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Surface 3 vs. Surface Studio - Detailed Specs Comparison

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

BY Evan Forrest November 15, 2023

Surface 3 vs. Surface Studio

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 2016 Surface Studio features the 45W 6th Generation Intel Skylake quad-core Intel Core i5-6440HQ up to quad-core Intel Core i7-6820HQ with the boost speed up to 3.60 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 28″ Surface Studio (2016), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface 3 vs. Surface Studio: 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 Studio 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.
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 Studio
Released	2015	2016
Release Info	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015	Introduced: October 26, 2016 Pre-ordered: October 26, 2016 Released: December 15, 2016
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	Intel® Core™ i5 $2,999 - 8GB \| 1TB (64GB SSD) \| GTX 965M Intel® Core™ i7 $3,499 - 16GB \| 1TB (128GB SSD) \| GTX 965M $4,199 - 32GB \| 2TB (128GB SSD) \| GTX 980M

Surface 3 Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5" Touch-Screen Intel Core i5-8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive (PKX-00003) Matte Black (Renewed) By Microsoft $299.00 $319.00 6% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $488.00 $629.99 23% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface 3 128GB WiFi Tablet 10.8" Intel Atom - Silver (Renewed) By Microsoft $184.00	See at Amazon
Surface Studio Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 (2023) - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, Windows 11, Platinum Color Copilot By Microsoft $2,241.33 $2,799.99 20% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i7 - 32GB Memory - 1TB SSD - Platinum By Microsoft $1,531.00 $2,699.99 43% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 14.4" Touchscreen Convertible (Floating Slider) 2 in 1 Notebook - 2400 x 1600 - Intel Core i7 13th Gen i7-13700H Tetradeca-core (14 Core) - Intel Evo Platform - By Microsoft $1,466.99 $1,589.99 8% OFF	See at Amazon

Display	Surface 3	Surface Studio
Size	10.8 Inches	28 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: 4500 x 3000 (13.5M Pixels) Density: 192 PPI PixelSense™ Display Contrast ratio typical: 1100:1 Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Color: DCI-P3 individually color-calibrated Color profiles: sRGB (standard), DCI-P3 (Cinema), Vivid (P3-D65)

Exterior	Surface 3	Surface Studio
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)	Display 25.1” x 17.3” x 0.5” (637.35 mm x 438.90 mm x 12.50 mm) Base 9.8” x 8.7” x 1.3” (250.00 mm x 220.00 mm x 32.20 mm)
Weight	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)	up to 21 lbs (9.56) kg
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.	Included Surface Keyboard Included Surface Mouse
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)	4 x full-size USB 3.0 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Full-size SD™ card reader (UHS-II performance) 1 x 3.5mm stereo headphones/microphone jack 1 x Gigabit Ethernet

Internal Specs	Surface 3	Surface Studio
Processor	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6440HQ 4 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 6 MB Smart Cache, 45W 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6820HQ 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.70 → 3.60 GHz, 8 MB Smart Cache, 45W
Integrated Graphics	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6440HQ Intel® HD Graphics 530 24 Execution Units, 350 → 950 MHz 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6820HQ Intel® HD Graphics 530 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz
Discrete Graphics		NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 965m Maxwell Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 944 MHz + Boost, 1024 CUDA Cores. NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980m Maxwell Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1038 MHz + Boost, 1536 CUDA Cores.
Memory	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.	8GB 16GB 32GB DDR4 RAM
Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC	1 TB (64GB SSD) 1TB (128GB SSD) 2 TB (128 SSD) Rapid Hybrid Drive Storage

Connectivity	Surface 3	Surface Studio
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology
Ethernet		Ethernet: 10/100/1000Mb (Gigabit)
	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS	Xbox Wireless built-in

Battery	Surface 3	Surface Studio
Size	27.5 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 10 hours of video playback
Power Supply	13W Micro USB power supply	Internal power supply with AC inlet Grip-release cable (AC power cable)

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

Camera & Audio	Surface 3	Surface Studio
Camera	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video	Windows Hello face sign-in camera, enterprise-class authentication 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p video support
Audio	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound	Stereo microphones Stereo 2.1 speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium 8 x speakers in the display 2 x speakers in the base

Misc	Surface 3	Surface Studio
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
Security		Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in TPM chip for enterprise security, biometric security; Interface for Kensington Lock Kit for Surface Studio
In the box	Surface 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Studio Surface Pen Surface Keyboard Surface Mouse AC power cord with grip-release cable Quick start guide Safety, warranty and product documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power	Physical buttons: Volume, Power.