The new Microsoft Surface Book apparently saw greater demand than expected, as preorders quickly vanished from the Microsoft Store: all models are now sold out already.
Microsoft is marketing its Surface Book as the "ultimate laptop" and the device does indeed come with some impressive specifications. The Surface Book boasts a 13.5-inch PixelSense display with a 3000 x 2000 resolution at 267 ppi and a 3:2 aspect ratio and packs sixth-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors under the hood, paired with 8GB or 16GB of RAM. Microsoft offers an i5 model with Intel HD graphics 520, but customers can also choose i5 or i7 variants with Nvidia GeForce GPU and 1GB of GDDR5 memory. SSD storage options include 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB.
The Surface Book further features stereo front speakers with Dolby audio, a 5-megapixel front camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and 1080p HD video recording capabilities. When it comes to connectivity ports, the laptop comes with two full-size USB 3.0 ports, a full-size SD card reader, a SurfaceConnect port, a headset jack and a Mini Display Port. On the software side, the Surface Book comes with Windows 10 Pro on board, complete with a 30-day trial of Microsoft Office.
The powerful new Microsoft Surface Book is set to hit stores on Oct. 26, but eager customers apparently rushed to preorder the device online before the big launch day. It seems that Microsoft failed to properly anticipate demand for its Surface Book, as preorder stock was clearly insufficient.
The Surface Book started facing limited preorder availability over the past few days, when the higher-end Core i7 models went out of stock. Other options continued to be available until now, but at the time of writing all Surface Book models have an "Email me when available" tag instead of the "preorder" option.
The device is still available for preorder from other retailers, but it will likely go out of stock soon as well. Amazon, for instance, has already sold out preorders for most models, with the only one still available being the Core i5 model with 128GB storage capacity and 8GB of RAM (the variant with 8GB of RAM and Nvidia GeForce graphics is sold out).
Judging by the high preorder demand, the Surface Book is apparently off to a strong start. Microsoft may have allocated only a small batch of initial units, but the company will have to ramp up production if it wants to meet demand once the device actually hits retail.
It's tough to determine just how successful the Surface Book really is just by preorders alone, but all signs point to a big hit.
Either way, if Microsoft doesn't adjust production and add more units early on, interested customers might be left with no option other than to wait for the big launch on Oct. 26.
