Microsoft Releases $999 Surface Laptop

With every new Surface product, Microsoft has edged ever closer to the traditional laptop. The original Surface lineup was closer in some ways to the iPad but the Surface Book changed the entire dynamic. Today, Microsoft has revealed their latest foray into the hardware market with the new Surface Laptop. As the name suggests, it is an unabashed clamshell notebook laptop, squarely aimed at the segment most Microsoft OEM partners are known for.

At its core, the Surface Laptop has an aluminium body with an etched Microsoft logo on the lid. The 13.5-inch PixelSense display features relatively slim bezels at a 3:2 ratio and a weird resolution of 2256×1504. It is paired up with a chiclet keyboard and a large trackpad, modelled after the Surface Type Cover. Overall, the package is quite small at just 2.76 pounds and between 9.9mm and 14.47mm in thickness. Interestingly enough, Microsoft has opted for just a single USB-A and mini DisplayPort even though there is room for more. The charger part is the same proprietary connector found in other Surface devices.

With the $999 baseline model, you get an Intel Core i5 with 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD. Upgrade options include SSD upgrades of 256GB/512GB/1TB options and for the RAM can be 8GB or 16GB. The processors and iGPU can be upgraded to an Intel Core i7 with the Iris Plus 640 GPU featuring 64MB of eDRAM. Specs are rounded out by 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and  720p webcam. Battery life is reported as 14.5 hours.

The final quirk of all is that the Surface Laptop comes with the new Windows 10 S installed. Unlike regular Windows 10, Windows 10 is limited to installed apps from the Windows Store. To get out of the walled garden, Microsoft is allowing Windows 10 S system upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for free until December 31st, 2017. After that, it will take a $50 upgrade to use the beloved Win32 apps.