Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 vs Surface Laptop Studio: What’s new?

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has finally been confirmed, with a number of new specs and features announced. 

But what upgrades can you expect compared to the original Surface Laptop Studio? We’ve created this guide to highlight the key differences, so keep on reading for a full breakdown of the two 2-in-1 laptops. 

13th Generation Intel Core processors

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is all about high performance, especially since Microsoft has decided to upgrade to the 13th Generation of Intel Core processors. 

More specifically, Microsoft has opted for an i7 Intel chip from the H-Series, ensuring that its plenty powerful enough for demanding workloads for creative professionals – the exact audience that Microsoft is chasing here. 

The original Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was limited to the 11th Generation of Intel Core chip, with the option of an i5 or i7 chip. Jumping up to the new 13th generation will provide a considerable 2x performance boost, making the Surface Laptop Studio 2 a far more compelling option. 

Greater graphics performance 

The most powerful graphics chip available on the original Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti. That’s fine for entry-level creators, but lacks the level of graphical power that most professionals require. 

Microsoft has addressed this issue for the Surface Laptop Studio 2, providing options for both an Nvidia RTX 4050 and RTX 4060. The latter should be considerably more powerful than the 3050 Ti, resulting in a huge upgrade in performance for the likes of video editing and animation. In fact, Microsoft claims that you’re getting a 2x performance boost. 

If you’re a designer, you even get the option of a Nvidia RTX 2000 Ada Generation GPU with the Surface Laptop Studio 2. 

More RAM on the sequel 

Continuing on with the performance theme, Microsoft has confirmed that the Surface Laptop Studio 2 will be available with up to 64GB of RAM. 

With the original Surface Laptop Studio capped to 32GB of RAM, you’re getting double the quantity of high-speed memory with the new laptop, which should provide a big boost when running multiple applications at the same time. 

Of course, you’ll need to spend a lot of money to get this top-tier configuration. Otherwise, Microsoft is still offering 16GB and 32GB RAM configurations if you fancy saving your money. 

New ports and Wi-Fi 6E support

Ports are arguably just as important as the performance, as transferring photos from your camera to a laptop can be a frustrating process. As a result, when the Surface Laptop Studio first launched, it was met with criticism for its omission of a MicroSD card.

This flaw has finally been addressed, with Microsoft adding a MicroSD card to the Surface Laptop Studio 2, as well as a legacy USB-A port to make it easier to connect older peripherals such as mice, keyboards and USB sticks. 

Thanks to the new Intel chip, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 now supports Wi-Fi 6E too, allowing you to use the speedier and less congested 6Ghz band if you own a compatible router. The standard Surface Laptop Studio lacked this feature, limited to the older Wi-Fi 6 standard instead.