Although the overall sales of PCs are still declining, this does not mean that the industry has come to an end. Contrary to this, a number of professional games known for their high performance are rapidly capturing the market, and the two-in-one headed by Surface Hybrid equipment has also become the first choice for business users. It can be said that even if the PC is no longer a necessity in life, it will still play an important role in human life.

Therefore, Microsoft is still happy to update its Surface product line. In the early morning of yesterday, Microsoft held a new product launch in New York as scheduled, releasing a number of hardware products such as the new Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2, and the new Surface noise-canceling headphones.

Surface Pro 6

It’s been a year and a half since the last update of the New Surface Pro. But seems the Microsoft designers have been standing idly by. They have been made a number of improvements and changes in the design of the new Surface Pro 6. You can still see the 12.3-inch PixelSense display with a resolution of 2736×1824, the 3:2 ratio, the 267ppi pixel density and, 10 touch support. On the back, it has the iconic stepless hinge bracket.

The biggest difference in appearance from the previous generation is that the Surface Pro 6 uses a matte black color. In the early Surface RT and the first generation Surface Pro, Microsoft provided a similar gold aluminum-magnesium alloy. However, each subsequent generation of Surface products is dominated by a silver shell.

The design the Surface Pro 6 uses is suitable for all the accessories of the previous Surface Pro, such as the Type Cover keyboard or the protective cover. But they are not included in the box. So you still have to buy them separately.

More improvements come from inside the fuselage. Microsoft claims it has almost refactored all the internal design of the Surface. Now it is plugged into the eighth generation i5/i7 processor, which improves the performance by 67%. The heat dissipation capacity is also greatly improved. The Surface Pro 6 base provides 8GB of running memory and 128GB of SSD, with up to 16GB of running memory and 1TB of SSD.

The only problem is that Surface Pro 6 still forgets to add a USB Type-C interface to it. It only has a standard USB A interface, Surface Port charging interface, miniDP interface, and microSD card reader.

The Surface Pro 6 will be officially launched in North America on October 16. The base version will cost $899.

Surface Laptop 2

Compared to the Surface Book and Surface Pro product line, the Surface Laptop was born in 2017 as the first standard notebook computer of Microsoft. It has gained market favor with its slim design and sufficient performance. This time, Microsoft also chose the same update ideas as the Surface Pro 6, which provided a more powerful processor and better cooling, but doesn’t bring more improvements in appearance.

The Surface Laptop 2 also has a variety of color options. In addition to the previous color scheme, Microsoft also offers the option of matte black. The weight of up to 1.28 kilograms is very light for a 13.5-inch standard-size notebook. The Surface Laptop 2 is still equipped with a PixelSense display, which Microsoft claims is the thinnest in current notebooks.

In terms of core configuration, Microsoft finally made up its mind to eliminate 4GB of running memory, providing 8GB and 16GB of running memory options, and starting with 128GB SSD (up to 1TB of SSD). However, the only complaint is that Microsoft still does not embrace the USB Type-C interface. Laptop 2 has only a single USB Type-A interface, a miniDP interface, and a Surface Port charging interface.

Similarly, the Surface Laptop 2 will be officially shipped on the 16th of this month, starting at $999.

Surface Studio 2

At the press conference, the Surface Studio also got a ‘small repair’, which also carries the same 28-inch display as the previous generation, but the overall display has become even better. Say, the brightness of this display increased by 38% and the contrast is increased by 22%, which also supports the 4096-level pressure of the Surface Pen. In short, this is a display that will satisfy the designers.

The biggest improvement of the Surface Studio 2 is GPU performance, but it is probably not satisfactory for the gamers. Our protagonist is equipped with a GTX1060/1070 standard voltage graphics card. Although the overall performance is nearly 50% higher than the previous generation GTX980, there is a serious gap when comparing to the latest 20 series graphics cards. In addition, the Microsoft Surface Studio 2 comes with the seventh generation of Intel processors. The only reassuring improvement in hardware seems to be that storage has finally abandoned the hybrid hard drive into the SSD. Even the basic version of the Surface Studio 2 has adopted a 1TB SSD.

The basic version with an i7 processor and 16GB of running memory is priced at $3,499 and will be officially shipped later this year.

Surface noise canceling headphones

Besides the three Surfaces, Microsoft also launched its own earmuff noise-canceling headphones for the first time.

The noise-canceling headphones feature a silver-gray color scheme with 40mm drive units on both sides, supporting for wired and Bluetooth connectivity. The Surface Noise Cancelling Headphone also supports the somatosensory control. The user can automatically pause the music when the removing the earphone. Of course, the user can also use the gesture in the touch area on the right ear cover to operate.

The Surface Noise Cancelling Headphones provide a rotatable mechanical interface on the earmuffs on both sides. It not only adjusts the playback volume but also supports the adjustment of the noise reduction level. The maximum level of 13 noise reduction capability is sufficient to completely block the environmental noise. At the same time, the Surface Noise Cancelling Headset can quickly wake up Cortana when connected to a Windows device.

The charging interface of this headset is USB-C, which supports fast charging. Users only need to charge for 5 minutes to get 1 hour of music life. The battery life is 15 hours for Bluetooth or 50 hours for cable.

However, Microsoft did not give the final price, only promised that this headset will be available to the market later this year. It is reported that the development of this headset lasted for 3 years and will be a direct competitor of BOSE and Sony. Headphones will be available this fall, priced at $350, and Microsoft is currently only planning to sell in the United States.

Are you satisfied with the new generation of Surface family?