It seems to me, from the naming (Studio) to the price, that this is purely a professional tool and not a high-end home computer.

Microsoft has plenty of partners to compete with the iMac. Now those partners can look into the Surface Studio as something to aspire to.

The 3:2 aspect ratio probably makes it less consumery as well.

Surfaces (Pro and standard) have been 3:2 for a couple years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_3

Not refuting your implication necessarily, but worth knowing their flagship (standard and high-end) devices have been 3:2.

I see where you're coming from, but those aren't large screen devices.

Most games and movies are widescreen these days, and I see those as consumery activities. I think a significant amount of consumers would be annoyed by letterboxing in those use cases.

Compared to a 27" Cintiq QHD Touch, the pricing is very competitive.

Yup, people considering this for a standard PC aren't really making an apt comparison.

All the creative people I know said Cintiq set the bar, looks like MS is making a square aim at that market.

I have often wondered why only the graphics/video people are called "creatives". :-)

Better yet, compare it to the cost of both a Cintiq and a PC. A Cintiq is just a monitor/drawing tablet.

It's not really worth comparing costs until artists weigh in on the drawing capabilities of each piece of hardware. Wacom has had a corner on the market, and a lot of patents for a long time. I know comparisons of Surface Tablet vs. iPad Pro vs. Wacom still have Wacom coming out on top, but a lot of that could be because iPad Pro doesn't have access to the full software artists/designers need to do their job efficiently.

At least one artist (the guy from Penny Arcade) says the Surface Studio compares favorably to his Cintiq: http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2016/10/26/the-surface...

Thanks for sharing! I recall reading his Surface reviews previously. I appreciate his honesty, and Microsoft's willingness to tap into him for advice on their products.

the surface (pro 3 and onwards) has an ever-so-slight delay compared to the cintiq and as i follow gabe it looks like it's something he has made his peace with.

some artists just absolutely cannot get used to it and so moving off to surface is not something they can do yet.

that's just the value prop of cintiq. the display may be crap but the drawing experience is by far and away the best in its class.

Does it have tilt support? At one point it showed someone using the puck/wheel thing to control tilt instead of just tilting the pen :-O.

Says right at the top of the page "Get a Free Surface Dial". So, I assume that's included.

This is why I'd love to have one. But will not have one until I work for a place that wants to get me one. I still feel guilty for buying my Pixel 2.

Couldn't believe that was the price. Do they honestly believe this is going to sell?

This really just shows you what a bargain the 5K iMac is.

IMac does not come with a pen. This is a draughtsmans tool.