Microsoft is a bit of an enigma in the PC space. There is little doubt that they offer some stunning hardware, but after being the first PC maker to jump on Intel’s Skylake platform, and then being burned by the power management issues that chipset had, they’ve been more cautious with their offerings ever since. Thanks to their somewhat unusual launch windows, that can mean that they use older hardware for longer. Such was the case with the Surface Book 2 when it launched in 2015. The Core i7 model shipped with the 8th generation Intel Core, meaning Kaby Lake Refresh, which means quad-core over the dual-core in Kaby Lake. But the Core i5 model shipped with a dual-core Kaby Lake i5-7300U processor, meaning it had a sizeable performance delta to the top tier model – far greater than we typically see in a Core i5 to Core i7 comparison.
| Microsoft Surface Book 2 | |||||
| 13.5 No GPU | 13.5 GPU | 15 (Model Reviewed) | |||
| CPU | Intel Core i5-7300U Dual-Core w/Hyperthreading 2.6-3.5 GHz 3MB Cache 15W TDP Intel Core i5-8350U Quad-Core w/Hyperthreading 1.7-3.6 GHz 6MB Cache 15W TDP |
Intel Core i7-8650U Quad-Core w/Hyperthreading 1.9-4.2 GHz 8MB Cache 15W TDP |
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| RAM | 8GB LPDDR3 | 8-16 GB LPDDR3 | 16 GB LPDDR3 | ||
| GPU | Intel HD 620 | Intel HD 620 + NVIDIA GTX 1050 2GB | Intel HD 620 + NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB | ||
| Storage | 256 GB NVMe | 256GB, 512 GB, 1TB | |||
| Display | 13.5" PixelSense 3000x2000 3:2 sRGB Touch and Pen enabled |
15" PixelSense 3240x2160 3:2 sRGB Touch and Pen enabled |
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| Networking | 802.11ac 2x2:2 866Mbps max Bluetooth 4.1 Marvell AVASTAR |
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| Audio | Stereo Speakers (front facing) Dolby Audio Premium |
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| Battery | 23 Wh (Tablet) plus 46 Wh (Base) | 23 Wh (Tablet) plus 52 Wh (Base) | 23 Wh (Tablet) plus 63 Wh (Base) | ||
| Xbox Wireless | No | Yes | |||
| Right Side | Surface Connect USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1 with USB Power Delivery Headset Jack |
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| Left Side | 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A SD Card Reader |
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| Dimensions | 312 x 232 x 13-23mm 12.3 x 9.14 x 0.51-0.90 inches |
343 x 251 x 15-23 mm 13.5 x 9.87 x 0.57-0.90 inches |
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| Weight | 1.53 kg 3.38 lbs |
1.64 kg 3.62 lbs |
1.90 kg 4.2 lbs |
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| Cameras | 8.0 MP Rear-facing camera with autofocus 5.0 MP front-facing camera with 1080p video Windows Hello IR camera |
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| Pricing | $1149-$1499 | $1999-$2999 | $2499-$3200 | ||
Without any fanfare at all, Microsoft has started offering a quad-core Intel Core i5-8350U in the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 option, taking the pricing bracket that the dual-core i5-7300U used to fill. For the moment, the dual-core is still available, and gets a discount of $200 to $1299. In addition, the dual-core model can also be had with a 128 GB SSD, cutting the price again to $1149. That’s a significant price drop compared to the original $1499 retail price.
The Surface Book 2 is one of the best laptops on the market, offering a combination of utility and performance that is not really matched by any other device. The quad-core i5 update is a welcome addition, but of course the real question is why didn’t it just ship with it to start with.
The updated Surface Book 2 is available on the Microsoft Store.
Source: Windows Central
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