Microsoft finally launched the second iteration of its Surface Laptop Studio yesterday at its September event, the Surface Laptop Studio 2.
Microsoft the original Surface Laptop Studio two years ago, and they made us wait a long time for the second generation. But the company has justified this long wait with several notable improvements, including performance boost and more ports.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 spec sheet
| Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 | |
| Display | 14.4-inch PixelSense Flow, 2400×1600 resolution, 3:2 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh rate, VESA DisplayHDR 400, 600 nits (SDR), touch and pen support. |
| CPU | Consumer Model: Intel Core i7-13700H (14 cores, 20 threads, up to 5GHz, 24MB cache) + Intel Gen3 Movidius 3700C VPU AI Accelerator Commercial Model: Intel Core i7-13800H (14 cores, 20 threads, up to 5.2GHz, |
| Graphics | Integrated Graphics: Intel Iris Xe graphics Discrete Graphics (consumer, optional): Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, 80W TGP & Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, 80W TGP Discrete Graphics (commercial): Nvidia RTX 2000 Ada Generation, 80W TGP |
| Storage | 512GB SSD 1TB SSD 2TB SSD |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR5x 32GB LPDDR5x 64GB LPDDR5x |
| Webcam | Full HD 1080p webcam with wide FOV, Windows Hello facial recognition |
| Battery | Upto 19 hours with typical usage for the integrated graphics model Upto 18 hours with typical usage for the Nvidia graphics model Upto 120W power adapter |
| Size/ Weight | 12.72 x 9.06 x 0.86 inches (323 x 230 x 22 mm) Integrated graphics: 4.18 pounds (1.89kg) Discrete graphics: 4.37 pounds (1.98kg) |
| Color | Platinum |
| Price | Starts at $1,999.99 |
As you’d expect, Microsoft’s latest iteration of its top-tier Surface Laptop Studio 2 features a few serious upgrades compared to its predecessor.
While the new Surface Laptop Studio may look similar to the previous generation at a glance, Microsoft has actually made a few tweaks in the design.
The company has redesigned the chassis. It is made of anodized aluminum instead of magnesium, resulting in a slightly different color. It is also a bit heavier and thicker.
Let’s not forget the inclusion of the new powerful CPU and GPUs. The original Surface Laptop Studio featured a quad-core processor, which was outdated even for its time.
But this year, Microsoft jumped directly to the 13th-generation Intel processors with 14 cores and 20 threads, which would definitely deliver a killer performance.
The CPU has a 45W TDP, definitely higher than the 35W TDP on the older one. The processor also has a clock speed of 5.2GHz, meaning the performance will be better.
The GPU also has a similar story. The last generation featured the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, but Microsoft has jumped to the new Nvidia RTX 40-series cards this year. The highest config features Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060.
The new CPU and GPUs can be paired with 64GB RAM. The previous generation model maxed out at 32GB. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 also features more ports than its predecessor.
The company has added a new USB Type-A port and a microSD card. While there’s still no HDMI port, you still get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a Surface Connect port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
This year’s haptic touchpad has a new module, and additionally, there are new accessibility features in the software, making the touchpad easier to use for people with disabilities.
Another positive addition to this year’s Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the new Intel NPU dedicated to AI tasks. In the future, all Intel processors will feature a built-in NPU.
But Microsoft is getting ahead of the game by having its own NPU, separate from the processor, which helps the company to enable AI features like Windows Studio Effects, previously exclusive to devices with Qualcomm chips.
All these new improvements result in a higher price. The base model costs $1,999, and it comes with an Intel Core i7 processor, 512GB of storage, and 16GB of RAM, and doesn’t even have a dedicated GPU.
The higher-specced models with dedicated Nvidia GPU go up to $3,700.
While Microsoft made us wait two years for the Surface Laptop Studio 2, it comes with significant performance boosts and design improvements. However, the enormous price hike would also make it a harder sell, and there’s still no HDMI port.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 price and availability
| CPU | GPU | Storage | RAM | Price |
| 13th-gen Intel Core i7 | Intel Iris Xe | 512GB SSD | 16GB | $1,999.99 |
| 13th-gen Intel Core i7 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 | 512GB SSD | 16GB | $2,399.99 |
| 13th-gen Intel Core i7 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 | 1TB SSD | 32GB | $2,799.99 |
| 13th-gen Intel Core i7 | Nvidia RTX 2000 Ada Generation | 1TB SSD | 32GB | $3,599.99 |
| 13th-gen Intel Core i7 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 | 1TB SSD | 64GB | $3,299.99 |
| 13th-gen Intel Core i7 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 | 2TB SSD | 64GB | $3,699.99 |
Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Studio 2 on 21st September 2023, alongside the Surface Go 4 and the Surface Laptop Go 3. The device is already available for pre-orders; shipping will begin on October 3rd.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is a powerful and expensive device, starting at $1,999 for the base model with integrated graphics. There are other variants with dedicated Nvidia GPUs with higher storage and memories and cost considerably more.
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