Cameron Summerson
As expected, Microsoft unveiled the new Surface Pro 6 and Surface Laptop 2 at a small event in New York City. The devices are both incremental over their predecessors, with key new features (and some omissions). Here’s the skinny.
Surface Pro 6: Better Performance and New Matte Black Color
The Surface Pro 6 is pretty much a marginal update to the existing line, save for dramatic aesthetic change—it now comes in black. Traditionally, the Surface Pro line has only been available in silver (which will also be available with the Pro 6), so the new black model is a sleek, stealthy change. The covers will also come in black, blue, red, and gray.
Otherwise, it features the latest 8th generation Intel chips under the hood, as well as a 267PPI display, support for up to 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSDs. Microsoft claims it’s a whopping 67 percent faster than the previous Surface Pro because of improved cooling and support for quad-core processors, while still getting a claimed 13.5 hours of battery life. That’s absolutely insane.
And now for the bad part: it still doesn’t support USB-C. That’s going to be a dealbreaker for a lot of people.
Surface Laptop 2: More of the Same, Also Black
The Surface Laptop 2 is a simple refresh of last year’s introductory model, updated to use the newest Intel chipsets for an 85 percent performance improvement over the original Surface Laptop. It also has an improved, quieter keyboard, and the display features an astounding 15:1 contrast ratio with over 3.4 million pixels.
The Laptop 2 gets a claimed 14.5 hours of battery life, which should be more than enough to get you through a day’s work without the need to hit the wall for a charge. That’s impressive.
The overall design is also similar to last year’s model, though the Laptop 2 also comes with a beautiful matte black finish like the Surface Pro 6. Batman would love this thing.
Otherwise, it’s a marginal update to an already-great laptop and is sure to a hit sequel. Perhaps it’s even better than the original—except, like the Pro 6, it also doesn’t have support for USB-C. Ouch.
Both devices will be available on October 16th, with the Pro 6 starting at $899 for the Core i5 model, and the Laptop 2 starting at $999. Both can be pre-ordered starting today.
