Microsoft has a big education event schedule for this week, in what is expected to be a response to Chromebook success in schools and universities. Ahead of that event, one of their biggest announcements – new hardware, has leaked online.
The leaks come from WalkingCat on Twitter (@h0x0d) and it looks like he got the motherload, photos, specs and he’s continuing to publish.
According to the leak, the Surface Laptop is a 13.5″ PixelSense display. Interestingly it is listed as running Windows 10 S, not the expected Windows 10 Cloud that many were expecting. The new laptop will come in 4 colours and in one photo is pictured with an existing Surface keyboard. This likely hints at the fact this laptop will also feature some kind of detachable hinge which allows different keyboards.
We also now know the Surface Laptop will be just 9.9mm at the thinnest, stretching up to just 14.47mm at the widest. The display will have 3.4 Million pixels, while we don’t know the exact resolution, his is likely to be a 3:2 aspect ratio. In terms of weight, the Surface Laptop will weigh just 1.25kg, great for students to cart around all day, albeit slightly higher than the sub 1kg mark of many Chromebooks.
In terms of ports, we see on a charging port on the right-hand side, as well as a single USB (Looks like 3.0, not USB-C), MiniDisplay port and headphone jack. Students, get ready for dongle life.
In its default state, the Surface Laptop looks stunning with an amazingly thin profile. Microsoft will need to hit some critical points with this device, namely being cheap enough for schools to buy 20 or 30 at a time. If their play is a consumer one, then price will need to be in the hundreds, not thousands as we’ve seen with most other Surface devices. For use in schools it’ll need to deliver all-day battery life.
Perhaps most importantly, the devices need an on-device quick reset that teachers can call upon if things go wrong in class. This can’t be an IT issued InTune reimage, it needs to give non-technical teachers the ability to service devices on the fly and get students back up and running in seconds.
https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/859246700052881409
https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/859230040189419521
https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/859235236969762816
https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/859237237048856576
