Microsoft Previews Hybrid PC Design with New Surface Laptop Studio

The Surface Laptop Studio will become the latest addition to Microsoft’s device lineup planned for next month’s Windows 11 launch. Microsoft this week previewed the workstation-class laptop, along with refreshes of other Surface models. Those include a new Surface Duo foldable phone.

Select configurations of the five new Surface devices will be available on Oct. 5, the day Windows 11 becomes available. Microsoft, which revealed Windows 11 in June, is betting the redesigned operating system will boost already increased demand for PCs. The company previewed the devices at an event in New York, which it also streamed online.

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella

“Surface has always been a catalyst for innovation across the entire ecosystem,” said Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella. “We’re building on that legacy advancing the two in one category, creating a new laptop category, and reimagining what you can do with two screens.”

The newest in Microsoft’s PC lineup is the Surface Laptop Studio, which the company said is its most powerful.

Microsoft’s Panos Panay

“With Surface Laptop Studio, we built on the heritage of both Surface Book and Surface Studio, bringing you the power of a desktop, but also that portability needed in a laptop and then the creativity of a studio all-in-one,” said Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay.

Dynamic Woven Hinge

Bringing together Microsoft’s Surface Studio and Surface Book, the Surface Laptop Studio uses what the company calls Dynamic Woven Hinge to transition it from a desktop into a laptop. Microsoft said it has three modes: standard laptop, stage and studio. Industry analyst Bob O’Donnell, president of TECHnalysis Research, described the two modes.

“Pulling it all the way forward and sliding it down gives you the full-screen tablet experience you’ve come to expect from Surface devices via what Microsoft is calling Studio Mode,” he noted in a LinkedIn post. “In the middle is a new Stage Mode with a slanted screen that lets you easily consume content like streaming video, participate in video calls, give presentations, etc.”

A breakdown of the specs and pricing of Microsoft’s new Surface devices appear in our slideshow above.