Today, at its annual Surface event, Microsoft has announced a new Surface Laptop. Called the Surface Laptop 3, the device is a successor to the previous generation model, the Surface Laptop 2. A couple of highlights that the company is emphasizing on with the new device include the ability to open the laptop with one finger, improved keyboard, 20% larger trackpad, 2x faster than Surface Laptop 2, 80% charge in less than an hour, USB-C port, and all-day battery life, to name a few. Alongside the Laptop 3, the company also announced the Surface Earbuds, Surface Pro X, Surface Duo, and Surface Neo.
The Surface Laptop 3 looks pretty similar to the previous generation model on the outside but does have a few subtle changes on the inside. For starters, the Laptop 3 comes in two sizes: 13.5-inch and 15-inch with a machined aluminum finish, instead of its signature Alcantara fabric design. The 13.5-inch model comes with a quad-core 10th-gen Intel Core (i5 and i7) processor, that according to the company, is ‘2x faster than the Laptop 2 and 3x faster than the MacBook Air.’ Whereas, the 15-inch has a new semi-custom Ryzen Surface Edition (Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7) chip from AMD under the hood. Microsoft says it is ‘the fastest processor for any laptop in its class today.’
The design of the new model allows it to be opened with a single finger, and the laptop always stays on, allowing you to get work done instantly, without having to wait for the machine to boot. Further, the keyboard has also got a slight improvement, and the key travel on the newer model has been reduced to 1.3mm, down from (~1.5mm) on the Laptop 2; the trackpad has been increased in size and is now 20% larger; there is the added ability to remove the drive and replace it as-and-when required, USB-C, finally, and an all-day battery with fast charging that can charge it up to 80% in about/under an hour.
Surface Laptop 3: Specifications
- Display: 13.5-inch PixelSense display with 3:2 aspect ratio and 2256 x 1504 pixels screen resolution
15-inch PixelSense display with 3:2 aspect ratio and 2496 x 1664 pixels screen resolution - Processor: 13.5-inch – Quad-core 10th Generation Intel Core i5-1035G7 and Core i7-1065G7
15-inch – AMD Ryzen 5 3580U with Radeon Vega 9 and AMD Ryzen 7 3780U with Radeon RX Vega 11 - RAM: 13.5-inch – 8GB/16GB LPDDR4X
15-inch – 8GB/16GB/32GB DDR4 - Storage: 13.5-inch – 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB removable SSD
15-inch – 128GB/256GB/512GB removable SSD - Network: Wi-Fi: 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.0
- Battery: 13.5-inch – Up to 11.5 hours with fast charging, charges up to 80% in about one hour
15-inch – Up to 11.5 hours with fast charging, charges up to 80% in under one hour - Camera: 720p f/2.0 aperture front-facing camera
- Ports: 1 x USB-C, 1 x USB-A, 3.5mm audio jack, 1 x Surface Connect port
Surface Laptop 3: Pricing and Availability
The Surface Laptop 3 comes in four colors: Sandstone, Matte Black, Cobalt Blue, and Platinum. It starts at $999 and $1199 for the 13.5-inch and 15-inch model respectively and will be available for pre-order starting today, with shipping expected around October 22.