The newest iteration of Microsoft’s flagship 2-in-1 tablet PC was introduced recently, as the Surface Book i7, which is essentially an incremental update of the original Surface Book, with a new, more powerful graphic processor, and extended battery life.
While it may not be much of a change, it’s important to understand the strategy of releasing new devices, if you are Microsoft, or Apple.
TIming is everything, and the release of an incrementally updated device,rather than an entirely new version is a mid-step that signifies that the company intends to boost sales towards the development of said new generation device, which could be slated not far into the future.
A year later from the release of Surface Book, Microsoft has had plenty of time to learn more about what it can do to appease consumers who may be interested in what comes next from Redmond, in the realm of high-powered 2-in-1s.
After the release of Microsoft amazing Surface Studio desktop PC, we can’t help but wonder whether some of the innovations introduced into this brand new, sleek and feature-packed desktop, may eventually trickle down into the next ultraportable.
One of the primary differences between Microsoft and Apple is the different philosophies in regard to graphic processing. Apple is more conservative and geared towards a balance of entertainment and productivity, while Microsoft is geared towards graphic performance in gaming applications, and the power to create and work with graphic software.
The Surface Book 2 is expected to follow along the same path, with an even more powerful GPU, better battery performance, and faster SSD storage. With that said, Microsoft has also learned a few lessons along the lines of design. One of the main complaints in regard to the Surface Book’s construction has often to do with the accumulation of dust inside the fulcrum hinge, whose flexible mechanism is designed to detach from the display, and bend 180 degrees. While the design is certainly visually striking, in practical terms, there are considerations to be made, before proposing a repeat of this design in future versions of the Surface Book. As a matter of fact, the flexible fulcrum hinge is expected to get a substantial redesign to reduce the space between each link, and allow for the screen and keyboard base to align flush on each other when in clamshell mode, eliminating the round gap that exists in the current models.
With that in mind, future iterations of the Surface Book will likely still feature a detachable screen, and perhaps even 4K resolution, as well as USB Type-C ports, as the standard turns more popular with consumers.
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