Microsoft has officially launched its own all-in-one PC in the form of its Surface Studio suite, which is accompanied by a new Surface Dial controller.
We’ve heard rumblings that Microsoft was planning to debut its own all-in-one PC as part of the Surface lineup, and now the company has revealed its newest offering: Say hello to the Surface Studio all-in-one PC, with the new Surface Dial controller in tow.
Designed to replicate the versatility of hybrid Surface notebooks in the form factor of an all-in-one PC, the Surface Studio takes the form of a large 28″ monitor which is linked to a base unit through a flexible stand. Users will be able to manipulate the display and move it upwards to serve as a conventional touch-screen monitor, or will be able to shift the unit towards the ground to serve as a large workspace.
Read: Microsoft‘s Surface Phone could have a fingerprint scanner embedded in its display
Designed primarily for creatives such as artists, the Surface Studio is intended to serve as a next-generation workstation that prioritizes input such as through a stylus or touch. The kicker? The unit will ship “in limited quantities” this holiday for prices in tiers of $2,999 USD, $3,499 USD, or $4,199 USD. Better start saving.
The Surface Studio’s display has an aspect ratio of 3:2 with 192 pixels per inch – that amounts to an output of of some 13.5 million pixels.
The Surface Studio will support audio, an SD card, a Mini DisplayPort, ethernet, and 4 USB 3.0 ports and a microphone array on its base, while in terms of technical specs the device will accommodate 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB of RAM, a 1TB or 2TB hybrid drive, a 5-megapixel front camera (Windows Hello compatible), a 1080p video rear camera, and will be powered by a sixth-generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7. Graphics duty will be overseen by a Nvidia GTX 965M or a 980M GPU in the flagship $4,199 USD model.
Of course, a massive display that one can reach out and touch needs a little something to sell itself. While many Windows 10 PCs are now compatible with a variety of styli thansk to Windows Ink, the Surface Studio will support the Surface Dial; Microsoft’s new rotary controller.
The Surface Dial can be placed directly on the PC’s massive screen to not only scroll through menus and or adjust volume, but will further be able to manipulate documents and Microsoft’s new Paint 3D app. In one such example from the latter app, arists can rotate the Surface Dial to change brush colours without having to lift a stylus off the screen.
With the Surface Studio, Microsoft is clearly expanding its reach towards creative types who – up until this point – might well have called Apple’s Mac line of computers their home. Only time will tell if the company’s expensive all-in-one will be able to penetrate the market successfully.
Read: Microsoft reportedly delays the release of its “˜Surface Phone‘ by a year
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