Surface Laptop 2: what we want to see

The original Surface Laptop may not have even had its first birthday yet, but that doesn't mean that we can’t get excited for one, does it?

With this article, we’d like to set our expectations for what the Surface Laptop 2 – or the Surface Laptop 2018, whichever name Microsoft goes with – will look like. No matter how much we love the first Surface Laptop, there’s always room for improvement.

And, now that Redstone 4, the Spring Creators Update, or whatever Microsoft is going to call it, is set to release later this month (or later, if it keeps getting delayed) – and includes the anticipated timeline feature – we could start seeing information about the Surface Laptop 2 in the very near future.

But, we can also dive into some speculation about the key details, like the possible release date, features and price – but most importantly, create a wish list. So, you should bookmark this page, as we’ll continue to update it with fresh information as it rolls in.

Cut to the chase

What is it? The would-be second Surface Laptop
When is it out? June 2018 at the earliest
What will it cost? Likely as much as – if not more than – the current model

Surface Laptop 2

Surface Laptop 2 release date

Unfortunately, we know next to nothing regarding when we’ll see the next Surface Laptop from Microsoft. So, that leaves us with the release of last year to base any speculation upon.

The first Surface Laptop was launched on June 15 2017 in the US. Given how hardware makers like Microsoft tend to annualize their releases, our best guess as to when we’ll see a Surface Laptop 2 in 2018 would be in June, especially if Microsoft continues to push it as a back-to-school laptop.

Granted, Microsoft hasn’t been awfully consistent with the release timings of its Surface Pro or Surface Book products. So, perhaps it’s just safer to expect the Surface Laptop 2 to release in time for the back-to-school sales in the US.

Surface Laptop 2

Surface Laptop 2 price

Again, there has been little to no information regarding the Surface Laptop 2 price. So, we only have the current model’s pricing to go off of.

With that, we know that Surface Laptop today starts at $799 (around £560, AU$1,000), a new configuration featuring a lower-power Intel Core m3 processor. The original starting model, meanwhile, starts at $999 (around £705, AU$1,250).

So, if we are to see a Surface Laptop 2 in 2018, it’s tough to expect Microsoft to deviate far – if at all – from this price in either direction.

Surface Laptop 2

Surface Laptop 2 specs

Unsurprisingly, we know nothing with any amount of concrete certainty about what kind of hardware will be inside the would-be Surface Laptop 2. But, again, we have the current models as a baseline for our best guesses.

It’s safe to assume that, if Microsoft goes the Intel route once again, 8th-generation Kaby Lake processors would be a given. Whether that’s straight Core-series processors or the newest models with AMD Vega graphics embedded is up to Microsoft to decide.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the existing basic RAM and storage configurations to remain the same, as memory and storage standards haven’t drastically changed since last year.

Surface Laptop 2

What we want to see in a Surface Laptop 2

With such little known about a would-be Surface Laptop 2 for 2018, that leaves us plenty of room to develop a wish list of sorts for the product. So, here are the major upgrades we want to see from a Surface Laptop sequel:

More (or better) ports, please
Frankly, it’s about time for Microsoft to adopt USB-C 3.1 or Thunderbolt 3. The Surface Connect port is fine and allows for much of the same functionality as either, but it’s not quite the same. We deserve a bit more freedom to third-party high-speed accessories for the price of entry – just kill the mini DisplayPort and slap a USB-C port of some sort there?

LTE connectivity
Now that the Surface Pro LTE is on the horizon, we would love to see Microsoft’s other lightweight workhorse get nigh-universal connectivity. Whether that comes through an adaptation of the Surface Pro’s implementation, Intel’s new dedicated 5G modem or, say, a Windows 10 S on ARM implementation with Qualcomm, either would make the device that much more tempting.

Fast charging
It’s about time for this feature to become an expected standard on laptops. Fast charging techniques certainly have become an expected feature of high-end smartphones, so why not laptops? Such a move would only further solidify the Surface Laptop’s portability chops.

More colors
One of the Surface Laptop’s most attractive features is its propensity for color, with platinum, burgundy, graphite gold and cobalt blue options. Microsoft should absolutely blow this out of the water, as it very well could become the company’s iMac G3 moment.