HP announces Spectre Folio 2-in-1 just a day ahead of Microsoft's Surface event

HP is kicking off the week with a bang. During an early AM press event in New York, the world's largest PC manufacturer unveiled a 13.3-inch Spectre Folio 2-in-1 designed to compete directly against Microsoft's Surface Pro series of tablets.

Core specifications include:

• 13.3-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution IPS display w/ Gorilla Glass 4
• Dual-core 1.3 GHz Intel Core i5-8200Y or 1.5 GHz Core i7-8500Y CPU
• Integrated UHD Graphics 615
• 8 GB of RAM
• 256 GB PCIe SSD
• 2x Thunderbolt ports, 1x USB Type-C Gen. 1 w/ DisplayPort 1.2, 1x USB Type-C Gen. 2, 3.5 mm combo audio
• 2x2 Intel WLAN, Bluetooth 4.2
• Intel XMM 7560 LTE (for Core i7 SKU)
• HD webcam
• 6-cell 54.28 Wh battery
• 12.60 in x 9.23 in x 0.60 in
• 3.28 lbs

Aside from its attractive cognac brown chassis and leather finish, the system will sport new Amber Lake-Y CPUs. When compared to Kaby Lake-R, these Amber Lake-Y processors have fewer physical cores (dual-core vs. quad-core) and run at about half the TDP (7 W vs. 15 W). It looks like the Spectre Folio was designed specifically with passive cooling in mind and so common Kaby Lake-R options like the i5-8250U or i7-8550U may not have been possible.

The Spectre series is home to HP's flagship consumer devices while the Folio series is home to HP's flagship business devices. The Spectre Folio appears to be a merging of the two families with the best qualities from each. It can be considered an evolution of last year's well-received Elite x2 2-in-1.

Check out the official press images and spec sheet below for more information. The HP Spectre Folio is now available for pre-order for $1400 USD with an expected ship date on October 29.

Source(s)