Microsoft announced five new Surface products on Wednesday, including a laptop, three tablets and a new foldable phone.

Microsoft doesn’t make a lot of money with hardware. Only 4% of the company’s second-quarter revenue came from devices. The global PC market is dominated by Lenovo, HP, Dell and Apple, according to Gartner estimates.

While these enhancements may help keep Surface revenue growing, they’re more likely to promote the upcoming Windows 11 operating system and Office productivity apps, both of which are bigger parts of the business. from Microsoft and inspire the work of other device manufacturers.

Windows 11 will be released on October 5, and the new PCs and phones announced by Microsoft will launch at the same time. Pre-orders begin Wednesday in select markets. This means the devices are launched after the back-to-school shopping rush, but will arrive in time for the holidays.

Here’s a look at the new Surface devices:

Microsoft has announced its first Surface Laptop Studio, which is based on its Surface Studio 2 all-in-one desktop PC, which has yet to be refreshed since 2018. The $ 1,600 Surface Laptop Studio will replace the current Microsoft. Surface Laptop and offers a new design.

It has a special hinge that allows you to tilt the 14-inch screen to an angle that covers the keyboard, bringing the screen closer and easier to write. Or, you can turn it over and use the Laptop Studio as a tablet. Unlike the Surface Laptop, however, the screen doesn’t come off.

Customers can hide and charge the new $ 130 Surface Slim Pen 2 under the Surface Laptop Studio keyboard. The new Surface Pen has a thinner tip than the model it replaces and contains a motor that gives haptic feedback in response to the events of certain programs. A haptic trackpad on the computer provides a more enjoyable click experience than previous Surface machines.

Microsoft also announced its flagship Surface Pro 8 tablet. would have delayed released last year. The Surface Pro 8 starts at $ 1,100, compared to the $ 750 starting price for the Surface Pro 7, released in 2019.

The new model has a 13-inch screen, which is larger than the 12.3-inch screen of its predecessor, although the tablet is now slightly larger and heavier. The screen has an adaptive color feature that adjusts the white balance to make viewing more comfortable. It’s been available on Apple MacBooks for years. The screen also has a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz, which can help save battery power and make scrolling smoother.

An optional $ 180 removable keyboard has a place to store and charge the new slim stylus. Consumers can configure the new system with 11th generation Intel Core chips and up to 32GB of RAM. Microsoft said the Pro 8 gets up to 16 hours of battery life, compared to up to 10.5 hours on the Pro 7.

that of Microsoft Surface Duo’s first smartphone was a flop. It launched last year with buggy software and specs that were behind similarly priced phones. The new Surface Duo 2 offers some of the features missing from last year’s model, like several new cameras, 5G support, near-field communications for mobile payments, and stereo speakers. And it comes with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip used in other flagship phones like Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices.

Like last year’s version, the Surface Duo 2 opens to reveal two 5.8-inch displays that can be used together. For example, you can run one app on one screen and another on the opposite screen. Or, you can extend a single app across both screens and enjoy 8.3 inches of space.

The screens have a 90Hz refresh rate, which should make it easier to scroll and move apps. Also new: when closed, the phone will display small notifications along the hinge.

It’s still not as water resistant as other phones and doesn’t have wireless charging.

The Surface Duo 2 starts at $ 1,500, which is $ 100 more than the original. It will be shipped in white or black.

Microsoft has refreshed its Surface Go 3, a miniature version of its Surface Pro tablet. It starts at $ 400, minus the keyboard, and can be configured with up to an Intel Core i3 chip, which Microsoft says is 60% faster than the chip used in last year’s Surface Go 2.

The company said the Surface Go 3 has up to 11 hours of battery life, while the older version has up to 10. A variant with built-in LTE connectivity will be available in the coming months but, notably , 5G support is missing.

Finally, Microsoft announced a new Wi-Fi-only version of the Surface Pro X, a tablet first launched in 2019 with LTE cellular support. It’s the first version to come with Wi-Fi only and costs $ 900, down just $ 100 from the original model, even though it has the same chip and doesn’t feature any other noticeable hardware changes. .

But, Windows 11 will allow the device to run specific 64-bit applications through emulation. This could mean that people will be able to run more apps than they could when the first model was launched.

LOOK: Microsoft announces $ 60 billion share buyback program