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Surface 3 vs. Surface Pro 4 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface 3 and Surface Pro 4 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest November 15, 2023

The 2015 Surface 3 features the 2W Intel Cherry Trail quad-core Intel Atom x7-Z8700 with the boost speed up to 2.40 GHz. While the 2015 Surface Pro 4 features the 4.5W 6th Generation Intel Skylake dual-core Intel Core m3-6Y30 up to dual-core Intel Core i7-6650U with the boost speed up to 3.40 GHz.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 10.8″ Surface 3 (2015) and the 12.3″ Surface Pro 4 (2015), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface 3 vs. Surface Pro 4: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface 3 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Pro 4 See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	New design It’s now thinner (8.7mm), new tablet-friendly 3:2 aspect-ratio form factor, and new Microsoft Logo on the kickstand. Full Windows 8.1 You can run all your desktop apps and upgradable to Windows 10. Better display New bigger and better 10.8” Full HD Plus display with 10 points multitouch. Inking supports It now supports a new Surface Pen with 256 pressure sensitivity, tail eraser, and remote Bluetooth activation. New CPU Architecture It’s now using the new quad-core Intel® Atom™ x7 processor for outstanding performance and long battery life. New kickstand Now in three angles. New Micro-USB port It can be charged with any mobile phone charger. More Better 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera, new Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), and optional 4G LTE.	New Design It’s now thinner (8.4mm), lighter (766g), the smaller bezel on the same footprint. Better display New bigger and better 12.3” PixelSense display with Microsoft G5 chipset. Better performance It’s now 30% faster than Surface Pro 3 with the range of 6th Gen Intel processors. Better Inking It now supports Surface Pen with 1,024 pressure sensitivity, magnet attached to the side of Surface Pro 4. Windows Hello It's all comes with Windows Hello facial recognition as standard. More Better 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera, new 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM.
What's missing	No magnet charging port replaced with the new Micro-USB port. Slower Charging The new Micro-USB has a limited power delivery (13W) compared to its older propriety 24W charger.

Availability	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
Released	2015
Release Info	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015	Introduced: October 7, 2015 Pre-ordered: October 7, 2015 Released: October 26, 2015
Pricing	Surface 3 Wi-Fi $499 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $599 - 4 GB \| 128 GB Surface 3 4G LTE $599 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $699 - 4 GB \| 128 GB	Starting at 899$

Surface 3 Price
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $529.99 $629.99 16% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface 3 128GB WiFi Tablet 10.8" Intel Atom - Silver (Renewed) By Microsoft $219.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5" Touch-Screen Intel Core i5-8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive (PKX-00003) Matte Black (Renewed) By Microsoft $359.00 $399.99 10% OFF	See at Amazon
Surface Pro 4 Price
	Latest Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (2736 x 1824) Tablet 6th Generation (Intel Core i5-6300U, 8GB Ram, 256GB SSD, Bluetooth, Dual Camera) Windows 10 Professional (Renewed) By Microsoft $269.95	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Intel i5-6300U X2 2.4GHz 256GB 8GB 12.3in, Silver (Renewed) By Microsoft $219.00 $239.99 9% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 4; 256 GB, 8 GB RAM, Intel Core i5 (Renewed) By Microsoft $259.99	See at Amazon

Display	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
Size	10.8 Inches	12.3 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.4M Pixels) Density: 214 PPI Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: supports Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch	Resolution: 2736 x 1824 (5M Pixels) Density: 267 PPI PixelSense™ Display Contrast ratio: 1300:1 Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch with GPU-based processing 100 percent sRGB color, individually calibrated

Exterior	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
Size Comparison
Dimensions	10.52” x 7.36” x 0.34” (267 mm x 187 mm x 8.7 mm) Width: 10.52” (267 mm) Height: 7.36” (187 mm) Thickness: 0.34” (8.7 mm)	11.50” x 7.93” x 0.33” (292 mm x 201.42 mm x 8.4 mm) Width: 11.50” (292 mm) Height: 7.93” (201.42 mm) Thickness: 0.33” (8.4 mm)
Weight	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)	Intel Core m3: 1.69 lbs (766 g) Intel Core i5 and i7: 1.73 lbs (786 g)
Colors	Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Surface Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12) 4 directional keys; Windows and Media Controls Keys; LED backlighting Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Supports up to three-finger multitouch gesture.	Surface Type Cover Not included Weight: 0.68 lb (310 g) Dimension: 11.61 x 8.54 x 0.19 inches (295 mm x 216 mm x 5mm) Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12) 4 directional keys; Windows, Brightness and Media Controls Keys; LED backlighting Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Trackpad size: 4 x 2 inches (101.6 mm x 50.8 mm) Supports a five-finger multitouch gesture.
Ports	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Micro USB charging port 1 x Headset jack 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Cover port 1 x Nano SIM card slot (Surface 3 with LTE only)	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Headset jack 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Type Cover port

Internal Specs	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
Processor	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W	6th Gen Intel® Core™ m3-6Y30 2 cores, 4 threads, 0.90 → 2.20 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 4.5W 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.40 → 3.00 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6650U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.20 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz	6th Gen Intel® Core™ m3-6Y30 Intel® HD Graphics 515 24 Execution Units, 300 → 850 MHz 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U Intel® HD Graphics 520 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6650U Intel® Iris® Graphics 540 48 Execution Units with 64 MB eDRAM side cache, 300 → 1050 MHz
Memory	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.	4GB 8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB PCIe NVMe SSD

Connectivity	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology
	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS

Battery	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
Size	27.5 Wh	38.2 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 10 hours of video playback	Up to 9 hours of video playback
Power Supply	13W Micro USB power supply	36W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Connect: 31W

Software	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
OS	Windows 8.1 Pro Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro	Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps	1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal	Microsoft Office 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
Camera	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD video
Audio	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound	Dual microphones Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio

Misc	Surface 3	Surface Pro 4
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 256 levels of pressure N-trig Active Pen technology	Supports Surface Pen 1024 levels of pressure magnetic storage
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Digital compass	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer
Security		HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Pro 4 Surface Pen Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power	Mechanical features: Signature unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting Kickstand with a full-friction multiposition hinge to 150 degrees Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability Physical buttons: volumes, power