Microsoft Surface Book 2 to reportedly be a traditional laptop, ditching 2-in-1 design

16 March 2017
It is allegedly already in production and could get official at the end of this month.

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Well, this surface doesnt go to Asian Market like Indonesia. While i can easily get Macbook Pro for same price and world wide warranty.

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    • AnonD-210527
    • bJ5
    • 20 Mar 2017

    There are already many great laptops. Look at Dell XPS or HP Spectre. And surface devices are suppose to be doing something different. I doubt MS is removing tablet mode. Maybe improving on laptop mode at expense of tablet experience.

    And people talking about fails on mobile and staying away from tablet market.....

    Microsoft have not made any Great laptops. They are relatively new to computer Hardware. Surface brand got its fame from Surface line-up and Surface pro 3 is considered 2-in-1 perfected. It would be crazy to ditch tablets and go just laptops.

    Mobiles sales were bad and it was unsuccessful but it was not complete failure. MS is still releasing new insider updates to mobiles at same rate as for desktop OS. Which means its not completely dead. And even if Mobile branch dies, It will still live in all the windows 10 devices (Computers and xbox). UWP was developed thanks to Windows mobile OS. Mobile OS have contributed to development of windows 10. Windows cloud(RT v2) is underdevelopment. And windows 10 is being developed for ARM processors.

    MS is not giving up on anything because they cannot do it to have a chance at a better future. And future is one OS just like Microsoft said but it might not be windows 10. It might be Apple's OS or Google's OS but they are all present in all the computer markets. Its a sink or swim competition.

      Anonymous, 17 Mar 2017Windows in tablet mode follows the exact trajectory of Wind... moreBut MS has no choice because sales are obviously not doing well and the younger generation are growing up on the ipad touch experience. PC's will become irrelevant in time. Consumers today are the future CEOs and business owners. They will dictate what their business uses. Look at blackberry. Businesses didn't care how secure it was, they became obsolete in the consumer market and then the enterprise followed. Business people are also consumers. You can't distinguish between these 2 anymore.

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        • Bomj
        • jyW
        • 17 Mar 2017

        News about Microsoft Surface Book 2 to reportedly be a traditional laptop, ditching 2-in-1 design is reportedly wrong.

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          • DQ
          • 8IA
          • 17 Mar 2017

          Ken, 17 Mar 2017The surface book's tablet portion was actually really light... moreWell in my case I use the tablet portion almost every day.... Obviously I use it as a laptop most of the time, but I detach it almost everyday for something...

          I make mechanical designs and sometimes is nice to sketch ideas before working fully on them...

          Additionally I take classes on Saturday where I use the Book for taking notes with onenote and drawboard...

          And on rarely occasions I paint

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            • AnonD-648841
            • TbE
            • 17 Mar 2017

            Makes sense, though I'm sad for the missed innovation...maybe in a few years when the hinge mechanism is a proven technology and not that expensive it could be put back on, and it wouldn't make a big difference in price.

            Honestly, I truly hope that they implement the hinge into the surface pro lineup, as it will create the most useful ever 2-in-1 while also giving us a solid laptop when we need it, and a lightweight tablet when on the go. (Or for reading)

              Yeah, if they remove the 2-in-1 aspect of the device, but keep that horrible price, that'd make me want to get it even less.

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                • Ken
                • 45%
                • 17 Mar 2017

                Lead2XL, 17 Mar 2017Much better idea. The 2 in 1 was too heavy as a tablet an... moreThe surface book's tablet portion was actually really light, lighter than the surface pro. But they did I can count on one hand how many times I've used the tablet without keyboard.

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                  • AnonD-64830
                  • HKR
                  • 17 Mar 2017

                  Looks like Microsoft are about to Copy the Macbook Pro series of laptops.

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                    • Anonymous
                    • pVN
                    • 17 Mar 2017

                    krystian, 17 Mar 2017I think they are working on improving the tablet experience... moreWindows in tablet mode follows the exact trajectory of Windows Phones .... i.e. slow and mostly downwards. I have little to no faith that it will ever be able to compete with the likes of iPads in app quality and quantity.

                    Reason is simple, the person who buys a Microsoft products is more attuned to a laptop experience, so he/she always reverts to that. So even if one creates a great app, there's a hardly any demand for it as Microsoft users would prefer the lower quality web app (via the browser) or simply not use the functionality at all.

                    If Microsoft wanted to have any success in the tablet market they should have ditched the legacy support and the desktop mode altogether. I know it sounds controversial and in doing that they actually failed (with Windows RT), but the mere presence of desktop mode confuses users.

                    Having two dissimilar environments in the same machine does not work too well, it's clanky at best and eventually users only use one of the two. In the case of surface products 9 out of 10 I have seen don't even care about the tablet part, they're merely using it as an inferior ultrabook (basically), which is why ultrabooks are making a comeback...

                    Microsoft has lost billions in trying to enter the mobile market. They're better to call it a game and return to the only thing that they have proven that they can do relatively competitively... PCs and laptops ... maaybe consoles in America and that's it ... basically.

                      Anonymous, 17 Mar 2017Makes sense. Tablet use is awkward at best on Windows. I... moreI think they are working on improving the tablet experience. Keep in mind Windows 10 is a work in progress. They have so many things they have to do and they have to follow a release cycle and prioritize. Anniversary upgrade and Creators are more about merging kernel, stabilizing code and starting on adaptive shell. Redstone 3 will be more UI and shell enhancements so we should likely see more improvements to tablet mode in this release scheduled for fall. And of course things get delayed as in the real world something may show up that requires them to stop what they are doing and fix things.

                      And of course with the tablet experience there is also the app ecosystem which the tablet experience highly depends on. This has been really slow progress for them. It's hard to change peoples habits. The 2-in-1 hybrids are supposed to help with changing habits by making users prioritize the store for tablet experiences. But most users find out it's lacking.

                        Much better idea. The 2 in 1 was too heavy as a tablet and the keyboard was too minimal. It was caught between two stools. Making a laptop is sensible because people who want to do serious work on such a device mainly want a laptop anyway.

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                          • AnonD-563126
                          • t7X
                          • 17 Mar 2017

                          Wow, surface line is better in MacBook and I personally notice it, my cousin chose it over MacBook and its very productive, plus the outlook and other essential app is a way better than MacBook pro, surface studio is really a iMac killer, hope they sell it in Asia

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                            • Anonymous
                            • pVN
                            • 17 Mar 2017

                            Makes sense. Tablet use is awkward at best on Windows.

                            I think Microsoft should move asfar away as possible from mobiles. They tred, they lost billions, they failed. Return the tablet market to those that actually can make good products on (Android OEMs + Apple) ,focus instead to great ultrabooks. Ficus to your strength.

                            I loved the surface series for one month in total. After that I was reminded that ultrabooks are better (by using a friend's ultrabook). Tablet mode on laptops is mostly a gimmick ... it's welcome that Microsoft seems to get it.

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                              • Zune
                              • 4QB
                              • 17 Mar 2017

                              Worst decision ever, they should have just removed the integrated graphics only version which kinda a worked again the surface pro. I was gonna consider a surface book 2 with dedicated graphics and detachable tablet mode, but if the rumors are true, I am better off with a dell XOS 15

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                                • Anonymous
                                • J5P
                                • 17 Mar 2017

                                Great! The 2 in 1 design, and it's therefore higher price, was the only reason I did not buy the old one! I use my phone as a "tablet" so I do not want to pay extra for something I do not need!

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • upq
                                  • 17 Mar 2017

                                  I like this..The tablet mode was hardly used anyway... If they get a quad core CPU in it I'll buy it hands down

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • wu4
                                    • 17 Mar 2017

                                    Just make a pure desktop no store os!!

                                      AnonD-492870, 16 Mar 2017Nice...watch it come with SD835. Be nice. It most likely wo... moreConsumer acceptance is still at play, though... even if it comes with ARM chipsets but priced too high, it will still not be a gamechanger.

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • vae
                                        • 17 Mar 2017

                                        I bought one of the first ones, but returned it. I tried to run Forza on lowest settings but it won't even start as it doesn't have the a 2Gb video card. Not good enough. Yes I know it's not the purpose of the laptop - but in Australia it was $4,000 for top model. What for, word processing?

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