Skip to main content

Surface Book with Performance Base is shipping now, no delays on new orders

Image used with permission by copyright holder
Last month, Microsoft officially unveiled its first major revision of the Surface Book laptop. Now, there are reports that the first wave of pre-orders on the device are starting to ship out to customers, and new stock is becoming available.

Some users that pre-ordered the Surface Book with the new Performance Base peripheral are now beginning to receive their tracking codes, according to a report from MS Power User. This suggests that the hardware will be shipping imminently, if it hasn’t already entered the distribution process.

Recommended Videos

The biggest change to the second iteration of the Surface Book is the introduction of the Performance Base. This component allows the system to make good on the promise of a hybrid device — it’s a fully functional laptop when you want it to be, and a high-spec tablet when that’s more convenient.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The result is a system that’s more than capable of handling just about any task that’s thrown at it. With the Performance Base locked in, the new Surface Book boasts an impressive 16 hour battery life, and a new GPU that apparently offers double the graphical performance of its predecessor.

The Surface Book with Performance Base edged out the 2016 MacBook Pro in the Digital Trends comparison between both systems. However, it has to be said that competition was very tight, even if the Surface Book’s hybrid capabilities and its top-notch display allowed Microsoft’s laptop to edge out its biggest competition.

If you’ve been holding off on ordering your Surface Book with Performance Base, now might be the time to strike if you’re looking to receive the device ahead of the holidays. Models with 256GB and 512GB of storage are available now with no shipping delays, while the 1TB variant is scheduled to be available from November 28.

Brad Jones
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
The first Copilot+ PC has been tested — and it destroys the MacBook
The Surface Laptop shown in front of a Copilot+ sign.

We've heard a lot about Microsoft's new Copilot+ PCs over the past few days, but we can finally put some hard data to the company's bold claims. Signal65, a benchmarking and analysis company, put the new Surface Laptop through its paces, and it absolutely wrecks the MacBook Air M3.

The laptop, equipped with a Snapdragon X Elite processor, put up impressive results across the board, but battery life stands out most. According to the report, the Surface Laptop lasted over 21 hours in a local video playback test. For reference, that's close to twice as long as the Surface Pro 9, and more than 15% longer than the MacBook Air M3.

Read more
The MacBook monopoly just got overturned
The Surface Laptop shown in front of a Copilot+ sign.

MacBooks have had a good ride.

It's been four years of running circles around Intel, AMD, Microsoft, and every laptop manufacturer with their Apple Silicon ARM chips. Until very recently, PC sales had been tanking too, all while Macs were holding steady.

Read more
The new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are finally living up to their potential
The new Surface Pro on a table.

Copilot+ represents a new era for Windows laptops, and it's a fresh reimagining for Surface as well. You'll notice that the generational number in the name is gone with this new era -- one that comes with a new design, higher performance, and AI features.

Both the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro come exclusively with up to a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, which brings massive leaps in performance, battery life, and AI capabilities over the previous generation of Surface devices.

Read more