Lisa Gade reviews the 15” Microsoft Surface Book 2, with a significantly faster graphics card and CPU than the previous version. Microsoft has also updated the 13.5” Surface Book with similar specs, but it has an NVIDIA GTX 1050 in the base while the 15” model has an NVIDIA GTX 1060 and XBOX Wireless support. The 15” Book 2 has an IPS display supporting pen (N-Trig, sold separately for $99) and touch. It has a 3:2 aspect ratio and 3240 x 2160 resolution. It converts into a solo tablet at the press of a button and has an improved fulcrum hinge.

All 15” models have the dedicated graphics, a Core i7-8560U Intel 8th generation quad core 15 watt CPU and 16GB LPDDR3 RAM. PCIe NVMe SSDs are available from 256GB up to 1TB. The 13.5” is available with a Core i5 and no dedicated graphics and a Core i7 with dGPU. The machine has a backlit keyboard, USB-C and front and rear cameras. It’s expensive, but it’s one of the few convertible PCs that can be a tablet for art and CAD, works as a gaming laptop and a general purpose luxury Ultrabook. Clearly, Microsoft is still going after the MacBook Pro crowd, with an array of enticing features those Macs lack and a similar price structure. Pricing starts at $1,499 for the 13.5” and $2,500 for the 15”. Note that the $1499 model has a dual core i5, unlike the rest of the models.

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