The Surface Book 2 is here, and Microsoft has claimed it will offer five times the graphical power of the 2015 original, with twice the oomph of the MacBook Pro.
The Surface Book 2 will come in 13.5in and 15in flavours with a claimed battery life of some 17 hours when docked (the detachable tablet element gets five hours of video playback.)
The 13.5in model starts at A$2,199 and comes with a seventh generation dual-core i5-7300U processor backed with 8GB RAM.
This can be upgraded to include an eighth generation quad-core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM and bigger SSD drives should you wish. The screen packs a 3,000 x 2,000 resolution, with 267 pixels per inch.
The 15in model, which is not currently listed on Microsoft's Australian website, costs US$2,499 and offers more bang for your buck.
Along with the extra 1.5in of screen real estate (the resolution is bumped up to 3,240 x 2,160 to compensate, though still loses seven pixels per inch), you'll find an eighth generation 4.2GHz Intel quad-core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM and onboard Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics.
This graphical grunt – estimated at five times the power of its predecessor – is so powerful that at a recent demo it comfortably ran Gears of War 4 without any stutters.
It looks a lot like the original model, with its trademark hinge, which coils around the device, allowing the tablet section to behave like a normal screen, rather than dramatically crashing to the floor at the first sign of trouble.
The user can remove this section and treat it like a normal tablet, making it ideal for those who want the flexibility of a portable system.
The 13.5in version will be available for pre-order on the Microsoft Australia site from 9 November.
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