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Microsoft Reveals Windows 11-Based Surface Laptop Go 2
Microsoft on Wednesday announced that the latest iteration of its Surface Laptop Go is available for preorder.
The Surface Laptop Go line, first introduced in 2020, is Microsoft's budget-friendly laptop aimed at education and business users. The newly announced Surface Laptop Go 2 starts at $599.99 and comes with a few new features, inspired by the more expensive Surface and Surface Pro lines.
"This product has been meticulously crafted to deliver our Surface signature premium design and features in an ultra-portable format," said Pete Kyriacou, CPV of Microsoft Devices. "Jump right into your flow with an effortless lift of the lid, Instant On, and Windows Hello through the fingerprint reader integrated into the power button."
The compact Surface Laptop Go 2 weighs in at only 2.48 pounds and features a Quad-core 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The beefed-up internals account for a 23 percent jump in performance, compared to the earlier model, according to Microsoft. As with the earlier version, it sports a 1536×1024 touchscreen and is available in four colors (Ice Blue, Sandstone, Platinum and Sage).
Unlike the first-generation Surface Laptop Go, Microsoft's newest offering will run on Windows 11 out of the box. The 2020 model supported Windows 11, but shipped with Windows 10 S -- a pared-down version of Windows OS suitable for low-power devices.
Microsoft said that the Surface Laptop Go 2 will be the first Intel-based Secured-core PC to ship, "designed to elevate the benefits of Windows 11 security, providing additional hardware and software protection for workers handling the most sensitive data in your organization," wrote Microsoft Device's Harshitha Murthy in a blog post touting the new device's enterprise applications. Secured-core PCs aim to protect both the OS and hypervisor from firmware attacks by blocking "rootkit" attacks at startup.
The Surface Laptop Go 2 is also made with sustainability in mind. Microsoft said that the new device is the most energy-efficient laptop it has released and is 52 percent more efficient than ENERGY STAR computer specification requirements. Further, Microsoft is expanding IT's ability to repair broken devices by offering replaceable feet, SSDs, keyboard covers, batteries, top assemblies and SurfLink connectors. This is a step up from the first generation, which only allowed for the replacement of SSDs.
Microsoft said the new laptops will start shipping on June 7. Enterprise customers can find information on preordering here.