Brexit forces Microsoft to push up Surface Book price by £150

The UK's decision to leave the European Union continues to hit the pockets of consumers. The latest victim of Brexit is Microsoft's Surface Book, with every model in the range hit with a £150 price hike.

While not a direct response to the Brexit vote itself, the resulting drop in the value of the pound has already seen many companies push up prices to compensate. We've already seen Apple increase the cost of apps in the UK by 25 percent, and Microsoft has already increased the price of enterprise software. Representing an 11 percent price jump, the new Surface Book price tag makes the already-expensive laptop even less attractive to would be buyers.

Microsoft is not shy about blaming the price increase on the value of the pound, but says that the increase only affects sales direct from the company. This means that high street retailers will be able to choose whether to shoulder the price hike or pass it on, but it’s safe to assume what will end up happening.

Speaking to TechCrunch, a Microsoft spokeswoman said:

In response to a recent review we are adjusting the British pound prices of some of our hardware and consumer software in order to align to market dynamics. For indirect sales where our products and services are sold through partners, final prices will continue to be determined by them.

The price increase means that the 128GB / Intel Core i5 / 8GB model now costs £1,449, the 256GB / Intel Core i5 / 8GB / dGPU is £1,849, the 256GB / Intel Core i7 / 8GB / dGPU is £1,999, the 512GB / Intel Core i7 -/16GB / dGPU is £2,399, and the 1TB / Intel Core i7 / 16GB / dGPU costs £3,049. As this is a £150 increase across the board, in terms of percentage the more expensive models have risen by less -- but those prices are still rather eye-watering.