Microsoft announces Surface Book, its first laptop

Popular among artists, Microsoft's Surface tablets have carved an unexpectedly well-respected niche on the top shelf. And now they're being joined by a laptop edition, with a proper keyboard to impress everyone else, too.

With a 13.5" 267 dpi display, Intel Skylake CPU and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce graphics chip, Microsoft's first own-brand laptop is claimed to be two times a powerful as the 13" Macbook Pro. It's also said to have a 12-hour battery life, while staying light and slim: 1.6 lbs; 7.7 mm thick.

The display is detachable for tablet use, too. Check out the hinge:

microsoft-surface-book-2.0

The Surface Book will be $1499 and up, with availability from Oct. 26.