Microsoft is a little bit of an enigma within the PC area. There is little doubt that they provide some beautiful {hardware}, however after being the primary PC maker to leap on Intel’s Skylake platform, after which being burned by the facility administration points that chipset had, they’ve been extra cautious with their choices ever since. Thanks to their considerably uncommon launch home windows, that may imply that they use older {hardware} for longer. Such was the case with the Surface Book 2 when it launched in 2017. The Core i7 mannequin shipped with the eighth technology Intel Core, which means Kaby Lake Refresh, which implies quad-core over the dual-core in Kaby Lake. But the Core i5 mannequin shipped with a dual-core Kaby Lake i5-7300U processor, which means it had a sizeable efficiency delta to the highest tier mannequin – far higher than we sometimes see in a Core i5 to Core i7 comparability.
| Microsoft Surface Book 2 | |||||
| 13.5 No GPU | 13.5 GPU | 15 | |||
| CPU | Intel Core i5-7300U Dual-Core w/Hyperthreading 2.6-3.5 GHz 3MB Cache 15W TDP Intel Core i5-8350U |
Intel Core i7-8650U Quad-Core w/Hyperthreading 1.9-4.2 GHz 8MB Cache 15W TDP |
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| RAM | 8GB LPDDR3 | 8-16 GB LPDDR3 | 16 GB LPDDR3 | ||
| GPU | Intel HD 620 | Intel HD 620 + NVIDIA GTX 1050 2GB | Intel HD 620 + NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB | ||
| Storage | 128, 256 GB NVMe | 256GB, 512 GB, 1TB | |||
| Display | 13.5″ PixelSense 3000×2000 3:2 sRGB Touch and Pen enabled |
15″ PixelSense 3240×2160 3:2 sRGB Touch and Pen enabled |
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| Networking | 802.11ac 2×2:2 866Mbps max Bluetooth 4.1 Marvell AVASTAR |
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| Audio | Stereo Speakers (entrance going through) Dolby Audio Premium |
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| Battery | 23 Wh (Tablet) plus 46 Wh (Base) | 23 Wh (Tablet) plus 52 Wh (Base) | 23 Wh (Tablet) plus 63 Wh (Base) | ||
| Xbox Wireless | No | Yes | |||
| Right Side | Surface Connect USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1 with USB Power Delivery Headset Jack |
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| Left Side | 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A SD Card Reader |
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| Dimensions | 312 x 232 x 13-23mm 12.Three x 9.14 x 0.51-0.90 inches |
343 x 251 x 15-23 mm 13.5 x 9.87 x 0.57-0.90 inches |
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| Weight | 1.53 kg 3.38 lbs |
1.64 kg 3.62 lbs |
1.90 kg 4.2 lbs |
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| Cameras | 8.Zero MP Rear-facing digicam with autofocus 5.Zero MP front-facing digicam with 1080p video Windows Hello IR digicam |
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| Pricing | $1149-$1499 | $1999-$2999 | $2499-$3200 | ||
Without any fanfare in any respect, Microsoft has began providing a quad-core Intel Core i5-8350U within the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 choice, taking the pricing bracket that the dual-core i5-7300U used to fill. For the second, the dual-core remains to be obtainable, and will get a reduction of $200 to $1299. In addition, the dual-core mannequin may also be had with a 128 GB SSD, chopping the worth once more to $1149. That’s a major value drop in comparison with the unique $1499 retail value.
The Surface Book 2 is likely one of the finest laptops available on the market, providing a mix of utility and efficiency that’s not actually matched by another gadget. The quad-core i5 replace is a welcome addition, however in fact the true query is why didn’t it simply ship with it to start out with.
The up to date Surface Book 2 is out there on the Microsoft Store.
Source: Windows Central
