We’ve waited quite a while for Surface Studio 2. It’s improved in almost every way. However, those improvements may not have a shelf life befitting of a computer with such a steep price tag. The Surface Studio 2 is a personal computing workstation. A glossy hulk of a display with a sleek aluminum frame and a hinge that lets you tilt the touchscreen display. It’s the second-generation Surface Studio. The first one came out in the fall of 2016 and most of its updates are internal. It runs Windows 10 Pro. This is a performance PC, designed for people who do a lot of heavy multimedia work. To an extent, it’s for people who enjoy playing PC games too.
Specifications of Microsoft Surface Studio 2:
Dimensions
- Display: 25.1” x 17.3” x 0.5” (637.35 mm x 438.90 mm x 12.50 mm)
- Base: 9.8” x 8.7” x 1.3” (250.00 mm x 220.00 mm x 32.20 mm)
Display
- Screen: 28” PixelSense™ Display
- Resolution: 4500 x 3000 (192 PPI)
- Color settings: sRGB, DCI-P3, and Vivid
- Individually color-calibrated display
- Aspect Ratio: 3:2
- Touch: 10-point multi-touch
- Supports Surface Pen with tilt activation, Surface Dial on-screen interaction, and Zero Gravity Hinge
Memory
- 16GB or 32GB (DDR4)
Processor
- Intel® Core™ i7-7820HQ
Security
- TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
- Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
Software
- Windows 10 Pro
- Microsoft Office 365 30-day trial
Storage
- 1TB or 2TB solid-state drive (SSD)
External Display Support
- Up to two 4K UHD (@30Hz) or single 4K UHD (@60Hz)
Graphics
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 memory
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 memory
Connections
- 4 x USB 3.0 (one high power port)
- Full-size SD™ card reader (SDXC) compatible
- 1 x USB-C
- 5 mm headphone jack
- Compatible with Surface Dial on-screen interaction
- 1 Gigabit Ethernet port
Cameras, video, and audio
- Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
- 0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video
- Dual microphones
- Stereo 2.1 speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium
Wireless
- Wi-Fi: 802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n compatible
- Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology
- Xbox Wireless built-in
Box Content
- Surface Studio 2
- Pen
- Surface Keyboard
- Surface Mouse
- Power cord with grip-release cable
- Quick start guide
- Safety and warranty guide
Exterior
- Physical buttons: Volume, Power
Weight
- 21 lbs max (9.56 kg max)
Warranty
- 1-year limited hardware warranty
It also costs $3,500. Or really, for a configuration with the maximum amount of memory, $4,200. That price does include the keyboard, mouse, and a Surface Pen. But not the $99 Surface Dial. A puck you place directly on the Studio’s giant display and turn and press and click to interact with apps. The Surface Studio 2 isn’t as costly or as powerful as Apple’s $5,000 iMac Pro. The machine that Microsoft is taking direct aim at with this, the price still puts it in the category of you-really-need-to-justify-it computers.
