Targeting teenage students, Microsoft has unveiled a new Surface Laptop at its spring event in New York today. Microsoft Surface Laptop runs on the education-focused Windows 10 S software, which has been specifically designed for classrooms. The Surface Laptop is available for pre-order now (May 2) for starting price at $999 (roughly Rs. 64105), and it will be shipped in Microsoft’s official stores starting June 15. The device is made available in four attractive colour options – Graphite Gold, Platinum, Cobalt Blue and Burgundy.
The new Microsoft Surface Laptop features a 13.5-inch diagonal PixelSense display with 1080p resolution, 3:2 aspect ratio and 3.4 million pixels. The new Surface Laptop shares features with its Surface Pro and Surface Book siblings, including coloured and fabric-covered deck. Microsoft claims the new Surface device sports thinnest LCD touch module put into a laptop.
In terms of design, the new Surface Laptop has a metal body with perfect lines and an ultra-slim body, says Microsoft. The company claims the Surface Laptop is durable, portable, and lightweight, and the design looks sleek with a premium finish, and the iconic Alcantra fabric keyboard seen on the Surface Pro 4, with backlighting. There are no visible screws. Surface Pen works with this Surface laptop as well.
The Surface Laptop runs Windows 10 S out of the box, but can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. Microsoft Surface Laptop is powered by the latest, seventh generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and supports up to 1TB PCIe SSD option. The base model of the Surface Laptop is powered by the latest Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB SSD storage, while users can opt for an Intel Core i7 processor and different memory and storage configurations.
The device weighs 2.8 pounds (1.25kg) and measures just 14.5 mm thin. Ports on-board include a standard USB-A port, a mini DisplayPort, a 3.5mm headphones socket, the Surface power connector, SD card slot and Microsoft’s proprietary power connector which allows it to dock with existing Surface accessories. But the laptop does not come with the newer USB-C, which has become common for both computers and smartphones. All these specifications are packed in a machine with an astonishing 14.5 hours of battery life and incredibly long standby time with this device.
Panos Panay, corporate vice president for Surface at Microsoft, said at Microsoft’s New York education event: “We built a laptop that’s beautiful, but it’s beautiful because it’s personal. And it’s going to last you; it’s going to last that student from the day they start to the day they walk across that stage and collect their diploma four years later.
“The Surface Laptop is lighter and thinner than any MacBook Air or MacBook Pro currently available and it’s faster and has longer battery life than any MacBook on sale today. We want you to be proud of your laptop when you pull it out of the bag.”
Talking about Windows 10 S software, Windows 10 S is a full and new version of Microsoft’s operating system, that features a new default desktop image and everything that runs on Windows 10 S can be downloaded from Windows App Store. The new operating system is essentially Microsoft’s answer to Google’s Chrome OS, to simplify Windows for low-end hardware and in particular, the education market. But if users want to download (apart from Windows Store) apps from third-party website, they can do so by switching to Windows 10 Pro.
According to Microsoft, Windows 10 S will take around 15 seconds to be ready for a student to first time log in and less than 5 seconds for every other time users log in, a faster process than what’s currently available on Windows 10 Pro.
