The Microsoft Event 2021 took place last night, where the software giant unveiled new hardware such as Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Duo 2, Surface Pro 8, and Surface Go 3. The company also refreshed Surface Pro X that launched last year. Currently, the India-specific prices remain unclear, and the company is yet to share more information. It's been nearly a decade since Microsoft surprised the tech industry with its first Surface hybrid tablet featuring a detachable keyboard. Until that moment in 2012, Microsoft had primarily been a software company -- if you don't count its wildly successful entrance into game consoles with the Xbox in 2001 and its failed foray into Windows-based phones in 2010 with Microsoft Lumia. Here are the 9 new products launched by Microsoft in its latest Surface event:
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio: Key features include 120Hz display, 11th Gen Intel Core H35 processors, and Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs. Surface Laptop Studio starts at $1599.99 (roughly Rs 1,17,800) and is available for pre-order today in select markets.
Surface Duo 2: From the last year’s edition of the dual-screen phone, this year, there’s an entirely new triple camera system on the back of the Surface Duo 2 that includes a telephoto lens and two wide-angle lenses. You can pre-order the Surface Duo 2 today before it becomes officially available on October 21st.
Surface Go 3: The new Surface GO 3 -- base model-- comes with a Pentium Gold 6500Y CPU, up from the 4425Y in Go 2, while the more expensive variants feature 10th-generation Core i3 CPUs. Microsoft claims the latter chip is 60 per cent faster than the Core m3 it previously offered with the Go 2. The entire Surface Go 3 family is available to pre-order today, with the base model starting at $400.
Surface Pro 7+:The entry-level variant seems underpowered but performance for the high-end unit that we reviewed was very good thanks to the 10th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and 256GB NVMe SSD. Windows ran very smoothly. Productivity won't be a problem but don't expect serious gaming power.
Surface Pro X: The Microsoft Surface Pro X now comes in a Wi-Fi-only version. Microsoft is offering a version of its ARM-based Surface device that does away with cellular connectivity. The higher-end version of the Surface Pro X rocks a custom SQ2 processor based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 processor. That 8cx can support 5G, but the Surface Pro X limits cellular connectivity to 4G LTE.
Surface Pro 8: Microsoft’s Surface Pro line got a significant upgrade on Wednesday. it includes a 13-inch PixelSense display with a 120Hz refresh rate, support for Thunderbolt 4 and faster internals courtesy of Intel’s latest 11th-generation processors. Along with 11th gen chips, users can choose anywhere from 8GB to 32GB of RAM, tons of storage starting at 128GB and ending above 1TB, and the SSD drives are user-replaceable too.
Adaptive Kit: The Adaptive Kit is a set of textured stickers, labels, and tabs designed to improve accessibility for everyone. There are keycap stickers to help those with poor eyesight to get alignment on a keyboard, stickers to designate ports and even tabs you can install on your Surface Laptop that’ll make it easier to open one-handed.
Slim Pen 2: The Slim Pen 2 has a built-in haptic motor that delivers the same feeling you get when you’re using a pen or paintbrush against a sheet of paper, which Microsoft calls tactile signals.
Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse: The Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse design uses 20% recycled plastic removed from the ocean. It’s a respectable project, you have to admit. Better yet, the box is 100% recyclable. It’s also small, lightweight, efficient, and promises roughly 12-months of battery life from one AA battery.
