Microsoft Surface Book i7
A Microsoft Surface Book i7 laptop rests on a tabletop at an event in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., October 26, 2016. Reuters/Lucas Jackson

If reports are to be believed, the Microsoft Surface Book i7 offers incredible graphics performance and battery life. It’s unique and it’s blazing fast. The amazingly extended battery life is something that most laptops lack. The Surface Book i7 offers twice the performance of the original Surface Book.

As per PC World, the hybrid, convertible laptop is a beautifully crafted 13.5-inch tablet with PixelSense screen supporting both touch and pen. The keyboard hosts the wonder graphics chip that takes the performance of the Microsoft Surface Book i7 well past any other laptop in its category.

The “Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge” is still there despite reports that Microsoft would drop it. In terms of design, it looks very similar to its predecessor. The PixelSense screen has a resolution of 3200x2400 pixels. It uses Intel’s dual-core 6th-gen Skylake Core i7-6600U chipset, SSD from 256GB to 1TB and 8GB and 16GB LPDDR3 options.

However, many tech enthusiasts are not happy with the processor as many laptops are already using the 7th Generation Kaby Lake chipsets. It will be clear when using the laptop that Samsung has focused mainly on the graphics performance. The Microsoft Surface Book i7 uses a stunning Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M chip with 2GB of GDDR5 RAM.

The GPU is faster and hotter. Hence, the company has added a second fan and large air vents to keep the laptop cool. Even after more than an hour of torture, the GPU in the Microsoft Surface Book i7 refused to take a bump.

As per CNET, the Surface Book i7 is an expensive one, starting at US$2,399 (AU$3,150) for 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. Upgrading it to 1TB of storage and 16GB RAM will make one shell out US$3,299 (AU$4,330).

This could very well be the biggest downside of the Microsoft Surface Book i7 laptop as one can get a more affordable Windows laptop or tablet at a much lesser price. The hybrid is even more expensive than the Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

Stay tuned on IBT AU for more updates on the Microsoft Surface Book i7.

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