Surface Book: Microsoft reckons its first ever laptop is the BEST laptop ever built

The Surface Book has a stylish new hinge, which attaches the tablet display to the keyboard

Surface Book: Microsoft reckons its first ever laptop is the BEST laptop ever built

 

The US technology firm announced its first laptop, the Microsoft Surface Book, which sports a detachable display with a staggering six million pixels and all-day battery life.

Microsoft said it wanted to kill the laptop with its Surface Pro 3 hybrid at its event last year – but now it appears the company really wants to make laptops instead.

The Redmond company has called its new device "the Ultimate Laptop".

 

Surface Book, which starts from an $1,499 – some £980 converted – but the top-of-the-line Surface Book with a 512GB SSD, Core i7 with 16GB will cost an eye-watering $2,699 – a staggering £1760.

Microsoft justified the Apple-esque pricing by saying that its new laptop is TWICE as fast as Apple's MacBook Pro.

It also has the highest resolution display of any laptop thanks to its stunning 13.5-inch PixelSense display with a 267 pixels-per-inch resolution.

For comparison, Google's Chromebook Pixel, a previous record holder, has just 239 pixels-per-inch. The Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display has 226ppi.

 



A new Microsoft Pen ships with updated Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book laptop





The Redmond technology firm's first laptop is built from Magnesium, like the Surface Pro 4



The stunning display on the Surface Book can also be detached thanks to the Muscle Wire Lock technology in the new hinge.

The display can also be re-attached so that the display is facing away from the keyboard, if you need to use the laptop in a presentation mode, or use the keyboard base to hold the touchscreen display at an angle.

Navigating around the Windows 10 operating system is controlled through the multi-touch glass trackpad.

Microsoft's "ultimate laptop" also includes a chiclet keyboard, with backlit keys which the Redmond firm say are "perfect" for typing and are almost silent when in use.

 

The Surface Book has the highest resolution display on a notebook, almost 300 pixels-per-inch

 



Microsoft has fitted the Surface Book with two cameras



 

The Surface Book has a backlit chiclet keyboard is reportedly one of the quietest available

 

Microsoft claims its first laptop PC is the “Ultimate laptop”

 

The Surface Pen attaches to the side of the laptop via magnets

Powering the $1499 laptop is the latest Intel Core i5 and i7 processors which Microsoft claims makes the device more powerful than anything in Apple's roster. 

Data transfer is handled by two USB 3.0 ports, but there is no sign of the new Type-C variation.

An SD card slot is also built into the laptop, which sports 12 hours battery life.

The Surface Book will be available from October 26, with pre-orders starting online from tomorrow.

 

Microsoft also revealed a new line of Lumia smartphones, a new Surface Pro tablet and an updated version of its wearable fitness tracker, Microsoft Band, all running on Windows 10, its latest operating system.

"We're moving people from needing to choosing to loving Windows, and these devices promise to fuel even more enthusiasm and opportunity for the entire Windows ecosystem," Chief Executive Satya Nadella said at the event.