Microsoft Surface Book 2 Release Date, Latest News & Update: Flagship Laptop Set Market Debut in April Sans 2-in-1 Mode
Microsoft had launched its 2-in-1 laptop the Surface Book in 2015, and decided not to upgrade to Surface Book 2 last year. In its place, it concentrated on making the laptop available in many regions regularly.
However, a new report claims that the successor of Surface Book is finally coming next month and has even entered in mass production too. The Surface Book 2 is expected to launch as soon as the end of this month or surely in April. It looks like the company is trying to pull in more buyers with a lower price, especially as the announcement is expected to come around the same time when Apple is expected to release the new iPad Pro 2.
Report is coming from DigiTimes which claims that the Surface Book 2 has entered into mass production, and one of the big changes from the predecessor is the ditching of the 2-in-1 mode. It appears that, the Surface Book 2 will be a regular laptop with no detachable or 360-degree hinge that uses to transform the laptop into a tablet. Design wise, that's quite disappointing, but the Surface Book 2 will be cheaper with this update starting at $1,000.
The real reason for this change is unknown, but it could be that Microsoft wants to make its Surface Book lineup look significantly different than its usual Surface Pro line-up. The report also notes that only 500,000 Surface Books were sold in 2016, and the high price tag attached was the main reason behind such poor numbers. Now with a lower price tag, Company is hoping to gain more customers for its Surface Book lineup. Publication also estimates the shipment figures of Microsoft to be around 1.2 million to 1.5 million units, which is higher than previous year's numbers, as noted by NDTV.
Microsoft has yet to comment on the latest claims; however DigiTimes does have a good track record when it comes on predicting Microsoft product launches and changes. The publication had predicted the Microsoft Studio all-in-one desktop PC even before it was officially announced.