Microsoft unveils Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2 and Surface Studio 2

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MICROSOFT TOOK THE COVERS OFF updated takes on the Surface Pro, Surface Studio and Surface Laptop, but cool yer jets because it's mostly an incremental refresh.

We rather like the Surface Pro, currently in its fifth iteration, and the new Surface Pro 6 builds upon its predecessor's good vibes.

There's not much in the way of external design changes, with the exception of new colour options going from blue, red, "platinum" grey and a rather fetching black.

Sadly, Redmond's engineers have stuck to their guns and eschewed USB-C on the Surface Pro 6, instead sticking with the same USB 3.0, mini DisplayPort, Surface Connector, and microSD slots the previous Surface Pro had.

The 12.3in PixelSense display keeps the 2,736x1,824 resolution screen with the 3:2 aspect ratio, but Microsoft said the contrast ratio has been improved but offered no figures to support that.

Under the hood is where the action takes place, with Microsoft equipping the Surface Pro 6 with Intel's latest eighth-gen processors in Core i5 and Core i7 guises. Memory has been upped to a default 8GB with a 16GB option, and storage goes from 128GB to a healthy 1TB.

Pre-orders for the Surface Pro 6 are live now and the hybrid machine will be available 16 October at a starting price of £879, the lowest price for a Surface Pro to date.

The Surface Laptop 2 is a similar story to the Surface Pro 6 in that its internals have been updated to include Intel's latest silicon slices, but nothing has changed externally with the exception of a black colour option and an improved PixelSense display contrast of 1,500:1.

Redmond also claims typing on the Surface Laptop 2 is now quieter, which is good news if your someone who hammers away at keys like an enthusiastic Brian Cox before he got all up in space, meteors and physics.

Want a USB-C port? Well you can't have it as Microsoft still reckons people will stick with using USB Type-A compatible peripherals for the next 12 months or so. And there's still a mini DisplayPort for connecting to an external monitor rather than say a mini HDMI port. But at least the Surface Laptop 2 still comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

There's no word on UK pricing but the Surface Laptop 2 starts at $999 for folks over the pond and will be available on 16 October.

Finally, Redmond's lot revealed the Surface Studio 2, Microsoft's iMac-bothering all-in-one PC.

It looks the same as the original but now comes with options for Nivida's Ge Force GTX 1060 or GTX 1070, and storage that goes from a 1TB SSD to 2TB of storage space. Where things seem to go awry is the use of Intel's seventh-gen Core i7 processors rather than the latest from the Coffee Lake S line-up; we've no idea why Microsoft did this and it's a tad disappointing especially when such a machine costs some £3,000.

The 28in display has been given a boost in brightness and contrast, so there's that as scan compensation.

Again, there's no UK pricing to be seen but pre-orders are live with prices starting from $3,499 - best get rummaging down the back of the sofa if you want one.

And that's it. Redmond's updated Surface line-up is very much a refresh rather than a redesign, and people with previous generation Surface Pros and Surface laptops might not rush to upgrade. But for others curious about the Surface machines, these are likely to be the best examples yet, and arguably offer the best Windows 10 experience around. µ