Before commencing this post, I would like to apologize for bringing up something after quite a long time. I am a student and got caught up in the vicious examination period 😂. I am back at it now with full force.
Just when the world had begun to lose faith in the Redmond based giant, Microsoft surprised people all over the world with it’s rather impressive product launch event held yesterday thus giving it’s fans something to relish in a rather lack lustre year. The event was not only packed with improvements across the board but also brought up new entrants to Microsoft’s rather naive but briskly expanding hardware lineup. In this post I’ll be talking only about the new computing hardware that Microsoft showcased yesterday in conjuction with – A new Windows update coming in early 2017 (Windows 10 Creators update taglined “3D for everyone”) and some mixed reality based devices (New VR headsets starting at $299 and interactibility updates to the HoloLens).
Microsoft in Hardware mode!
Surface book updates
Last year Microsoft made a surprising entry into the hardware realm with the launch of Surface Book, the first laptop crafted by Microsoft itself (because this seems to be the trend – JUST SAYING! 😂). The Surface Book was well received by critics for it’s distinctive approach to laptop hardware. It’s well known by now that with the SURFACE line of products Microsoft is carving out a place for itself in the 2 in one realm of computing hardware.
The Surface Book was projected by Microsoft as a direct competitor to Apple’s Macbook Pro lineup (which is considered as the go to professional grade machine by people all over the globe). And yeah the Surface Book did stand up to it’s claims with an excellent Magnesium build with a silvery hue to it, a very intriguing hinge setup which Microsoft calls “Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge”, brilliant battery life (in laptop mode), a stunning Pixel sense touch enabled display with a pixel density of 267 ppi coupled with best in class performance for any Windows based machine (just a tad below the Retina Macbook pro 13.3 inch 2015 which utilised 5th Gen processors as opposed to the Skylake ones on the Surface).
{http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/surface-book-vs-macbook-pro Follow this link to find a rather short yet informative comparison between the Macbook pro (2015) and Surface Book (2015). In short Microsoft’s Surface Book couldn’t dethrone the Macbook Pro which remained the performance king at a lower price than the Surface.}
[Microsoft came up with this new crazy hinge mechanism so as to support it’s 2 in one cause. The Surface Book’s screen can be detached from the keyboard assembly (which can house a Nvidia GPU at a much higher price) which then can be utilised as a tablet supporting Pen/Stylus input. In reality what one gets is a tablet based on desktop grade Core i5/i7 CPUs with a stupid low 3 hour battery life. To know more about the hinge follow this link : http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/6/9464187/surface-book-hinge-gifs]
So yesterday Microsoft decided to update it’s Surface Book lineup with some welcome additions. The overall appearance of the laptop remains largely identical except for the fact that Microsoft did reduce the ugly Hinge Gap. The real changes to the lineup came with the internals. It will now ship with:
- Latest gen Core i5/i7 processors (Kaby Lake perhaps, no clarification from Microsoft over the “Latest Gen” term.)
- The model with discrete graphics now has a Nvidia 965M in place of last year’s 940. (Microsoft claims twice the graphical performance of the 13inch retina Macbook Pro 2015 edition which is now almost 1.5 years old)
- Extended battery life. Microsoft claims upto 16 hours of battery life which is 2 more hours than the 2015 Retina Macbook Pro. (Although this will change today as Apple’s computer hardware event is scheduled for today. First Microsoft and the very next day Apple, it’s a great time to be a tech enthusiast)
The base models without discrete graphics still start at $1499 while the new discrete graphics model of the Surface Book starts at $2399.
An all new product line- The Surface Studio
For long there had been rumours of Microsoft coming up with its all-in-one PC and yesterday Microsoft didn’t disappoint the members of the HYPE league as it launched the Surface Studio. It’s a new and very late entrant into the all in one market and I must say it looks STUNNING! For long I have drooled over the design of the 27inch 5k iMac and now the Surface Studio has established itself in my “Droolworthy” list 😂.
The picture above summarises the only yet praise worthy distinctive feature that the Surface Studio has over other all in ones: A touch enabled display. The hinge of the Surface Studio or the Zero Gravity Hinge as Microsoft is calling it allows the display to move almost weightlessly from it’s desktop mode positioning to what Microsoft is calling the Studio mode (basically turning the display into a giant touch enabled top to work upon). And yes it too supports Surface Pen for the creative mindsets, which appears to be Microsoft’s clear target audience. The rest of the machinery that provides the required horsepower is all crammed into a rectangular casing which also acts as the base of the display.
Let’s have a quick look at the specs that matter:
- 28inch Pixel sense display with a weird 3:2 aspect ratio (as expected from Microsoft) and a resolution of 4500*3000 (slightly lower than the 27inch 5k iMac which has a resolution of 5120*2880)
- 6th Gen Core i5/i7 processors
- UPTO 32 GB of RAM (8/16/32 GB variants)
- UPTO 4GB of dedicated Graphical memory. (GTX 965M/GTX 980M Why not the 10 series???)
The studio was launched with a strange yet impressive accessory called as the Surface Dial which adds a new layer of interaction while working on the touch top. It can provide up a tools menu somewhat similar to the menu that pops up when the stylus is removed from a Note phone. The Surface Dial can help you navigate through your work, aid in making colour adjustments with a rotating dial that provide haptic feedback and much more. Seeing it in action will provide a better understanding of the possibilities associated with this puck like peripheral. (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/accessories/surface-dial)
The Surface Studio is an expensive piece of machinery with pricing as follows:
- $2999 for Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 1TB hybrid storage and 2 GB GTX 965M
- $3499 for Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 1TB hybrid storage and 2 GB GTX 965M
- $4199 for Core i7, 32 GB RAM, 2 TB hybrid storage and 4 GB GTX 980M
My only question is why not utilise the 10 series of NVIDIA’s GPUs based on Pascal architecture rather than resorting to 2 year old mobile grade GPUs? Other than that this is turning out to be a really impressive Windows based device something that Windows 10 was in a dire need of.
So after quite some time I was impressed with a Microsoft launch event. However Microsoft didn’t provide any updates regarding it’s mobile platform which for all practical purposes has been dead since the launch of Windows 10 mobile. But Microsoft did what it does the best: Personal Computing Development. The shots have been fired by Microsoft. It’s Apple’s turn today to respond. (Anyone who wishes to see the Apple event today, just jump to apple.com at 10:30 PM IST.)
Will catch up soon after the Apple event.
Cheers!
MixTechno 