Microsoft’s Surface Book hits the UK

Microsoft has marked the next stage of its efforts to get Windows 10 into every home with the official launch of the Surface Book laptop in the UK.

The powerful new device is available to buy from today from high-street retailers including Currys/PC World, John Lewis, Selfridges and Harrods, as well as online at Amazon, Very.co.uk or the Microsoft Store, for £1,299.

“Surface Book is the ultimate laptop, continuing Surface’s tradition of breaking barriers and meticulous design and craftsmanship,” said Ellie Richardson, Surface consumer lead at Microsoft UK.

“Designed for people who need maximum performance—people doing photo and video editing or engineers and architects rendering 3D models and schematics—Surface Book harnesses the power of a full desktop workstation in a sleek, beautiful device that is gram-for-gram the fastest 13-inch laptop ever made.”

Microsoft has also delivered an early present for those receiving their new Surface Book today with the announcement of a software update for both its newest device and the Surface Pro 4.

The latter device has been the subject of a number of customer complaints since its release late last year, with users reporting poor battery life, failure to wake up from sleep mode, and below-par screen quality.

However, this will now hopefully be fixed by today’s update, which contains a set of Microsoft and Intel driver and firmware updates which the company says will help users get the most of the device’s power management options.

The news was revealed in a Microsoft blog published today by the company’s devices head Panos Panay, who noted the importance of the customer feedback it had received.

“Feedback from our customers is really important to the team and to me personally,” he wrote. “I read the blogs, I read the comments, I read social media, I read the forums…and so does the team. We love the energy.”

“We are committed to continuing to improve Surface – to keep pushing out updates to make your device more awesome. And to continue to help all our customers realise the full benefits of the latest silicon and Windows 10.”