The world of desktop PCs hasn’t exactly been thrilling in the last few years. Apart from thinner and higher resolution displays, some interesting designs and more power, desktop computers haven’t really changed much.
Today however, Microsoft’s Surface Studio made desktop PCs exciting again.
Starting at $2,999, the Surface Studio comes with a 28-inch touch screen display that’s packing just over 4K resolution (with 192 PPI), along with top-notch specs like up to 32GB of RAM, i5 or i7 processors and up to 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GPU.
OK so this machine is a serious powerhouse in the spec department, but what makes it so special? Here’s Microsoft’s promo video to give you a taster:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzMLA8YIgG0
Crafted for creatives
Featuring something they call a ‘Zero Gravity Hinge’, the Surface Studio’s display can transition from an upright angle into ‘Studio Mode’, giving you a comfortable way to draw, annotate or write. It’s essentially taking the functionality you’d find in smaller tablets or touchscreen laptops and places them on a larger display that puts your work front-and-center.
What’s significant about this is that Apple’s iMac tends to be the preferred work machine for creatives — particularly since the launch of a 5K model — however no Apple laptop or desktop PC features a touch display, let alone one that’s as flexible as this. Why draw on a graphics tablet when you can work directly on the display?
Surface Pen & the new Surface Dial
Of course Microsoft have made the Studio compatible with the Surface Pen, so if you already own a Surface Book or Surface Pro you’re able to continue using that.
The new eye-catcher with Microsoft’s Surface Studio is the $99.99 Surface Dial — an aluminium tool that aims to support your workflow by providing a range of added functions within apps. Placed directly on the display, you can use it to change the colour of your pen, adjust the volume, scroll through articles and more. With haptic feedback you’ll feel vibrations for a more immersive working experience, and you can even customise its functions with certain apps.
Apple is due to announce their new range of computers tomorrow, but as it stands I’m quite impressed with Microsoft. They’ve come out with some very impressive gear in the last couple of years and the Surface Studio is yet another addition to that list.
It isn’t for everyone — creatives will likely find the biggest appeal in a machine as powerful (and expensive) as this — but the Surface Studio has definitely spiced up the dull desktop PC market. Does it have enough to lure away the iMac faithful? We’ll have to wait and see.
