When Microsoft launched the Surface Studio a few years ago, the world fell in love with the all-in-one masterpiece. Now, in 2018, we’re finally getting the sequel – the Surface Studio 2 comes out later this fall.
The Surface Studio 2 improves on the original Microsoft desktop in every way, with more ports, more power, and an even better display. The Surface Studio is a true powerhouse, and finally gives the iMac 5K a run for its money.
And, now that we have all the Surface Studio 2 details, we think it’s time to dive into all the details regarding Microsoft's newest high-end all-in-one PC.
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Cut to the chase
- What is it? The second Surface Studio desktop
- When is it out? Later this year
- What will it cost? Starting at $3,499 ($5,499, about £2,680)
Surface Studio 2 release date
The original Surface Studio launched in late 2016, so Microsoft’s iMac competitor was due for a refresh, especially considering it was almost outdated when it first launched. Luckily, the Surface Studio 2 is here.
Announced at Microsoft’s October 2 event, we still don’t quite know when the Surface Studio 2 is going to hit the street, but the Microsoft store does say it’ll ship by November 15. However, it’s about time that we got a Surface Studio 2, and we can’t wait to see how Apple responds with the iMac 2018.
Surface Studio 2 price
The Surface Studio was not a cheap device, launching at a price that was unattractive for everyday users – it instead focused exclusively on creatives and professionals. And, for the most part, the Surface Studio 2 falls in line.
Starting off at Starting at $3,499 (AU$5,499, about £2,680), the Surface Studio 2 will get you an Intel Core i7-7820HQ processor, 16GB of RAM, a GTX 1060 and a 1TB SSD with a 4,500 x 3,000 display. This is a huge improvement over the previous model, but it isn’t quite as powerful as we’d want it to be in a post-iMac Pro world – especially that Kaby Lake mobile processor.
Still, the Surface Studio 2 continues to be a compelling choice for creatives that need the unique capabilities of the powerful all-in-one. Every day users or anyone who needs heavy processing power may want to look elsewhere, though.
Surface Studio 2 specs
The original Surface Studio had 6th-generation Intel Core processors, up to 32GB of RAM and up to 128GB of SSD space and 2TB of HDD space. Luckily, with the Surface Studio 2, you’re getting much more modern components.
The RAM configurations stay basically the same, but the processor is being bumped up to a 7th-generation Intel HQ-series CPU. This is a bit disappointing, but should still give the Surface Studio 2 a huge performance boost over the original.
The graphics are also getting a bump, updating to Nvidia Pascal GTX 1060 or GTX 1070 graphics. This might not be what RTX fans want to hear, but it’ll still be a huge bump in graphics performance. Which will be necessary for the display on the Surface Studio 2.
What’s more notable, though, is the storage – instead of a small SSD with a ton of storage, you’re getting up to 2TB of raw SSD space on the Surface Studio 2, which will make file access much faster and more reliable than with a mechanical storage drive. You can thank the falling SSD prices since the Surface Studio’s 2015 release for that.
Surface Studio 2 features
Although the Surface Studio was – and largely still is – an impressive device, a lot has changed in the three years since its initial release. Luckily, the Surface Studio 2 capitalizes on this, bringing a much-improved all-in-one with a bevy of modern features.
Sharper display
The Surface Studio 2 improves on the already impressive display of the original by upping brightness by 38% and contrast by 22%. These improvements are apparently made possible thanks to improved transistor technology beneath the display.
While its display is brighter and more color accurate, the actual resolution stays the same at 4,500 x 3,000. This might be disappointing for some, but it will mean increased performance, considering the rest of the hardware upgrades in the Surface Studio 2.
Improved graphics
One of the biggest complaints about the Surface Studio when it launched back in 2015 was the lack of graphics power that it had. Luckily, the GPUs inside the Surface Studio 2 are much more powerful. The move to the Pascal-based Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 and 1070 should drastically improve graphics performance on the Surface Studio 2 – which is great news for anyone who’s trying to get some video editing done.
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