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Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Pro 1 - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface Laptop SE and Surface Pro 1 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest November 15, 2023

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Pro 1

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 2012 Surface Pro 1 features the 17W 3rd Generation Intel Ivy Bridge dual-core Intel Core i5-3317U with the boost speed up to 2.60 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 10.6″ Surface Pro 1 (2012), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Laptop SE vs. Surface Pro 1: 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 Pro 1 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	Windows 8 Pro You can do everything as you've ever done on your PC. Laptop class performance Powered by 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB, and up to 128GB of SSD storage. Touch & Inking It supports 10-point multitouch and Surface Pen with 1,024 pressure sensitivity. Kickstand It comes with an integrated kickstand easy to switch between tablet and laptop mode. Detachable Touch & Type Cover Be more productive with a full-size keyboard doubling as a protective screen cover. More Magnet charging connector, Full-size USB 3.0 port, Bluetooth 4.0, HD front and rear camera.
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).

Availability	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
Released	2021	2012
Release Info	Introduced on November 9, 2021	Introduced: June 18, 2012 Not available for pre-ordered Released: February 9, 2013
Pricing	Starting at $249.99	Intel® Core™ i5 $899 - i5 \| 4 GB \| 64 GB $999 - i5 \| 4 GB \| 128 GB

Surface Laptop SE Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE CELERON 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Glacier By Microsoft $247.49	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop SE CELERON 8GB RAM 128GB SSD, Glacier (Renewed) By Microsoft $209.38	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5in Touchscreen Intel i7 16GB RAM 256GB Windows 10 (Renewed) By Microsoft $368.14 $399.00 8% OFF	See at Amazon
Surface Pro 1 Price
	Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB) with Windows 10 Anniversary (Renewed) By Microsoft $149.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 Laptop/Tablet (2024), Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, 13" Touchscreen Display, Snapdragon X Plus (10 Core), 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage, Sapphire By Microsoft $1,199.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 7 12.3in Intel Core i5 10th Gen 8GB RAM 128GB SSD Platinum (Renewed) By Microsoft $359.99 $384.99 6% OFF	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
Size	11.6 Inches	10.6 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1366 x 768 (135 PPI) Liquid Crystal Display Module Aspect ratio: 16:9	Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (2M Pixels) Density: 208 PPI ClearType Full HDDisplay Aspect ratio: 16:9 Touch: 10 point multi-touch Surface Pen support (1st Gen)

Exterior	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
Size Comparison
Dimensions	11.17” x 7.6” x 0.70” (283.70 x 193.05 x 17.85 mm)	10.81” x 6.81” x 0.53” (275 mm x 173 mm x 13.46 mm) Width: 10.81” (275 mm) Height: 6.81” (173 mm) Thickness: 0.53” (13.46 mm)
Weight	2.45 lbs. (1,112.4 g)	2 lbs (910 g)
Colors	Glacier	Dark Titanium
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.	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. Trackpad: Two-finger multitouch gesture trackpad.
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 Mini DisplayPort 1 x Surface Charging Port 1 x Headset jack 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Type Cover port

Internal Specs	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
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	Intel® Core™ i5-3317U 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.70 → 2.60 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 17W
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	Intel® Core™ i5-3317U Intel® HD Graphics 4000 16 Execution Units, 350 → 1.05 MHz
Memory	4GB 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Memory	4GB Dual Channel Memory
Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC	64 GB 128 GB SSD

Connectivity	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5 (2x2): IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.	Wi-Fi 4: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 LE technology	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology

Battery	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
Size	35Wh	42 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 16 hours of typical device usage	7-15 days of idle life
Power Supply	45W Barrel type power adapter [email protected].	48W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Charger: 43W

Software	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
OS	Windows 11 SE	Windows 8 Pro Upgradable Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps	Microsoft 365 for Education	Microsoft Office 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
Camera	1MP Front facing camera With up to 720p 30fps video	720p HD LifeCam front-facing camera with TrueColor Technology 720p HD LifeCam rear-facing camera with TrueColor Technology
Audio	2W Stereo Speakers Single digital microphone	Single microphone Stereo speakers

Misc	Surface Laptop SE	Surface Pro 1
Inking	Not Support	Supports Surface Pen 1,024 levels of pressure Wacom Active Pen technology Can be attached to charging port Included with purchase
Sensors	1 x Hall-effect Sensor	Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer
Security	TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
In the box	Surface Laptop SE Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Pro (1st Gen) Surface Pro Pen Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Exterior Casing: All plastic bodies unpainted Physical buttons: Power button and Volume buttons on Keyboard Hinge: 135 degrees open angle	Casing: VaporMg Kickstand: 1 position at 22° Physical buttons: volumes, power