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Surface Book 3 13.5” vs. Surface Book 2 13.5” - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface Book 3 13.5” and Surface Book 2 13.5” specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest November 15, 2023

Surface Book 3 13.5” vs. Surface Book 2 13.5”

The 2020 Surface Book 3 13.5” features the 15W 10th Generation Intel Ice Lake quad-core Intel Core i5-1035G7 up to quad-core Intel Core i7-1065G7 with the boost speed up to 3.90 GHz. While the 2017 Surface Book 2 13.5” features the 15W 7th Generation Intel Kaby Lake dual-core Intel Core i5-7300U up to quad-core Intel Core i7-8650U with the boost speed up to 4.20 GHz.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 13.5″ Surface Book 3 13.5” (2020) and the 13.5″ Surface Book 2 13.5” (2017), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Book 3 13.5” vs. Surface Book 2 13.5”: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Book 3 13.5” See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Book 2 13.5” See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new		Performance Info Up to 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U (4-Core, up to 4.20Ghz w/Turbo Boost) Up to NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 (2GB GDDR5) Up to 1TB SSD Up to 16GB (1866Mhz LPDDR3 RAM) Up to 17 hours of battery life New Size Now available in 15-inch with the same beautiful PixelSense display. Better Performance Surface Book 2 has up to 5 times more graphics performance than the original Surface Book. Longer Battery Life Lasts up to 17 hours. USB-C Allows you to charge, transfer data, and video out. More Features Updated hinge design for reducing screen wobbling. Supports the latest Surface Pen with 4096 levels of pressure. Supports Surface Dial on-screen interaction.
What's missing		MiniDisplay port replaced with a USB-C port

Availability	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Released	2020	2017
Release Info	Introduced: May 6, 2020 Pre-ordered: May 6, 2020 Released: May 12, 2020	Introduced: October 17, 2017 Pre-ordered: November 9, 2017 Released: November 16, 2017
Pricing	For Consumer $1,599 - i5 \| 8GB \| 256GB \| Iris Plus $1,999 - i7 \| 16GB \| 256GB \| GTX 1650 $2,499 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| GTX 1650 $2,699 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| GTX 1650 For Commercial $1,699 - i5 \| 8GB \| 256GB \| Iris Plus $2,099 - i7 \| 16GB \| 256GB \| GTX 1650 $2,599 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| GTX 1650 $2,799 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| GTX 1650	Starting at 1,149$
Amazon Deals	$462.02 Microsoft NEW Surface Book 3 - 13.5 Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum (Renewed) $1,099.98 NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 32GB Memory - 512GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum $1,599.98 NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 32GB Memory - 1TB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum	$298.00 Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed) $260.99 Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed) $299.00 Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5"(Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB), silver

Surface Book 3 13.5” Price
	Microsoft NEW Surface Book 3 - 13.5 Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum (Renewed) By Microsoft $462.02	See at Amazon
	NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 32GB Memory - 512GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum By Microsoft $1,099.98	See at Amazon
	NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 32GB Memory - 1TB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum By Microsoft $1,599.98	See at Amazon
Surface Book 2 13.5” Price
	Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed) By Microsoft $298.00 $339.00 12% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed) By Microsoft $260.99 $1,345.00 81% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5"(Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB), silver By Microsoft $299.00	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Size	13.5 Inches
Info	Display Resolution: 3000 x 2000 (6M Pixels) Display Density: 267 PPI PixelSense™ Display Aspect ratio: 3:2 Contrast ratio: 1600:1 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch

Exterior	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Size Comparison
Dimensions	Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i5) 12.3” x 9.14” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm) Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i7) 12.3” x 9.14” x 0.59”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 15 mm-23 mm)	Surface Book with Intel Core i5: 12.3” x 9.1” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm). Surface Book with Intel Core i7 12.3” x 9.14” x 0.59”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 15 mm-23 mm).
Weight	Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i5) Total: 3.38 lbs (1,534 g) Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g) Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i7) Total: 3.62 lbs (1,642 g) Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)	Surface Book with Intel Core i5: Total: 3.38 lbs (1,533 g) Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g) Surface Book with Intel Core i7 Total: 3.62 lbs (1,642 g) Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
Colors	Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad	Keyboard: Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1.55mm travel. Mechanical friction attaches the Clipboard to the keyboard. Trackpad: Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass. Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.
Ports	2 x Full-size USB 3.1 Gen 2 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2 Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort. 2 x Surface Connect™ 1 in tablet, 1 in keyboard base, both supports charging and docking. 1 x Headset jack 1 x Full-size SDXC card reader UHS-II Performance	2 x Full-size USB 3.1 Gen 1 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1 Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort. 2 x Surface Connect™ 1 in tablet, 1 in keyboard base, both supports charging and docking. 1 x Headset jack 1 x Full-size SDXC card reader UHS-II Performance

Internal Specs	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Processor	10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G7 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.20 → 3.70 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W	7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.70 → 3.60 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics	10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G7 Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 64 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz	7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U Intel® HD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U Intel® UHD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U Intel® UHD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Discrete Graphics	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 with Max-Q Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1020 → 1245 MHz, 1024 CUDA Cores.	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Pascal Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1354 → 1493 MHz, 640 CUDA Cores.
Memory	8GB 16GB 32GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4x	8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Storage	256 GB 512 GB 1 TB PCIe SSD	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe SSD

Connectivity	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology	Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology

Battery	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Size	Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i5) Total: 69Wh Clipboard: 18Wh Base: 51Wh Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i7) Total: 75.3Wh Clipboard: 18Wh Base: 57.3Wh	Surface Book with Intel Core i5: Total: 69Wh Clipboard: 18Wh Base: 51Wh Surface Book with Intel Core i7: Total: 75.3Wh Clipboard: 18Wh Base: 57.3Wh
Battery Life	Surface Book 3 13.5” Up to 15.5 hours of typical device usage	Up to 17 hours of video playback Up to 5 hours in tablet mode
Power Supply	Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i5) 65W Surface Power Supply with USB-A (5W) charging port. Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i7) 102W Surface Power Supply with USB-A (7W) charging port.	Surface Book with Intel Core i5: 44W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port. Surface Book with Intel Core i7 100W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.

Software	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
OS	For Consumer: Windows 10 Home 64-bit For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Free upgrade to Windows 11	Windows 10 Pro (Creators Update) Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps	Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Camera	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio	Dual far-field Studio Mics Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos® Support for Windows Sonic for Headphones Support for Dolby® Atmos for Headphones	Dual microphones Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium Support for Windows Sonic for Headphones Support for Dolby® Atmos for Headphones

Misc	Surface Book 3 13.5”	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel 0.1mm precision
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Proximity 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 Book 3 13.5” Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Book 2 13.5” Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Supports Surface Dial Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.