Dive Brief:
- Microsoft introduced its first legitimate laptop, the Surface Book, during a presentation in New York yesterday.
- The premium-priced notebook includes a special hinge that allows it to twist into a slate or “snap apart to serve as a tablet.”
- Microsoft’s also unveiled the Surface Pro 4 and a pair of Lumia smartphones.
Dive Insight:
The new Surface Book weighs just 3.5 lbs., has a 13.5-in. high-resolution display, an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and solid-state storage space ranging from 128GB to 1TB. Five models are available. Costs range between $1,699 and $2,099, depending on the options selected.
The special hinge on the Surface Book that enables it to change into different forms was met with mixed reactions, however, with some calling it “clumsy” or complaining that the laptop doesn’t close securely enough.
But overall reviews were generally positive.
"What they did was a really good follow-up to the Surface Pro 3," Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, told CIO, referring to the tablet-becomes-a-notebook Surface Pro 4. "Then they one-upped it."
