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Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Laptop 3 - Detailed Specs Comparison

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

BY Evan Forrest February 21, 2026

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Laptop 3

The 2021 Surface Laptop SE features the 6W Intel Gemini Lake Refresh dual-core Intel Celeron N4020 up to quad-core Intel Celeron N4120 with the boost speed up to 2.60 GHz. While the 2019 Surface Laptop 3 features the 15W 10th Generation Intel Ice Lake quad-core Intel Core i5-1035G7 up to quad-core AMD Ryzen 7-3780U Microsoft Surface Edition 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 11.6″ Surface Laptop SE (2021) and the 13.5″ Surface Laptop 3 (2019), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Laptop 3: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Laptop SE See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Laptop 3 See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	The most affordable Surface Laptop - Starting at $249, the Surface Laptop SE helps students achieve the skills they need for their future with a laptop designed for Windows 11 SE and Microsoft 365 for Education. Easy to Repair - Surface Laptop SE has replaceable components including the keyboard, display, battery, and mainboard without special tools required. 11.6-inch HD Liquid Crystal Display Module. Up to Intel® Celeron® Processor N4120 (4C/4T, Up to 2.60 GHz, 4MB Cache) Up to 8GB DDR4 Memory. Available only in Glacier More Up to 16-hours of battery life Microsoft Precision touchpad Full-size keyboard	Better performance It’s now 2.3x times faster than Surface Laptop 2. New Size Now available in 15-inch with the same beautiful PixelSense display. Now with USB-C It allows you to charge, transfer data, and output up to two 4K@60Hz displays. Better specs 10th Gen Intel Ice Lake processors, Intel Iris Plus G7 graphics, 3733 MHz LPDDR4x, WiFi-6, Bluetooth 5 Or AMD Ryzen with Radeon RX Vega graphics, 2400 MHz DDR4, WiFi-5, Bluetooth 5. New keyboard finishes Now available in warm Alcantara and cool new metal. New color Now available in Matte Black, Cobalt Blue, Platinum, and a new Sandstone. More 20% larger trackpad, Fast Charging, Better repairability, Removable hard drive, Improved Windows Hello infrared (IR) camera, Dual far-field studio mics, improved keyboard, better OmniSonic speaker.
What's missing	No backlit key. No touch screen. No Inking support. No IR camera for Windows Hello Facial Recognition. No Fingerprint reader. All plastic bodies instead of Aluminum. Using Intel UHD Graphics instead of Intel Iris Plus Graphics. Lowest Surface screen resolution (135 PPI).	Burgundy is no longer available MiniDisplay port replaced with USB-C port

Availability	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
Released	2021	2019
Release Info	Introduced on November 9, 2021	Introduced: October 2, 2019 (Microsoft October Event) Pre-ordered: October 2, 2019 Released: October 22, 2019
Pricing	Starting at $249.99	Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) › Starting at 999$ Surface Laptop 3 (15”) › Starting at 1,199$
Amazon Deals	$159.00 Microsoft Surface Laptop SE, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (Renewed) $159.00 Microsoft Surface Laptop SE, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (Renewed) $159.00 Microsoft Surface Laptop SE Computer, Intel Celeron N4120 (Renewed)	$369.00 Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15" Touch 16GB 256GB SSD Core™ i7-1065G7 1.3GHz WIN11H, Matte Black (Renewed) $299.99 Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5-Inch (Renewed) $359.90 Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 13.5" Touch-Screen – Intel Core i7-16GB Memory - 512GB Solid State Drive (Latest Model) – Platinum with Alcantara (Renewed)

Microsoft Surface Laptop SE Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (Renewed) By Microsoft $159.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (Renewed) By Microsoft $159.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE Computer, Intel Celeron N4120 (Renewed) By Microsoft $159.00	See at Amazon
Surface Laptop 3 Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15" Touch 16GB 256GB SSD Core™ i7-1065G7 1.3GHz WIN11H, Matte Black (Renewed) By Microsoft $369.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5-Inch (Renewed) By Microsoft $299.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 13.5" Touch-Screen – Intel Core i7-16GB Memory - 512GB Solid State Drive (Latest Model) – Platinum with Alcantara (Renewed) By Microsoft $359.90	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
Size	11.6 Inches	13.5 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1366 x 768 (135 PPI) Liquid Crystal Display Module Aspect ratio: 16:9	Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) Resolution: 2256 x 1504 (3.4M Pixels) Pixel Per Inch: 201 Surface Laptop 3 (15”) Resolution: 2496 x 1664 (4.15M Pixels) Pixel Per Inch: 201 PixelSense™ Display Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 10nm Oleophobic Coating 100% sRGB color, individually calibrated

Exterior	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
Size Comparison
Dimensions	11.17” x 7.6” x 0.70” (283.70 x 193.05 x 17.85 mm)	Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) 12.1” x 8.8” x 0.57” (308 mm x 223 mm x 14.5 mm). Surface Laptop 3 (15”) 13.4” x 9.6” x 0.57” (339.5 mm x 244 mm x 14.69 mm).
Weight	2.45 lbs. (1,112.4 g)	Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) 2.84 lb (1,288 g) Sandstone and Matte Black 2.79 lb (1,265 g) Cobalt Blue and Platinum Surface Laptop 3 (15”) 3.40 lb (1,542 g)
Colors	Glacier	Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) Metal Matte Black Sandstone Alcantara Matte Black Platinum Surface Laptop 3 (15”) Metal Matte Black Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad	Keyboard: Full-size keyboard with a soft-touch feel and full 1.3mm travel. Trackpad: Microsoft Precision Touchpad. Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gestures.	Keyboard: Full-size backlit keyboard with the soft-touch feel and full 1.3mm travel. Large palm rest with premium Alcantara® material for maximized typing comfort. Trackpad: Larger size 115 mm x 76.66 mm, glass. Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.
Ports	Left Kensington lock slot Right 1 x USB-A 1 x USB-C 1 x DC-in Barrel type power connector. 1 x Headset jack Standard 3.5mm jack.	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2 Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort. 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Headset jack

Internal Specs	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
Processor	Intel® Celeron® Processor N4020 2 cores, 2 threads, 1.10 → 2.80 GHz, 4MB Cache, 6W Intel® Celeron® Processor N4120 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.10 → 2.60 GHz, 4MB Cache, 6W	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 AMD Ryzen™ 5 3580U Microsoft Surface® Edition 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.10 → 3.70 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 4MB L3 Cache, 15W AMD Ryzen™ 7 3780U Microsoft Surface® Edition 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.30 → 4.00 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 4MB L3 Cache, 15W
Integrated Graphics	Intel® Celeron® Processor N4020 Intel® UHD Graphics 600 12 Execution Units, 200 → 650 MHz Intel® Celeron® Processor N4120 Intel® UHD Graphics 600 12 Execution Units, 200 → 700 MHz	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 AMD Ryzen™ 5 3580U Microsoft Surface® Edition Radeon™ Vega 9 Graphics 9 Graphics Cores, 1300 MHz AMD Ryzen™ 7 3780U Microsoft Surface® Edition Radeon™ RX Vega 11 Graphics 11 Graphics Cores, 1400 MHz
Memory	4GB 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Memory	Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) 8GB 16GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4X RAM Surface Laptop 3 (15”) 8GB 16GB 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM
Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB Removable M.2 NVMe SSD

Connectivity	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5 (2x2): IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.	Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible. Surface Laptop 3 (15”) Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 LE technology	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology

Battery	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
Size	35Wh	45.8 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 16 hours of typical device usage	Up to 11.5 hours of typical device usage
Power Supply	45W Barrel type power adapter [email protected].	60W power supply with USB-A (5W) (65W total) Supports Fast Charge (0-80% in about one hour)

Software	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
OS	Windows 11 SE	For Consumer: Windows 10 Home For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps	Microsoft 365 for Education	Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
Camera	1MP Front facing camera With up to 720p 30fps video	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 720p HD front-facing video camera
Audio	2W Stereo Speakers Single digital microphone	Dual far-field Studio Mics OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium

Misc	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Laptop 3
Inking	Not Support	Supports Surface Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency
Sensors	1 x Hall-effect Sensor	Ambient light sensor
Security	TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface Laptop SE Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Laptop 3 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	Exterior Casing: All plastic bodies unpainted Physical buttons: Power button and Volume buttons on Keyboard Hinge: 135 degrees open angle	Supports Surface Dial Supports off-screen interaction only