Microsoft Surface Studio 2+ Hands On: The Classic All-in-One Gets New Bits

Microsoft just announced a bundle of new Surface products, headlined by the Surface Pro 9 and Surface Studio 2+. We were able to go hands on with both devices.

At a press event in New York, we spent time with the newest Surface Pro 2-in-1 detachable and the much-anticipated update to the Surface Studio desktop, following their public reveals. Both of them focus chiefly on new internal components, so even if the designs may look similar (or identical) at a glance, there’s plenty to unpack on the inside.

You can check out our separate impressions of the Surface Pro 9 here, and read on for our thoughts on the Studio 2+.

A Long-Awaited Update, But the Same Design

The original Surface Studio launched in 2017, and the Surface Studio 2 followed up in 2018. In iterative technology time, that’s quite a while ago, and eagerness for a new Studio has been building. Even at the time of release, the Studio 2 was a bit underpowered in its choice of CPU, but we couldn’t find much fault with the elegant reclining design and giant, sharp display.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Enter the Surface Studio 2+, named thus because Microsoft is acknowledging that this is not quite a full leap forward. After such a long wait, I think it’s fair to find that somewhat disappointing; you’d have expected all those years off to result in at least a marginally new design. Perhaps thinner bezels, newly located ports, or other tweaks could have been added.

But, we’ll focus on what we did get in reality, rather than what could have been. Start with the name, or at least the “2+” part—the company is not trying to pass this off as the Surface Studio 3, at least. The beloved design is back, even if those bezels seem even thicker to me in person in 2022 than they did in the late ’10s.

The design—essentially a Windows-based Apple iMac with a reclining touch display—is a dream for some digital artists and designers who can make use of a 28-inch screen with 4,500-by-3,000-pixel resolution. The aspect ratio remains a paper-friendly 3:2; color coverage includes sRGB and DCI-P3; and the contrast ratio is 1,200:1. Also, the panel features Dolby Vision support.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

The screen looks brilliant in person, and signature reclining action of the hinge is still responsive but sturdy, feeling like the premium device that the Surface Studio always has been. One welcome new addition (brought on by the new processor generation): The USB-C ports now include Thunderbolt 4 support, a boon to a variety of professionals and general users. The Surface stylus pen and Surface Dial support, meanwhile, remain on the menu.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Since this update focuses almost entirely on the component upgrades, it’s time to take a closer look at the new specs. There is one configuration, and it costs a weighty $4,499, but read on for what that entails, as well as our thoughts on the selections.

All About the Internals: Introducing 11th Gen Intel, If a Little Late

As mentioned, one of the main complaints about the Surface Studio 2 was its processor, which was a little long in the tooth even at the time of launch. The Intel Core i7-7280HQ was not exactly synonymous with desktop power, offering more of a “light laptop” class of performance.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Things get much better with the Surface Studio 2+, which launches with a Core i7-11370H processor. While still a mobile processor, this is a significant upgrade over the previous version, as 11th Generation “Tiger Lake” has proven plenty capable overall, and the H series denotes a more powerful tier. (See our guide to understanding laptop CPUs.)

That said, even after all this time, this too feels underwhelming. It’s much better than the previous chip, no doubt, but the same sort of error has been repeated here to a lesser degree. This is still a laptop processor, which is somewhat expected in an all-in-one, but the Surface Studio 2+ is very expensive, and it has a base to house the core components—they don’t all have to fit behind the display, in contrast to many all-in-one designs.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Second, Intel’s 12th Gen “Alder Lake” chips have been available for a while, and with their revolutionary hybrid designs (using Performance and Efficient cores) are generally much more impressive than Tiger Lake, so this again is not the cutting-edge option Microsoft could have chosen. It won’t be too long before 11th Gen is outright outdated—13th Gen “Raptor Lake” CPUs are launching soon on desktop, and presumably not long after on mobile—which is especially hard to swallow given how long it took to update the Surface Studio 2.

The performance here will almost definitely be much better than the Studio 2’s, which we’ll verify when we can conduct benchmark tests. But it feels Microsoft is leaving performance on the table given the chip world in late 2022. There are other options for updating this now, and an expensive desktop aimed at professionals could use more power. That said, most workloads can probably get by on the (still good) Tiger Lake chip.

A Big Graphics Boost: The RTX 3060 Is a Welcome Addition

Now, that same stance does not apply to the graphics, with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060 GPU added to the Studio 2+. If your workload is graphics-intensive, this is a very capable GPU, far better than integrated options and entry-level GPUs of today. It, too, is the mobile version of the GPU, but a full-size graphics card is never an option in an all-in-one, and we’ve seen this chip proven very capable at gaming and 3D tasks in many laptops.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

The GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs are only just beginning to launch on desktop (see our review of the first of them, the GeForce RTX 4090), and they will be expensive. Any laptop equivalent is far off, too. Thus, unlike the CPU choice, the RTX 3060 laptop GPU is a logical, current pick for this time and place. A GeForce RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 mobile GPU would be nice, but professionals who need that much graphics power should probably opt for a true tower PC, not an all-in-one, and the price would rise even further if those were included.

The Takeaway: A Marked Upgrade, But Will It Be Enough?

Combined with the elegant design, the giant screen, and supporting features like a 1080p camera, Windows Hello sign-in, far-field mics, speakers equipped with Dolby Atmos, and TPM 2.0, the Studio 2+ is clearly a premium PC for pro users.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

However, we worry about just how high-end of an experience the Surface Studio 2+ can deliver in 2022 but—much more important—well beyond this year. After all, for $4,000-plus, you should expect years of service from your all-in-one, Surface or not. Check back for a full review of the Studio 2+ when units become available.