Microsoft's Surface Studio was a good idea—an all-in-one PC with a low-latency pen and touch display that could radically tidy the desks of pro designers and artists currently stuck with bulky secondary displays. But the specs were slight, the updates were slow, and the technology outclassed by the latest Wacom gadgets. After a few years of not appearing to care an awful lot, Microsoft is throwing in the towel.
Like the Surface Laptop Studio, the desktop's claim to fame was a unique hinge design for its screen, which could reposition it to make it easier to draw on with the Surface Pen. But the desktop's high cost and its perennially outdated internal components made it a less appealing machine than it could have been.
The first version of the Surface Studio desktop debuted in late 2016. As the company's first desktop PC, it used the same basic design as the current version and was praised for its high-quality screen and unique hinge. But the first Surface Studio of the machine had some of the same issues that the desktop would always have: a high starting price and relatively outdated and underpowered components compared to other desktop systems.
I look and find B&H sells models for $4500 that have basic components equivalent to a $1000 laptop—a very effective ad for a 27-inch Cintiq Pro and a $1000 laptop. Never has a computer been more obviously designed to be seen in romantic comedies set in elite design agencies in New York or London.
Maybe with the discontinuation there'll be a surfeit of Surfaces—and good deals for artists who dig that very fine display.
