2016.
The Kaby Lake processor isn’t really the only reason why the Surface Book 2 has been delayed. The Surface Book uses Windows 10, and a huge Windows 10 update (codenamed Redstone 2) is set to launch in Spring of 2017. Seeing as the Surface Book is sort of like Microsoft’s way of directly pushing Windows 10 out to the public, it would make sense that their newest iteration of the Surface Book would feature the newest iteration of Windows 10. So, as of right now, the most popular rumor is that this device will release some time in Spring of 2017.
In terms of price, although there hasn’t been any indication on Microsoft’s end, but I don’t think it’s smart to assume that it will be any less expensive than the original Surface. With a much more advanced chipset and with a 4K display, it’s likely that the Surface Book 2 will cost the same as or maybe even more than the original Surface Book. This may not be good news for the many people who argued that the original product was overly priced, but I think that the upgrades and big improvements could potentially justify the price tag this time around.
What does this all mean?
While the Surface Book was met with fairly polarizing (but mostly positive) reception, it definitely looks like Microsoft is doing everything that they can to improve upon the mistakes that they made with the original device. It’s admittedly somewhat disappointing that the public is having to wait so long for the Surface Book 2, but you can’t say that the delay isn’t without good reason. Microsoft is waiting to ensure that the device has the best hardware and software possible. A few people were disappointed with the Surface Book, and I think that right now, evidence points to that not being the case this time. Quality hardware takes time, and Microsoft is certainly taking their time with this one.
