Twice the cores, and an enormous GPU upgrade Even when the Surface Pro 4-released concurrently with the Surface Book-was replaced by the Kaby Lake 2017 Surface Pro, the Surface Book kept its Skylake chips. Kaby Lake offered some nice improvements in clock speeds and power efficiency, but rather than bump the Surface Book line with the new chips, Microsoft instead introduced the Performance Base the tablet portion was unchanged, but the Performance Base had a faster discrete GPU and an enormous battery. But a year after its launch, when most OEMs were refreshing their Skylake systems with Kaby Lake processors, Microsoft. Surface Book was an early adopter of Intel's then-new Skylake chips. Supports Surface Pen, Surface Dial, TPM 2.0, Xbox Wireless Intel UHD Graphics 620 + NVIDIA GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5Ĩ02.11ac/a/b/g/n with 2x2 MIMO antennas, Bluetooth 4.1Ģ USB 3.1 generation 1 Type-A, 1 USB 3.1 generation 1 Type-C with Power Delivery, SD, 3.5mm headsetįront: 5MP, 1080p video, infrared facial recognitionĪmbient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer Specs at a glance: Microsoft Surface Book 2 15'ģ240×2160 15' (260 PPI), 10-point capacitive PixelSense touchscreen While we've seen many systems with switchable graphics-using the low-power integrated GPU unless you're playing a game or similar and need the full power of the discrete chip-having the discrete GPU be in a separate component was an exciting twist. The fulcrum hinge design, which helped keep the device balanced when the screen was open, is elegant and visually striking.Īnd to top it all off, the Surface Book came with an optional discrete GPU, with the GPU housed not in the tablet part but in the base.

The Surface Book boasted a clever software-controlled system. Other hybrid designs I've used, such as the ThinkPad Helix, had clunky mechanical linkages between the tablet portion and the base. The Surface Book was not just a useful form factor it was also something of a technological showcase. Like the Surface Pro, it worked as a true standalone tablet, but it had the all-important stiff hinge, making it suitable for use on your lap in a way that the Surface Pro's kickstand and Type Covers never really supported. Introduced a little over two years ago, Microsoft's Surface Book was the hybrid laptop that I had long hoped the company would build.

Surface book 2 15 inch