Microsoft's latest top-end laptop sticks with its novel screen-flipping form, with upgrades on the inside aimed at keeping up with the powerhouse competition – but these improvements come with a very steep price increase. That takes it far away from the normal premium consumer range on which Microsoft has built its Surface reputation, and places it firmly in the creative workstation class of machine typically used by programmers and video and photo editors. It may have "laptop" in the name, but the Laptop Studio 2 is a bit of a beast, weighing almost 2kg in its top spec – heavier, slightly thicker and made of aluminium rather than the magnesium of its predecessor. The rest of the machine is very similar to the 2021-22 model. The good-looking 14.4in LCD screen is hinged in the middle, allowing it to pull forward to switch between stage, drawing and laptop modes. With the excellent Slim Pen 2 stylus (£120), this flexibility is the machine's big draw.

Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio 2 is both an overpriced content-creation laptop and an underappreciated content-consumption device with a hidden turbo boost. Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio 2 will probably be too expensive for what it can do, comparatively. But this creators' laptop still offers a nearly-unique opportunity to create movies, edit and watch them, then scribble notes all over the screen. Any criticism of its performance dies down once you remind them of Windows' performance slider, too. It arrives at an odd time, though. The Windows world is making waves about AI, and the Surface Laptop Studio 2 calls out the Intel AI chip inside in its specifications. But an even better Intel AI chip -- Intel's 14th-gen Core Ultra processor, known as Meteor Lake -- is just around the corner…though Microsoft's Windows Copilot AI chatbot won't use it, either. So this 14-inch laptop with a high-resolution (but not that high-resolution) screen, superb inking capabilities (but no pen in the box), AI (but only Microsoft's own basic AI apps, for now) and excellent performance potential (but only if you enable it) wants more than $3,000 from your wallet to bring it home. And much of it is the same as the original Surface Laptop Studio, too. This review will tell you how we unraveled it.

Microsoft, even without the usual face of its Surface announcements, had plenty to show off to the assembled media and industry guests yesterday. Unsurprisingly, it led with (and focused on) its latest AI developments. Its Copilot AI assistant is now graduating to assist with all things Windows 11, in an update coming September 26. It will appear in apps such as Edge, while browsing the internet, not to mention Microsoft 365 programs like Word and Excel. You activate Copilot with your voice or a right click and can use it for the sort of things you might not remember keyboard shortcuts for -- or just can't be bothered to do manually, like organize windows on your desktop, delete the backgrounds from photos or even generate a Spotify playlist.

It was Microsoft's turn to step up to the plate and hold a fall hardware event on Thursday. Although Surface devices were the name of the game, there was a heavy -- and I mean heavy -- focus on AI. In the company's first event since longtime Chief Product Officer Panos Panay departed this week (reportedly for Amazon), Microsoft revealed a pair of new consumer laptops and a whole lot of Copilot AI news. Microsoft spent most of the event talking about AI and Copilot. In fact, the hardware almost seemed like an afterthought.

Microsoft held a media event in New York City this morning. The company used the occasion to show off two new laptops from its house-made Surface line as well as a slew of AI-powered enhancements coming to Windows 11 later this month. The hour-long presentation was not livestreamed, but we were there to hear the announcements, watch the demos, and go hands-on with the new devices. The Surface hardware announced today is currently available for preorder at Microsoft.com and will officially go on sale starting October 3. Copilot, Microsoft's new AI-powered assistant that was announced earlier this year, is getting fully baked into Windows. Think of it as a side panel you can bring up in practically any part of Windows 11, even in the Edge browser. Its purpose is to help with mundane everyday tasks.