Microsoft’s New Surface Studio PC is a Creative Dream, Wants to Kill the iMac
The iMac with its beautiful 27-inch high-res screen and minimal design has long been a favorite of many creatives—if not for their studio, then as their home computer. Microsoft’s innovative, beautiful new Surface Studio wants to change all that. It wants to kill the iMac.
This computer is one part PC, one part graphics tablet, and one part drafting table. It’s not often a product literally gets your pulse racing, but that’s what Microsoft has achieved here. And if you don’t believe us, just watch this intro video:
The tagline “Turn your desk into a Studio” perfectly captures what the device is trying to be. Sporting a 4500 x 3000 resolution (63% more pixels than a 4K television) 28-inch, “world’s thinnest” PixelSense touchscreen LCD display, “TrueColor” technology for the most accurate reproduction possible, and even the ability to switch between color spaces on the fly while you’re editing so you can see what an sRGB user will see when they view your image, photographers will have lots of reasons to love this computer.
Adding to that functionality is the newly announced Surface Dial—a standalone “puck” that works with all Surface devices, costs $100, and will be included in every Surface Studio pre-order (for a limited time). The dial works on and off the screen, allowing you to switch between features, brush sizes, colors, or even control volume depending on the app you’re using.
The Surface Studio, at its most basic, is Microsoft’s first all-in-one desktop. But it’s clear that Microsoft is trying to leapfrog competitors with many more years of experience building computers like this.
“Every now and then in pursuing our mission, we see the opportunity to create a new category of device,” said Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s Windows VP. “We seize these moments to create something so much more than a product.”
Spec for spec, the iMac can definitely compete: the screen is wider, the resolution and PPI higher, and the price lower. But if Microsoft can nail the execution on this PC, it will offer functionality worth hundreds if not thousands more dollars in peripherals (i.e. Wacom tablet, Apple Pencil, etc.)
The Surface Studio PC is available for pre-order starting today in three different configurations, starting at $3,000. To find out more about this innovative new take on the all-in-one desktop computer, head over to the Microsoft website or click play below to watch the official announcement (courtesy of The Verge) for photographers and digital artists in particular.
