Home » Devices » Surface Laptop vs. Surface Book - Detailed Specs Comparison

Surface Laptop vs. Surface Book - Detailed Specs Comparison

Surface Laptop features a simple clamshell laptop from Microsoft. Check how it compares to the Surface Book, which has a similar form factor.

BY Evan Forrest November 10, 2023

Surface Laptop vs. Surface Book

Microsoft Surface Laptop features a slim design and is incredibly lightweight at only 2.76 lbs (1.25 kg). It is about 17% lighter than its brother the Microsoft Surface Book. It now has a simple clamshell design with an undetachable keyboard and trackpad. It also has an impressive 14.5 hours of battery life great for students and traveling businessmen.

In terms of performance, the Surface Laptop doesn’t have a discrete GPU option as the Surface Book. However, if your workflow isn't relying much on graphics processing power, the Surface Laptop performs well with the new Intel Kaby Lake chip. Here is a quick specs comparison between the Surface Laptop and Surface Book.

Surface Laptop vs. Surface Book: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Laptop See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Book 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® GPU (1GB GDDR5) Up to 1TB SSD Up to 16GB (1866Mhz LPDDR3 RAM) Up to 12 hours battery life (69Wh) The most powerful Microsoft's Laptop Surface Book is a high-performance laptop with exceptional power and unprecedented versatility as a laptop, powerful tablet, detachable touchscreen, and a portable studio. Best-in-class screen 13.5-inch PixelSense™ display with 6 million pixels (3000x2000), 1700:1 contrast ratio, and 100% sRGB color gamut. It supports 10-point multitouch and Surface Pen with 1,024 pressure sensitivity (magnet attached to the side of the screen). More Features Magnet charging connector, Full-size USB 3.0 port, Bluetooth 4.0, 5MP front and 8MP rear camera.

Availability	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
Released	2017	2015
Release Info	Introduced: May 2, 2017 Pre-ordered: May 2, 2017 Released: June 15, 2017	Introduced: October 7, 2015 Pre-ordered: October 7, 2015 Released: October 26, 2015
Pricing	Platinum $799 - M3 \| 4GB \| 128GB $999 - i5 \| 4GB \| 128GB $1,299 - i5 \| 8GB \| 256GB Graphite Gold Burgundy Cobalt Blue $1,599 - i7 \| 8GB \| 256GB $2,199 - i7 \| 16GB \| 512GB $2,699 - i7 \| 16GB \| 1TB	Starting at 1,499$

Surface Laptop Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop (2024), Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, 13.8" Touchscreen Display, Snapdragon X Plus (10 core), 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD Storage, Black By Microsoft $1,199.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 (2023) - 12.4" Touchscreen, Thin & Lightweight, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD SSD, with Windows 11, Platinum Color Copilot By Microsoft $725.40 $799.99 9% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5in Touchscreen Intel i7 16GB RAM 256GB Windows 10 (Renewed) By Microsoft $367.77 $399.00 8% OFF	See at Amazon
Surface Book Price
	Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum By Microsoft $699.00 $919.99 24% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed) By Microsoft $309.95	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5" Touchscreen - Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Renewed) By Microsoft $432.00 $459.00 6% OFF	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
Size	13.5 Inches
Info	Display Resolution: 2256 x 1504 (3.4M Pixels) Display Density: 201 PPI 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	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

Exterior	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
Size Comparison
Dimensions	12.13” x 8.79” x 0.39-0.57” (308.02 mm x 223.2 mm x 9.93 mm-14.47 mm) Width: 12.13” (308.02 mm) Depth: 8.79” (223.2 mm) Height: 0.39 - 0.57” (9.93 - 14.47 mm)	12.3” x 9.14” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm)
Weight	Intel Core i5 › 2.76 lbs (1.26 kg) Intel Core i7 › 2.83 lbs (1.28 kg)	Tablet Only: 1.6 lbs (726 g) Surface Book: 3.34 lbs (1,515 g) Surface Book with dGPU: 3.48 lbs (1,578 g)
Colors	Graphite Gold Platinum Burgundy Cobalt Blue	Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad	Keyboard: Full-size backlit keyboard with the soft-touch feel and full 1.5mm travel. Large palm rest with premium Alcantara® material for maximized typing comfort. Trackpad: Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass. Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.	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	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Headset jack	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)

Internal Specs	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
Processor	7th Gen Intel® Core™ m3-7Y30 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.00 → 2.60 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 4.5W 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7660U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.50 → 4.00 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.40 → 3.00 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U 2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics	7th Gen Intel® Core™ m3-7Y30 Intel® HD Graphics 615 24 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U Intel® HD Graphics 620 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7660U Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 640 48 Execution Units with 64 MB eDRAM side cache, 300 → 1100 MHz	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U Intel® HD Graphics 520 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U Intel® HD Graphics 520 24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
Discrete Graphics		NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU Maxwell Architecture, 1GB GDDR5 128-bit, 954 - 993 MHz, 384 CUDA Cores.
Memory	4GB 8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM	8GB 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Storage	128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB SSD 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage with 1-year subscription of Office 365	128GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD

Connectivity	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology

Battery	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
Size	45.2 Wh	Total: 69Wh Clipboard: 18Wh Base: 51Wh
Battery Life	Up to 14.5 hours of typical device usage	Up to 12 hours of video playback
Power Supply	44W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Connect output: 39W	Surface Book 36W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port. Surface Book with dGPU 65W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.

Software	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
OS	Windows 10 S	Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps	1 year of Microsoft Office 365 personal	Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
Camera	Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 720p HD front-facing video 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 OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium	Dual microphones Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium

Misc	Surface Laptop	Surface Book
Inking	Supports Surface Pen with 1024 levels of pressure	Supports Surface Pen 1024 levels of pressure Magnetic storage
Sensors	Ambient light sensor	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	HW TPM chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box	Surface Laptop Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Book Surface Pen Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Supports Surface Dial Supports off-screen interaction only	Supports Surface Dial Supports off-screen interaction only.

Models with Intel Core i5 Comparison

Microsoft Surface Laptop offers 2 processor configurations just like Microsoft Surface Book did. However, it's now equipped with the new 7-Gen Intel Core processors which offer a better performance compared to the 6-Gen Intel processors found on Surface Book.

	Surface Book	Surface Laptop
Processor	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U	7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U

Launch Date	Q3'2015	Q1'2017
Base Frequency	2.40 GHz	2.10 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency	3.00 GHz	3.10 GHz
TDP	15 watt
Level 1 Cache	128 KB
Level 2 Cache	512 KB
Level 3 Cache	3 MB SmartCache
# of Cores	2
# of Threads	4
Bus Speed	4 GT/s OPI
Max Memory Support	32 GB
Max Memory Bandwidth	34.1 GB/s
GEEKBENCH 4
Single-Core Score	3,069	3,218
Multi-Core Score	6,391	6,866
More detail	See at Geekbench	See at Geekbench

Models with Intel Core i7 Comparison

	Surface Book	Surface Laptop
Processor	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U	7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7660U

Launch Date	Q3'2015	Q1'2017
Base Frequency	2.80 GHz	2.50 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency	3.40 GHz	4.00 GHz
TDP	15 watt
Level 1 Cache	128 KB
Level 2 Cache	512 KB
Level 3 Cache	4 MB SmartCache	4 MB
# of Cores	2
# of Threads	4
Bus Speed	4 GT/s OPI
Max Memory Support	32 GB
Max Memory Bandwidth	34.1 GB/s
GEEKBENCH 4
Single-Core Score	3,233	4,618
Multi-Core Score	7,674	9,267
More detail	See at Geekbench	See at Geekbench

Integrated Graphics Comparison

	Surface Book		Surface Laptop
Processor	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U	7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U	7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7660U

Graphics	Intel® HD Graphics 520	Intel® HD Graphics 520	Intel® HD Graphics 620	Intel Iris™ Plus Graphics 640
Geekbench 4 Compute	18,682	19,304	21,823	31,850
Base Frequency	300 MHz	300 MHz	300 MHz	300 MHz
Max Dynamic Frequency	1.00 GHz	1.05 GHz	1.00 GHz	1.10 GHz
eDRAM	N/A			64 MB
Graphics Max Memory	32 GB
Graphics 4K Support	Yes, at 60Hz
Graphics DirectX	12
Graphics OpenGL	4.4
# Display Supported	3
Graphics Technologies	Quick Sync Video Clear Video HD Technology Clear Video Technology InTru™ 3D Technology	Quick Sync Video Clear Video HD Technology Clear Video Technology InTru™ 3D Technology	Quick Sync Video Clear Video HD Technology Clear Video Technology InTru™ 3D Technology	Quick Sync Video Clear Video HD Technology Clear Video Technology InTru™ 3D Technology

Discrete Graphics Comparison

GPU	GFEFORCE GPU	GEFORCE GTX 965M

Architecture	Maxwell
Memory Size	1 GB GDDR5	2 GB GDDR5
GPU Engine Specs
NVIDIA CUDA® Cores	384	1024
Base Clock (MHz)	954 MHz	935 MHz
Boost Clock (MHz)	993 MHz	1150 MHz
Memory Specs
Memory Speed	5012 MHz	5000 MHz
Memory Interface Width	64-bit	128-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)	40 GB/s	80 GB/s
Technology Support
Technologies	PhysX CUDA GeForce Experience
	Optimus™ Support	G-SYNC -Ready GameStream -Ready Optimus™ Support BatteryBoost™ SLI® Ready
NVIDIA GPU Boost	2.0
Microsoft DirectX	12 API with feature level 11_0	12 API with feature level 12_1
OpenGL	4.5
Bus Support	PCIe 3.0