In June 2022, Microsoft announced their latest Microsoft Surface model – the Surface Laptop Go 2. The original Surface Laptop Go was released back in 2020, and this new model is promising to offer sufficient performance and power to complete a day’s work, but packed into an even smaller body, making it great for flexible and mobile working.
In Microsoft’s own words, their goal with this laptop is ‘enabling mobility for the flexible workplace’. As flexible and hybrid working is increasing in popularity – for instance, many London IT support companies in the last 2 years have seen customers looking for help and guidance with adapting to remote and hybrid work.
Microsoft are offering the Surface Laptop Go 2 to both consumers, and wholesale to enterprises. The main difference between the two options is that when purchased for enterprises, models can be shipped with Windows 10 Pro and Windows 11 Pro; whereas the consumer models only ship with Windows 11 Home.
What has changed?
If you had the original Surface Laptop Go, and are expecting a drastic overhaul in design and specs, then you may want to look elsewhere. The updates included in the Laptop Go 2 are encouraging, but modest. Perhaps the biggest update is that Microsoft have opted to upgrade the Laptop Go’s CPU from the 10th Gen Intel Core processors that were in the original model, to the new 11th Gen chips. Released just over a year ago now, the 11th gen chips will offer better speeds for running multiple tasks and processes on these laptops.
The new chip is not the only upgrade, either. Microsoft have also indicated that the laptop’s 720p webcam has been improved, as well as the dual mics – this indicates that the Laptop Go 2 is well equipped for videoconferencing – a practice that many businesses have adopted over the last 2 years.
Price and Release
Pre-order shipping and general release starts on the 7th of June, 2022. The Laptop Go 2 will be available in a number of models. The base model ships with a 128GB solid-state drive, which is paired with 4GB of RAM, as well as an 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 chip. Many people are remarking that the upgraded chip is the biggest update; however, many people are arguing that the best news is the upgrade to the internal storage; the original Surface Laptop Go’s internal storage maxed out at just 64GB – doubling the internal storage for the Laptop Go 2 was a good move on Microsoft’s part.
As mentioned above, the base model for the Laptop Go 2 ships with 4GB – this model costs $599. But for a little extra, you can get a model with 8GB, and enterprises can order models with 16GB of RAM.
Other Specifications
In terms of graphics, the Surface Laptop Go 2 uses integrated Iris XE graphics. This model also features a 12.45-inch touchscreen with PixelSense with a resolution of 1536 x 1024, and an aspect ratio of 3:2 – fairly standard for a modern notebooks, but it should serve both consumer and professional users well. The Laptop Go was known for having punchy colours and a decent solution for its size.
The original Laptop Go had a understated, minimal aesthetic, and the new model looks to be the same – it was announced that it would also be available in a new Sage colour. The new model also has a handy fingerprint sensor built-in, thus supporting password-alternative authentication, which is something that Microsoft are working to make available on all future platforms.
In terms of wired connectivity, the Laptop Go 2 includes a USB Type-C port, a USB Type-A port, a Surface Connect port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. As for wireless connectivity this model features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 support.