I don't know why exactly, but Stage Mode's tilt is just enough to make using the touch screen more appealing for things like browsing the web. I own a Dell XPS 13, and I am pretty sure I have never once touched its screen on purpose. I almost never use the touchscreen of touchscreen laptops. Where I found it most handy was consuming media, not creating it. I did manage a couple of stick figures, but I am not an artist by any means. Microsoft's promotional videos show Stage Mode as the place you use the Surface Pen to turn out pro-level illustrations. It's similar to “tent mode” in other 2-in-1 devices, but the trackpad is uniquely accessible. Too bad I rarely felt the need for it and usually browsed the web by touch. If you've ever tried to, for example, create or work with a complex, multilayer document in an Adobe app on the iPad and found it wanting, you're one of the people most likely to enjoy the Surface Laptop Studio. At 4 pounds, you aren't going to use this the way you'd use an iPad or a Surface Go, but that might be OK, because you have significantly more processing power at your disposal. This is a powerhouse laptop that happens to fold down to a completely flat, tablet-like screen. The comparison to the MacBook Pro is also apt in the sense that this is not a svelte, lightweight Surface that doubles as a tablet. The rounded corners also feel fitting with the more rounded interface in Windows 11. The silver magnesium/aluminum shell reminds me of the Macbook Pro, but the Surface has a slightly chunkier feel to it. It looks somewhat bizarre when you first pull it out of the box, but it's not all that noticeable when the Studio is sitting on a flat table.Ĭarrying it around does feel very different than any laptop I've ever used, but despite the odd design, this is a very good-looking machine. Two grills sit on either side of the recessed base. The extended upper surface-the same level as the keyboard-is where all the Studio's ports live. The first thing you notice about the Laptop Studio is that the keyboard hangs about a quarter inch over a recessed base.

Surface laptop for video editing