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Surface Go 3 vs. Surface 3 - Detailed Specs Comparison

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

BY Evan Forrest November 15, 2023

The 2021 Surface Go 3 features the 5W 10th Generation Intel Amber Lake Y dual-core Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y up to dual-core Intel Core i3-10100Y with the boost speed up to 3.90 GHz. While 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.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 10.5″ Surface Go 3 (2021) and the 10.8″ Surface 3 (2015), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Go 3 vs. Surface 3: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Go 3 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface 3 See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	More Powerful Processors - The Surface Go 3 now features the latest 10th generation Intel Mobile processors, including Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, resulting in faster speeds up to 3.40 GHz, particularly on the entry-level models. Longer Battery Life - Last up to 11 hours battery life of typical device usage. More Now with the Matte Black option Preloaded with Windows 11 Supports fast charging	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 Go 3	Surface 3
Released	2021	2015
Release Info	Introduced: September 22, 2021 Pre-ordered: September 22, 2021 Released: October 5, 2021	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015
Pricing	$399 Gold 6500Y 4 GB 64 GB WiFi $549 Gold 6500Y 8 GB 128 GB WiFi $629 i3-10100Y 8 GB 128 GB WiFi	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

Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5” Price
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $539.99 $629.99 14% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Pentium® Gold - 4GB Memory - 64GB eMMC - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $374.18 $399.99 6% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - LTE - Device Only - Black (Latest Model) By Microsoft $561.08 $729.99 23% OFF	See at Amazon
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

Display	Surface Go 3	Surface 3
Size	10.5 Inches	10.8 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.45M Pixels) Density: 220 PPI PixelSense™ Display Contrast ratio: 1500:1 Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.4M Pixels) Density: 214 PPI Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: supports Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch

Exterior	Surface Go 3	Surface 3
Size Comparison
Dimensions	9.65” x 6.9” x 0.33” (245 mm x 175 mm x 8.3 mm) Width: 9.65” (245 mm) Height: 6.9” (175 mm) Thickness: 0.33” (8.3 mm)	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)
Weight	Surface Go 3: 1.2 lbs (544 g) Surface Go 3 Keyboard: 0.55 lbs (249 g)	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)
Colors	Platinum Matte Black	Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Surface Go Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1 mm of key travel. Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Trackpad size: 101 mm x 56 mm Supports a five-finger multitouch gesture.	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.
Ports	1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1 Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort. 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Headset jack 1 x microSDXC™ card reader 1 x Surface Go Type Cover port	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)

Internal Specs	Surface Go 3	Surface 3
Processor	10th Gen Intel® Pentium® Gold 6500Y 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.10 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 5W 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-10100Y 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 5W	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W
Integrated Graphics	10th Gen Intel® Pentium® Gold 6500Y Intel® UHD Graphics 615 23 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-10100Y Intel® UHD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz
Memory	4GB 8GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.
Storage	64GB eMMC 128GB SSD	64GB 128GB eMMC

Connectivity	Surface Go 3	Surface 3
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 4.0 technology
	LTE version coming soon.	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS

Battery	Surface Go 3	Surface 3
Size	28Wh Nominal battery capacity. 26.8Wh Minimum battery capacity.	27.5 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 11 hours of typical device usage	Up to 10 hours of video playback
Power Supply	24W proprietary Surface Connect power supply	13W Micro USB power supply

Software	Surface Go 3	Surface 3
OS	Windows 11 Home in S-mode	Windows 8.1 Pro Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps	Xbox Game Pass Ultimate one month trial Microsoft 365 Family one month trial	1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal

Camera & Audio	Surface Go 3	Surface 3
Camera	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	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio	Enhanced dual far-field Studio Mics 2W stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound

Misc	Surface Go 3	Surface 3
Inking	Supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel magnetic storage	Supports Surface Pen 256 levels of pressure N-trig Active Pen technology
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Digital compass
Security	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface Go 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	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 Casing: Magnesium	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power