Microsoft announced the second generation of Surface Laptop Studio, its most powerful Surface. Although the new version features the same form factor, it has received multiple improvements inside and out, giving customers a much better and capable laptop powerhouse.

The Surface Laptop Studio 2 is powered by Intel’s latest 13th generation processors, meaning two i7 versions. Microsoft has ditched Core i5-based versions for more powerful, albeit expensive CPUs. To satisfy your graphics-intensive tasks, Microsoft has equipped the device with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 and 4060 GPUs, and there will be additional configurations with NVIDIA graphics RTX 2000 Ada Generation.

It’s also worth noting that the Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the first computer with an Intel Neural Processing Unit, or NPU, for processing tasks and features that rely on machine learning and artificial intelligence.

The memory also received a significant upgrade. You can now equip your computer with up to 64GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 2TB of solid state storage.

Microsoft’s most powerful Surface is almost visually identical to its predecessor. Still, you’ll notice some noticeable changes outside. For example, there’s now a USB-A port for legacy accessories and a microSD card slot, which was a curious omission on the original Surface Laptop Studio. Microsoft has also upgraded the touchpad, equipping the computer with a Surface Precision Haptic touchpad that includes adjustable pressure sensitivity, a right-click area and an adaptive touch mode.

The Surface Laptop Studio 2 has the same 14.4-inch PixelSense Flow Display with a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz. However, Microsoft upgraded it with HDR support, raising the brightness peak to 650 nits.

Finally, like most modern Surface devices, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 allows you to replace several components with relative ease. According to Microsoft, replaceable parts include the following:

• SSD.
• Cover module AB (display).
• Cover C (keyboard, touch pad and pen charger).
• D-Plate + battery.
• Motherboard.
• Cosmetic plate.
• Charging port (Surface Connect connector).
• MicroSDXC card reader.
• USB-C and USB-A ports.
• Audio jack.

Surface Laptop Studio 2 will be available starting at $1,999. Microsoft plans to ship the device next month. Stay tuned for our specs appeal article detailing the difference between the second generation and the original Surface Laptop Studio.