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Surface 3 vs. Surface Pro 5 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface 3 and Surface Pro 5 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest February 21, 2026

Surface 3 vs. Surface Pro 5

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 2017 Surface Pro 5 features the 4.5W 7th Generation Intel Kaby Lake dual-core Intel Core m3-7Y30 up to dual-core Intel Core i7-7660U with the boost speed up to 4.00 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 5 (2017), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface 3 vs. Surface Pro 5: 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 5 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 now has clean lines and rounded edges. Better performance It’s now 2.5x times faster than Surface Pro 3. Better Battery It has 50% more battery life than Surface Pro 4 up to 13.5 hours. Better Inking It supports a new Surface Pen with 4,096 pressure sensitivity and tilt sensing. More Fanless on Core m3 and i5 models, new deeper 165-degree hinge, on-screen Surface Dial capability.
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 5
Released	2015	2017
Release Info	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015	Introduced: May 23, 2017 Pre-ordered: May 23, 2017 Released: June 15, 2017
Pricing	Surface 3 Wi-Fi $499 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $599 - 4 GB \| 128 GB Surface 3 4G LTE $599 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $699 - 4 GB \| 128 GB	Starting at 799$
Amazon Deals	$189.99 Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) $674.99 Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) $349.00 Microsoft Surface 3 (7G5-00001) - 10.8 inches 2GB, 64GB Wi-Fi Silver, Microsoft Authorized (Renewed)	$196.99 Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Tablet PC, 12.3" Touchscreen (2736 X 1824) Tablet, Intel Core i5-7300U 2.6GHz-3.5GHz, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, No Keyboard, Camera, Windows 11 Pro (Renewed) $228.00 Microsoft Surface Pro (5th Gen) (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) LTE (Renewed) $199.00 Microsoft Surface Pro (5th Gen, 1796) Intel Core M 4GB RAM / 128GB, 2017 model (Renewed)

Microsoft Surface 3 10.8-inch Price
	Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) By Microsoft $189.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $674.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface 3 (7G5-00001) - 10.8 inches 2GB, 64GB Wi-Fi Silver, Microsoft Authorized (Renewed) By Microsoft $349.00	See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Price
	Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Tablet PC, 12.3" Touchscreen (2736 X 1824) Tablet, Intel Core i5-7300U 2.6GHz-3.5GHz, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, No Keyboard, Camera, Windows 11 Pro (Renewed) By Microsoft $196.99 $228.53 14% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro (5th Gen) (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) LTE (Renewed) By Microsoft $228.00 $1,100.99 79% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro (5th Gen, 1796) Intel Core M 4GB RAM / 128GB, 2017 model (Renewed) By Microsoft $199.00 $899.99 78% OFF	See at Amazon

Display	Surface 3	Surface Pro 5
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 Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 10nm Oleophobic Coating

Exterior	Surface 3	Surface Pro 5
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 7.9” x 0.33” (292 mm x 201 mm x 8.5 mm) Width: 11.50” (292 mm) Height: 7.9” (201 mm) Thickness: 0.33” (8.5 mm)
Weight	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)	Intel Core m3: 1.69 lbs (768 g) Intel Core i5: 1.7 lbs (770 g) Intel Core i7: 1.73 lbs (784 g)
Colors	Silver	Platinum
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 5
Processor	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W	7th Gen Intel® Core™ m3-7Y30 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.00 → 2.60 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 4.5W 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7660U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.50 → 4.00 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz	7th Gen Intel® Core™ m3-7Y30 Intel® HD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U Intel® HD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7660U Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 640 48 Execution Units with 64 MB eDRAM side cache, 300 → 1100 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 5
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology	Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology
	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS

Battery	Surface 3	Surface Pro 5
Size	27.5 Wh	45 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 10 hours of video playback	Up to 13.5 hours of video playback
Power Supply	13W Micro USB power supply	44W power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Connect: 39W

Software	Surface 3	Surface Pro 5
OS	Windows 8.1 Pro Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro	Windows 10 Pro (Creators Update)
Built-in Apps	1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal	Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface 3	Surface Pro 5
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 1.6W stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium

Misc	Surface 3	Surface Pro 5
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 256 levels of pressure N-trig Active Pen technology	Supports Surface Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel 0.1mm precision magnetic storage
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Digital compass	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope
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 (5th Gen) Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty Commercial: Advanced Exchange warranty service with expedited device replacement
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 165 degrees Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability Physical buttons: volumes, power