The much-rumored Surface Laptop is official, and it is running Windows 10 S, which is a cloud version of Windows 10. You can think of this as Microsoft’s second try after Windows RT didn’t go over too well. Similar to Google’s Chromebook Pixel, the Surface Laptop is the pinnacle device running Windows 10 S and comes with a high price tag.
Unlike other high-end laptops that go with a metal or aluminum design, Microsoft went with anodized metal on the outside and a soft Alcantara cloth like material for the inside. It is also a traditional clamshell laptop, unlike the Surface Pro or Surface book, coming in at 2.76lbs and 14.47mm thick. Platinum, Graphite Gold, Cobalt Blue, and Burgundy are the color choices for the Surface Laptop.
While it is not like a traditional Surface device, it does support the Surface Dial and Surface Pen. Microsoft’s PixelSense display packs a large 3.4 million pixels into a 13.5-inch edge-to-edge display with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Powering the Surface Laptop is a 7th Generation Intel Core processor, and you can expect 14 hours of battery life. The base model will also include a 256GB hard drive and 8GBs of RAM.
And Windows 10 S is quite similar to Chrome OS, as you can only install approved application from the Windows Store. And if you need to run an application, not from the Windows Store, you will be able to upgrade any Windows 10 S device to Windows 10 Pro. Each Surface Laptop will come with a one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal and 1TB of free storage on OneDrive.
The Surface Laptop is a unique device, but at $999 it will be a bit expensive. On the bright side, while it runs Windows 10 S out of the box, you do have the option of upgrading to the full Windows 10 Experience. The Surface Laptop is available for pre-order now but will land on June 15th. You can expect a plethora of other Windows 10 S device to hit the market soon after that.
