News

Microsoft Unveils Next-Gen Surface Book and Surface Go PCs

• By Kurt Mackie
• May 06, 2020

Microsoft has taken the wraps off new Surface PC models and peripherals that are set to become available for purchase over the coming weeks.

The consumer-oriented two-in-one Surface Go 2 PC will go on sale on May 12 with varying pricing. The more beefed-up Surface Book 3 laptop, designed for developers, professionals and gamers, is set to arrive on May 21, with pricing based on screen size and components.

Some new Surface accessory products also will be arriving this month. Surface Headphones 2 ($249) will start being available on May 12. The specs for Surface Headphones 2 are available here (Word doc download). Surface Earbuds with an included recharging case ($199) are expected to arrive on May 12, as well. The specs for Surface Earbuds are available here (Word doc download).

Some Surface-device docking station products will be getting released "later this month in select markets," which weren't described. The Surface Dock 2 ($259), designed to charge laptops and link to large displays, features a total of four USB-C 3.2 ports, enabling connections to two external displays. There's also a new Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub ($99) for on-the-go connections to "networks, displays and USB-C accessories."

Two new keyboard-and-mouse combination products were briefly introduced in the announcement, but availability wasn't described. They are the Microsoft Ergonomic Desktop product ($89) and the Microsoft Bluetooth Desktop ($59) product.

Surface Go 2 Details

The Surface Go 2 PC is marketed toward "businesses, schools, students and families" and runs either Windows 10 Home in S Mode or Windows 10 Pro. It has a 10.5-inch PixelSense display, weighs 1.2 pounds and has Wi-Fi and LTE Advanced wireless connection technologies. The battery life is estimated at 10 hours.

The Surface Go 2 can be purchased with various options. On the processor side, options include Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y or an Intel 8th-generation Core m3. There are also purchase options for RAM (4GB or 8GB) and storage (64GB eMMC or 128GB SSD). An optional Type Cover keyboard is an added cost.

Microsoft more fully described Surface Go 2 perks for business users in this Surface IT pro blog post. For instance, it has a TPM 2.0 chip, works with the Windows Autopilot self-provisioning service and can be "provisioned and managed centrally from the cloud using Microsoft Endpoint Manager."

Full Surface Go 2 specs are available here (Word doc download).

Surface Book 3 Details

The Surface Book 3 is a higher-performance laptop with a screen that can detach to become a tablet. It can run Windows 10 Home or Pro. It has more beefed-up graphics capabilities, which Microsoft suggests can be leveraged to run computer-aided design applications, data science models and developer tasks. It weighs around three or four pounds, depending on the model, and is touted for having the highest battery lifespan of the Surface device product line.

There are two Surface Book 3 models, one with a 13.5-inch PixelSense display (3000x2000 resolution) and one with a 15-inch PixelSense display (3240x2160 resolution).

Buying options for the 13.5-inch Surface Book 3 include an Intel 10th-generation Core i5 or i7 processor and either an Intel Iris Plus Graphics or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. Memory options include 8GB, 16GB or 32GB. SSD storage options include 256GB, 512GB or 1TB. Battery life is estimated at "up to 15.5 hours."

Buying options for the 15-inch Surface Book 3 include just an Intel 10th-generation Core i7 processor and either an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or Nvidia Quadro RTX 3000 graphics card. Memory options include 16GB or 32GB. There are four SSD storage options, ranging from 256GB to 2TB. Battery life is estimated at "up to 17.5 hours."

Full Surface Book 3 specs are available here (Word doc download).

Other Surface PCs
PC buyers looking for Surface dual-screen devices running the coming Windows 10X operating system, such as the Surface Duo and the Surface Neo, promised for arrival in the 2020 holiday season, won't be seeing them this year. Microsoft recently announced plans to shift its Windows 10X focus more toward releasing single-screen devices. No delivery timelines were described, though.

Other fairly new Surface PC products, such as the Surface Pro 7 and Surfaced Laptop 3, got released in October. The Surface Pro X was released in November.