New Surface devices bring more value to business

[Guest Nancie Gaskill, General Manager, Surface]

Today we announced incredible AI experiences from across Microsoft and four new Surface devices. These products have been redesigned to reflect our longstanding commitment to integrating the voice of commercial customers. Our new Surface devices have been built for the needs and wants of end-users to be more productive, creative and collaborative while supporting the needs of IT professionals to deploy, manage and support these devices at scale through the lifecycle. With these new products, we not only bring new innovation and technology but are delivering on some of the most requested commercial features with more performance, improved security, manageability and repairability. Each product brings unique value and features to meet the many needs of businesses, across industries and functions. Whether you are optimizing for frontline workers needing mobility and versatility, or developers and creators with graphic intensive needs, we have developed these products to ensure we deliver the value you need across your workforce.

[HEADING=1]Meet Surface Laptop Studio 2 for Business: Versatility to create, power to perform[/HEADING]

Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the most powerful and versatile Surface Laptop. It combines enterprise-grade performance for complex workloads with a revolutionary design that unlocks the ability to seamlessly switch from a touchscreen laptop to a perfectly angled display to a portable canvas. Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the perfect tool for engineers working on mechanical designs, designers editing their latest picture with Surface Slim Pen 2[1] or developers building an app; Surface Laptop Studio 2 empowers your teams to tackle any challenge. Surface Laptop Studio 2 delivers over twice the power of the original Surface Laptop Studio with the latest 13th Gen Intel Core processors built on the Intel Evo platform and NVIDIA GPU options to accelerate professional and creative workflows. Your teams will be able to design, engineer or render your next product with the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation GPU or create and edit content faster with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 and 4060 Laptop GPUs[2]. We also heard from our customers not only about the need for more performance but more ports, so we redesigned the chassis of this device to add both a USB-A port and microSD card slot to help keep your employees productive with all their accessories without needing extra dongles. With the shift to more hybrid workplaces, we know our business customers spend a lot of time on video calls on apps like Microsoft Teams. With Surface Laptop Studio 2 your teams will always look and sound their best in meetings or calls with customers. With the AI-enhanced field of view full HD Studio Camera, face-to-face video calls feel more natural with Eye Contact correction and Automatic Framing to always keep users in the center of the frame.

[HEADING=1]Meet Surface Laptop Go 3 for Business: Ultra-thin design, impactful performance[/HEADING]

The lightweight Surface Laptop Go 3 empowers your team to get it all done and keep it all secure. Users can multitask on the go or collaborate from any desk, breeze through essential tasks anywhere and collaborate to deliver impactful results. Surface Laptop Go 3 is a Secured-core PC that delivers business-critical performance for everyday tasks with value-added premium features that your team will love: excellent typing on a full-size keyboard, Omnisonic Speakers with Dolby Audio, dual Studio Mics, a touchscreen display, all packed into our most portable Surface Laptop. The Intel Core processor runs everyday Microsoft 365 apps with faster performance with options up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage. Surface Laptop Go 3 delivers an 88% performance boost compared with the original Surface Laptop Go. Power through your day wherever you work with up to 15 hours of battery life[3] and Fast Charging. When paired with Windows 365 Cloud PC[4], your teams will benefit from a premium hardware experience, all while securely streaming their own Windows experience – including their own personalized apps, content and settings from the Microsoft Cloud. With Windows 365 Switch, they can quickly move between their local PC and their Cloud PC experience with a simple swipe on their touchscreen or touchpad.[5] Surface Laptop Go 3 is designed for teams to make an impact and deliver results while on the go or in the office. Tested for durability and reliability, Surface Laptop Go 3 comes in a sleek, premium design with a durable, cool metal finish engineered to withstand daily use and with more components that are replaceable.

[HEADING=1]Meet Surface Go 4 for Business: Security, flexibility and durability for your frontline [/HEADING]

With Surface Go 4, we’ve redesigned this device to meet the needs of our customers. Customers, like healthcare workers and retail pros, need the versatility of Surface Go to solve mission-critical challenges for their frontline. They choose Surface Go because they need Windows productivity and they trust Microsoft security. As a Secured-core PC, Surface Go 4 delivers the highest level of Windows 11 protection in a flexible design. It delivers up to 4.5 times more performance than the original Surface Go, with a longer 12.5-hour battery life[3], all in an ultra-portable 2-in-1 design that can be used easily with touch, pen[1] or keyboard[1]. Surface Go is the perfect device for Microsoft frontline worker experiences and can be used to create a powerful integrated solution to help your teams be more productive in the back office or helping your customers. Surface Go 4 is one of the few Windows 11 PCs that qualifies for Microsoft 365 for frontline, it can be a powerful gateway to a Windows 365 Cloud PC[5], and with integrated NFC can be accessed securely and easily with a compatible NFC security key, like a YubiKey[1]. Complete your solution with customized cases and other accessories from our Designed for Surface partners, to meet the specific needs of different industries and environments.

[HEADING=1]Meet Surface Hub 3: The premium meeting experience for hybrid teams[/HEADING]

As our customers adapt to modern work, they need hardware that’s as versatile as the work environments in which they operate, and AI-equipped software tailored to team collaboration. Surface Hub 3 is designed end-to-end by Microsoft, with iconic hardware – a thin edge and bezel, dual-pen active inking, 20-point multi-touch with built-in palm rejection – and the familiar and intuitive Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience. AI-enhanced collaboration tools – like Cloud IntelliFrame and Copilot in Whiteboard – shine on Surface Hub 3. The 50" device brings entirely new ways to co-create with Portrait, Smart Rotation and Smart AV – making 1:1 meetings personable and Whiteboarding sessions more natural. The 85" stunningly displays remote teammates and content, even in large rooms. Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows showcases the content and people critical for your meeting. With Front Row on Surface Hub 3, an AI-unified video gallery, chat, raised hands and content come together in a single optimized and customizable view. Now compatible with Microsoft Teams Rooms certified peripherals, Surface Hub 3 optimizes any space. Manageability is critical for our Surface Hub customers. Running the Microsoft Teams Rooms experience, Surface Hub 3 can be managed on the same platform as traditional Teams Rooms. The underlying Windows operating system keeps your organization’s data safe. Surface Hub 3 delivers enterprise-grade modern security, enabling IT admins to enforce data protection with BitLocker and Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM) plus cloud-powered security with Microsoft Defender. Centrally manage settings and policies in Microsoft Endpoint Manager, and track room health status with active monitoring through Microsoft Teams Admin Center and the Pro Management Portal. To upgrade in-market Surface Hub 2S devices, replace the existing cartridge with the Surface Hub 3 Pack – the modular Surface Hub design makes it possible to get the latest hardware without purchasing an entirely new device. Software migration to the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience will also be available for Surface Hub 2S devices in 2024. Learn more about the new Surface Hub 3.

[HEADING=1]Platform level improvements[/HEADING]

Each product brings unique value and experience to customers, but across all business environments security, manageability, repairability and support are critical to bring peace of mind to IT professionals. Surface with Microsoft is committed to bringing best-in-class solutions across each of these areas.

[HEADING=1]Chip-to-cloud security[/HEADING]

Protected by Microsoft, Surface devices combined with Microsoft 365 have multiple layers of security built-in. With industry-leading security features and remote device management that extends from firmware to cloud – find peace of mind and do more with less. We build secure products from the ground up, and Microsoft manages and controls the entire ecosystem, ensuring everything works together to keep data safe and secure, all while giving customers full autonomy over their data and devices. When you choose Surface, you invest in a product where every component, down to each bit of code, undergoes meticulous verification. Proactively block threats with security that's always up-to-date, down to the boot and firmware level. Quickly respond to global threats and get automatic updates at scale with Microsoft 365 Defender. An example of this has resulted in a new security innovation in Surface Laptop Studio 2 to support customers operating in highly secure work environments to prevent USB theft of confidential data and provide more control to organizations. When paired with the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock[1], IT admins can use certificate-based security to lock down USB-C or USB-A ports whenever Surface Laptop Studio 2 is undocked or connected to an unauthorized dock. This means that when your users are connected to an authorized dock in the office, they'll have access to the full functionality of their devices. However, when they go off-site, they can still connect to a dock to use accessories or a monitor but cannot use the USB ports to transfer data. To learn more, see Surface documentation. Expect to see this experience rolled out to more devices in the future.

[HEADING=1]Management and deployment[/HEADING]

The full value of buying a Surface is recognized when you fully leverage Microsoft 365[6]. This means deploying with Autopilot, managing with Intune and Securing with the Microsoft Defender suite. Autopilot enables streamlined and secure deployment without having to go through multiple device interception points. Whether you're deploying devices to your central HQ, remote branch offices or dedicated remote workers, the advantages of embracing Autopilot and Modern Management become evident in the face of software or OS challenges. Imagine the ability to troubleshoot, reprovision, fix or even reimage a device remotely without the need for hands-on intervention from a technician or the logistical challenges of sending the device back. These capabilities help ensure that your end-users remain productive and that business continuity is preserved. We're excited to bring more value to Intune with the Surface Management Portal (SMP), providing a central location to evaluate and manage your fleet of Surface devices. When a hardware issue arises, you can create a ticket from within the portal, describe how you want to repair the machine, and return your IT Admin and end user to productivity faster. Over the past year, our customers have consistently called out the SMP as contributing to their decision to invest in Surface. By delivering a single pane of glass for your device management needs, the SMP continues to help customers lower their total cost of ownership, and we're continuing to roll out more customer-requested features in the months ahead, to bring even more value to IT pros.

[HEADING=1]Delivering value over time[/HEADING]

Our work doesn't stop once we launch a device. We continuously work to deliver updates that make it easier for organizations to secure, manage and deploy devices.

[HEADING=2]Surface Pro 9 with 5G and Windows on Arm devices[/HEADING]

While today’s refresh was focused on four new products, we continue to invest in all of our products including those built on the Arm platform, like Surface Pro 9 with 5G. Recently, we announced updates that help business customers deploy eSIM cellular profiles at scale through Intune, and we've also shared that customers using Arm devices can have even more control over their sensitive data through Endpoint Data Loss Prevention (Endpoint DLP). In Spring 2024, we will also create the ability for customers to build and reimage their Arm devices using Configuration Manager OS Deployment and for the first time we'll release much-requested MSI Driver Packages. Although we recommend Windows Autopilot as the ideal way to manage Arm devices, we are committed to meeting customer needs and know it may not be suitable for environments with a mix of device types, architectures, operating systems or connectivity challenges.

[HEADING=2]Six-year commitment to software and firmware support[/HEADING]

We strive to provide long-lasting value to our Surface customers through capabilities across hardware and software. Today, we are excited to take this even one step further and announce we’ll be extending driver and firmware support to six years after general availability[7], delivering consistency for IT admins across device lifecycle management. Across the Surface portfolio from Surface Go to Surface Hub, Surface is more than a device – it is a strategic enabler for businesses, a tool to help people work, collaborate, learn. We believe we are uniquely positioned to build holistic solutions that bring together hardware, software and AI-enabled experiences to address the challenges our customers face today and in the future. Please visit our Surface IT Pro Blog or Surface.com/Business to learn more and to find an authorized reseller. [1] Sold separately [2] Available as an option on certain SKUs of Surface Laptop Studio 2. [3] Battery life varies significantly based on device configuration, usage, network and feature configuration, signal strength, settings and other factors. See aka.ms/SurfaceBatteryPerformance for details. [4] Subscription required. Sold separately. [5] Windows 365 Switch requires Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise device, a Windows 365 Cloud PC. See more details at What is Windows 365 Switch? | Microsoft Learn [6] Sold separately. Software license required for some features. [7] The extended driver and firmware support applies to devices that were made generally available in 2021 and later. See Surface driver and firmware lifecycle for Windows-based devices - Surface | Microsoft Learn for more details.

 

Continue reading...