Home » Devices » Surface Book i7 vs. Surface Book 2 13.5” - Detailed Specs Comparison

Surface Book i7 vs. Surface Book 2 13.5” - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface Book i7 and Surface Book 2 13.5” specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest November 15, 2023

Surface Book i7 vs. Surface Book 2 13.5”

The 2016 Surface Book i7 features the 15W 6th Generation Intel Skylake dual-core Intel Core i7-6600U with the boost speed up to 3.40 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 i7 (2016) 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 i7 vs. Surface Book 2 13.5”: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Book i7 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 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U (2-Core, up to 3.40Ghz w/Turbo Boost) Up to NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 965M (2GB GDDR5) Up to 1TB SSD Up to 16GB (1866Mhz LPDDR3 RAM) Up to 16 hours battery life (81Wh) Better Graphics Performance Now it comes with a better NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 965M with 2GB GDDR5 memory. Longer Battery Life It now packs with a bigger battery in the base (51Wh → 63Wh) for longer battery life up to 16 hours. More powerful power adapter To supply enough juice for the graphics unit, it now comes with a bigger 102W power supply with a USB charging port.	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	New Base with a bigger battery and newer graphics processor only available on Surface Book with Intel Core i7.	MiniDisplay port replaced with a USB-C port

Availability	Surface Book i7	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Released	2016	2017
Release Info	Introduced: October 26, 2016 Pre-ordered: October 26, 2016 Released: November 10, 2016	Introduced: October 17, 2017 Pre-ordered: November 9, 2017 Released: November 16, 2017
Pricing	Starting at 2,399$	Starting at 1,149$

Surface Book i7 Price
	Microsoft Surface Book 2 15" (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB) (Renewed) By Microsoft $328.51 $564.69 42% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed) By Microsoft $599.98	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book SW5-00001 2-in-1 Notebook PC - Intel Core i7-6600U 2.6 GHz Dual-Core Processor - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB Solid State Drive - 13.5-inch Touchscreen Display - (Renewed) By Microsoft $504.69	See at Amazon
Surface Book 2 13.5” Price
	NEW Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 15" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 32GB Memory - 2TB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum By Microsoft $2,999.99 $3,199.98 6% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed) By Microsoft $599.98	See at Amazon
	New Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum By Microsoft $599.00	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Book i7	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: 1700:1 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch	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 i7	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Size Comparison
Dimensions	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	Tablet only: 1.6 lbs (726 g) Total: 3.68 lbs (1,669 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 3.0 2 x Surface Connect™ 1 in tablet, 1 in keyboard base, both supports charging and docking. 1 x Mini DisplayPort 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 i7	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Processor	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB 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	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U Intel® HD Graphics 520 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 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 965m Maxwell Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 924/935 - 950/1151 MHz, 1024 CUDA Cores.	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Pascal Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1354 → 1493 MHz, 640 CUDA Cores.
Memory	8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Storage	256 GB 512 GB 1 TB Soldered PCIe 3.0 SSD	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe SSD

Connectivity	Surface Book i7	Surface Book 2 13.5”
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

Battery	Surface Book i7	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Size	Total: 81Wh Clipboard: 18Wh Base: 63Wh	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	Up to 16 hours of video playback	Up to 17 hours of video playback Up to 5 hours in tablet mode
Power Supply	102W power supply with USB-A (5W) 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 i7	Surface Book 2 13.5”
OS	Windows 10 Pro	Windows 10 Pro (Creators Update) Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps	Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Book i7	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 microphones Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium	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 i7	Surface Book 2 13.5”
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 1024 levels of pressure Magnetic storage	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 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface Book Surface Pen 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 off-screen interaction only.	Supports Surface Dial Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.