Microsoft has been trying to reinvent the laptop and the touchpad for ten years with its Surface range. Launched in 2012, it is in its 9th generation with the launch this Wednesday of the new vintage.
At its fall event, the US manufacturer showed off not only its Surface Pro 9, but also a Surface Laptop 5, its versatile Surface Studio 2+ for creatives, as well as multiple software enhancements and services.
A flight to 5G and the future
With confinement and the pandemic, the strong irruption of teleworking has redistributed the cards in terms of equipment. Microsoft is at the forefront to see this and its latest improvements, whether for windows 11 As for its material, take it largely into account.
After bringing its share of new features to your computer’s operating system, the Redmond company is upgrading its devices to better exploit it, playing once again with the convergence between touchpad and laptop. The quintessential hybrid Surface Pro 9 continues its momentum with the arrival of 5G, a 12th Gen Intel processor (or the Microsoft SQ3 chip designed with Qualcomm for the 5G version), as well as a longer battery life (up to 3:00 p.m.). in Wi-Fi version, 19 h in 5G version).
The Surface Pro 9 keeps its aluminum chassis, but is enriched with a new green color and a brighter blue. The 13-inch PixelSense display benefits from an image refresh rate of up to 120Hz and enhanced color rendering with Dolby Vision technology as a bonus. The device continues to bet on its HD camera with Windows Hello (10 Mpx) and capable of filming in 4K, its directional microphones and its Dolby Atmos speakers capable of canceling parasitic noise. Additionally, Surface Pro 9 benefits from various features such as auto crop, eye tracking, voice focus, and background blur to be perfect in video conferences.
Thanks to Windows 11, it will be possible to download Android applications through the Amazon app store, a very useful option to use Surface Pro 9 in touch panel format. It is equipped with 8, 16 or 32 GB with possible storage from 128 GB to 1 TB (except the 5G version with 512 GB max). On the connector side, there are still two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports for the Wi-Fi version (2 x USB-C 3.2 on 5G), a Surface Connect socket for recharging.
The Surface Pro 9 will be available from November 8 from 1,299 euros. Surface Pen (optional) is also supported.
No revolution, more power
But it’s not just touchpads capable of becoming a laptop at Microsoft. There are also portable PCs that have their reason for being. Surface Laptops are a huge hit. The 5th version does not revolutionize the concept, but improves the existing interior. It is always possible to wake it up simply by opening the computer. More powerful thanks to a new processor and the Intel Evo platform, the Surface Laptop 5 Provides all-day battery life and increased performance. It features faster Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports.
Its chassis remains the same with two available screen sizes (13.5 and 15 inches), supporting Dolby Vision IQ for brighter, more contrasting colors. Surface Laptop 5 promises 3D spatial sound thanks to Dolby Atmos and relies on studio-quality microphones for video calls. The Windows Hello HD camera also relies on the light sensor to adjust the camera’s lighting.
Surface Laptop 5s start at 1,179 euros for the 13.5-inch version. Both PCs will go on sale on October 25.
Surface Studio 2+, an even more versatile all-in-one
More confidential, but true beast of the competition, the Surface Studio 2+, a direct competitor to the more versatile Apple iMac, is making a comeback. It still has a 28-inch widescreen display that can be tilted to act as a graphics tablet with an included Surface Pen (as well as a keyboard and mouse). You can display four Windows 11 apps on the screen.
This is also where Microsoft brings its little touch 2022: now we find an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card that will increase performance and an 11th generation Intel Core H-35 processor to provide 50% more performance.
Surface Studio 2+ doesn’t just want to talk to creatives anymore, but also developers and other graphic designers. To do this, it multiplies and diversifies the onboard ports (3 USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports -to also be able to add external 4K screens-, 2 USB-A, 1 Gb Ethernet socket and audio socket), and opts for storage of up to to 1TB for 32GB of RAM.
DALL-E is within everyone’s reach
To accompany all this new hardware, Microsoft is not forgetting the software to make productivity more efficient. During the conference he presented Microsoft Designer, a PowerPoint-based graphic design app built into Microsoft 365 powered primarily by AI. It will be sent privately. DALL-E 2an intelligence capable of transforming text into image.
Microsoft Designer will propose “design ideas” fed by images and text progressively added by the user. Then it will be easy to publish on the platforms or download the creations.
Far from wanting to be limited to just software, Microsoft product manager Panos Panay explained that authoring tools will soon be available in Bing and Edge as well. A beta is already available upon registration.
Secondly, clipchampvideo editing application available in the software and in the websiteIt will reach subscribers of the Microsoft 365 office suite.
Source: BFM TV
