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OPINION: Microsoft made waves this week when it unveiled its newest smartphone, the Surface Duo 2, and updated Surface Pro 8 and Surface Go 3 tablets.
But in the sea of ​​announcements, one key device was missing: the Surface Book 4. Before the event, there was a deluge of “leaks” suggesting that the company was planning to release a new book. Instead, Microsoft revealed the Surface Laptop Studio – a device the company has since confirmed will replace the book as Microsoft’s flagship option for creatives.
For me this is a big mistake from Microsoft.
For people unfamiliar with the Surface Book range, it was a convertible laptop tablet designed for power users and creatives. It worked by having a tablet area with Surface Pen support that could be converted into a laptop with a physical keyboard dock. As an added trick, the keyboard included an extra battery and GPU, which radically improved the device’s graphical grunt.
As I said in my Surface Book, Surface Book 2, and Surface Book 3 reviews, the device never did quite as justice to creative people as I’d hoped, as the average color space coverage is a little too low and there’s no easy way to do it set the screen as an easel. Color gamut is an important metric that determines how accurate the colors on the screen are compared to how they look physically printed.
I can understand why Microsoft wanted to do the Surface Laptop Studio. It has a new hinge mechanism that lets you slide the display forward over the attached keyboard to turn it into a tablet or use it as an artist’s easel. As an added bonus, it also has a high refresh rate display and a magnetic dock to house and charge the upgraded Surface Slim Pen 2 pen.
While I didn’t check it to see if the screen fixes the issues I had with the books’ color accuracy and color gamut coverage, the design undeniably looks better for digital artists.
What I can’t understand, however, is why Microsoft decided to completely replace the Book line. While not particularly suited for creative people, the Book line was still an excellent option for power users, programmers, and engineers. The laptop form factor meant it was powerful at compiling code, but with the added benefit of being able to detach the screen and scribble on the tablet when doing roadmapping projects.
It was also great for people like CAD designers or engineers as the laptop mode was more than powerful enough to work on even large projects. That, and the added freedom of undocking it and using it as a regular tablet, made it a unique device that is completely different from the Surface Laptop Studio.
Because of this, I can’t help but believe that a Surface Book 4 might have existed alongside the Surface Laptop Studio, and I regret Microsoft’s decision to completely kill the line.
Ctrl + Alt + Del is our weekly computer opinion column that delves deeper into the world of computers, laptops, components, peripherals, and more. Find it every Saturday afternoon at Trusted Reviews.
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