This article was published on November 9, 2017

Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 is now available to pre-order (in both sizes)


Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 is now available to pre-order (in both sizes)

Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 is now available to pre-order in both the 13.5-inch and 15-inch sizes.

The laptop with a detachable screen was something of a surprise when it was announced last month, complete with gaming-grade graphics and – finally – a USB-C port. Both feature Intel’s latest 8th Gen U-series processors – which bump the core count from two to four – but the 15-inch runs at a slightly faster clock.

The smaller model uses an Nvidia 1050, which should suffice for playing modern titles at medium settings, while the 15-inch model uses an Nvidia 1060 which should handle most modern games at high settings at 1080p. Better yet, both are rated for 17 hours of battery life. Microsoft measures using video playback – which is a terrible for measuring real-world battery life – but even half that number would be solid considering the specs.

Unfortunately, you’ll burn a hole in your wallet buying one. The configurations with dedicated graphics start at $1,999 for the 13.5-inch (8GB RAM, 256GB) and $2,499 for the 15-inch (16GB/256GB). Performance and fancy features come at a price.

There’s also a sole 13.5-inch configuration with integrated graphics and a 7th-gen (dual-core) i5 processor (256GB storage and 8GB of RAM), which will set you back $1,499. This model is actually fanless and lighter, so it’s something to consider if you don’t care about graphics performance, but you might as well just get a Surface Laptop.

Deliveries start arriving on November 16. For more on the Surface Book 2, check out our first impressions post here, and stay tuned for our full review.

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