Microsoft – Studio what?

Surface gets experimental.

• Alongside a series of expected and needed upgrades was one of the wackiest ideas I have seen for a portable computer but missing was a folding screen and an answer to Apple’s move to computing on Arm.
• Microsoft held its launch event where it updated the Surface Pro, the Duo, the Laptop, the Go.
  • First, Surface Laptop Studio which looks like a jumble of Lego bricks thrown together by a small child.
  • The device sits on a plinth which is probably to deal with cooling which combined with the system to enable the screen configuration makes the whole thing look very strange.
  • In essence, it is a cross between the Surface Pro and the Surface Book except that the screen is permanently attached.
  • The device can be a traditional laptop or a viewing and calling device or a tablet for creative tasks.
  • The one advantage of the odd design is that there is a perfect place to store the pen, but this is unlikely to detract much from its really weird look.
  • Second, Pro and Go all of which received good updates.
  • Top of the list here is the Pro which has wider bezels, Thunderbolt 4 connectors, a sleeker design, better processors, and a 120hz refresh rate on the new screen.
  • The Go received new processors bringing it into line with competing products.
  • Third, Surface Duo which greatly upgraded the camera system as well as added support for 5G.
  • It also added a glance bar on the back of the hinge displaying key information without having to open the device.
  • As nice as it looks, this product still lacks the folding screen which in my opinion puts it behind the Galaxy Fold 3 at roughly the same price point.
  • I continue to believe that if Microsoft wants to make any headway in this category it needs to figure out a way to fix the scratchability problem with folding screens.
  • This would propel it into the lead as no one else has figured it out either.
• The net result is that Microsoft continues to hold its position as the best manufacturer of premium Windows devices, but the Windows on Arm story was pretty much absent.
• Apple threw down the gauntlet to the industry with its M1 processor which has pretty much lived up to the hype and now Windows needs to answer it with an offering of its own that makes no compromises.
• I am pretty certain that both Qualcomm and Microsoft are beavering away behind closed doors to meet this challenge, but obviously, they are not there yet.
• If they come up with an equivalent, then we could be looking at a real challenge to Intel in the computing market although Intel itself is no longer asleep.
• It thinks that it can meet and beat the challenge from Arm with its reinvigorated strategy but only time will tell.
• The beneficiary of this voracious competition is the consumer that gets better-performing products with much longer battery life at roughly the same price (inflation permitting).
• This is a nice set of upgrades but if Microsoft really wants to set the computing world alight it needs an M1 equivalent and a folding screen for the Duo.