As we had hoped, Microsoft unveiled the new Surface Laptop Studio 2 at its September Surface event in New York City.

The original Surface Laptop Studio was a big surprise, as it was Microsoft's coolest laptop in years, thanks in part to its versatility and unique sliding screen. The new Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 builds on that success, upgrading the same unique chassis with more ports and even more powerful components under the hood.

At the same time, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the first Microsoft laptop with a dedicated VPU AI accelerator built in, making it a more effective platform for Microsoft's new Windows 11 Copilot virtual assistant It should be.

Furthermore, considering the Surface Laptop Studio 2's expanded port selection and greater battery life, one can see why this could be an attractive sequel ready to offer the same unique versatility of its predecessor, albeit at a premium price.

Here is what we know so far about the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is currently available for pre-order on Microsoft's website, and units will begin shipping on October 2.

The Surface Laptop Studio 2 starts at $1,999 and is a basic model without 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, Nvidia's discrete GPU. [The Surface Laptop Studio 2 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, the maximum amount of RAM, and storage will cost over $3,000. It also does not come with the Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus ($129).

Microsoft does not appear to have made any radical changes to the design of the Surface Laptop Studio.

Like its predecessor, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 features a unique sliding hinge on the back of the display that allows it to slide over the keyboard. There is also an area where the Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus (sold separately) can be magnetically attached and charged.

There are also new ports, including a USB-A port (finally) and a microSD card reader, useful for quickly retrieving files from memory cards. These ports join the existing pair of USB-C ports on the original Surface Laptop Studio.

One small but notable change is that the Surface Laptop Studio 2's tactile touchpad is improved over its predecessor, and Microsoft claims to have worked with special needs groups to enhance its capabilities.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 features a 14.4-inch PixelSense touchscreen (with HDR, which slides down over the keyboard.

Like the screen of the original Surface Laptop Studio, it is a 120 Hz (2,400 x 1,600 pixels) display that "tents" over the keyboard like an easel rather than laying flat.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 will be the first Microsoft laptop with a built-in NPU (short for "Neural Processing Unit"). In other words, the Intel Core i7-13700H CPU that the consumer-grade Studio 2 laptop will be powered by Intel's special Gen3 Movidius 3700 VPU AI accelerator.

What this special chip does is quite complex, but in brief, it assists with computing tasks that are now often grouped under the "AI" umbrella in marketing presentations. This includes not only visual tricks like Windows Studio Effects during video calls, but also on-device reasoning when using AI-like virtual assistants like Windows 11 Copilot.

It remains to be seen what difference this additional Intel VPU will make to Surface Laptop Studio 2 performance.

Microsoft has also confirmed that laptops can be purchased with laptop-grade Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 series GPUs, specifically the RTX 4050 and 4060 built in.

This should make these variant laptops even more versatile as gaming machines and mobile video editing platforms. More powerful versions of these cards (RTX 2000 Ada professional GPUs) will be available in the Surface Laptop Studio 2 model for professional creators and designers.

Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio 2 will have a 1080p webcam and IR camera and, like the previous model, will allow users to log in using their face with Windows Hello.

Microsoft has high hopes for the Surface Laptop Studio 2's battery life, claiming up to 19 hours of use on the basic model without an Nvidia GPU and up to 18 hours on models with such a GPU.

The only exception is the massive Studio 2 unit with a top-of-the-line 2TB SSD and one of Nvidia's discrete GPUs, which are only advertised as lasting up to 16 hours on a full charge. Of course, how accurate these claims are would have to be verified by taking these laptops to a test lab.

The fact that a sequel is shipping is quite exciting, as the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio is one of our favorite laptops the company has ever produced.

Getting a laptop tricked out with the best Nvidia GPU and SSD, not to mention 64GB of RAM (a large capacity for a Microsoft laptop), would be quite a splurge, but the Surface Laptop Studio 2's potential is equally large Capacity. What I like about the previous model is that it showcases all the cool ways you can use Windows 11 as a PC, a tablet, a canvas for digital art, and a gaming machine, all in one device, all very well done.

The Surface Laptop Studio 2 could likewise be one of the best laptops of the year if it can do a good job of being useful, powerful, and versatile. Stay tuned for hands-on impressions and (eventually) a full review.