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Surface Pro 3 vs. Surface 3 - Detailed Specs Comparison

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

BY Evan Forrest November 15, 2023

Surface Pro 3 vs. Surface 3

The 2014 Surface Pro 3 features the 11.5W 4th Generation Intel Haswell dual-core Intel Core i3-4020Y up to dual-core Intel Core i7-4650U with the boost speed up to 3.30 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 12″ Surface Pro 3 (2014) and the 10.8″ Surface 3 (2015), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Pro 3 vs. Surface 3: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Pro 3 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface 3 See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	New Design It’s now thinner (9.1mm), lighter (800g), and new platinum magnesium exterior. Better display New 3:2 aspect ratio, bigger and better 2K 12” ClearType pixel-free display. Better performance It’s now 10% faster than Surface Pro 2 with the new range of 4th Gen Intel processors up to Core i7. New Inking Supports It now supports a new Surface Pen with 256 pressure sensitivity, tail eraser, and remote Bluetooth activation. Better Battery It has 20% more battery life than Surface Pro 2 up to 9 hours. More Better 5.0MP front and rear-facing camera, new Surface Connect Port (charging and docking), new type cover with two typing angles.	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	Replace old charging connector with new Surface Connect port	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 Pro 3	Surface 3
Released	2014	2015
Release Info	Introduced: May 20, 2014 Pre-ordered: May 20, 2014 Released: June 20, 2014	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015
Pricing	Starting at 799$	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

Surface Pro 3 Price
	Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablet PC - Intel Core i5-4300U 1.9GHz 4GB 128GB SSD Windows 10.1 (Renewed) By Microsoft $119.99 $129.99 8% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (256 GB, Intel Core i5)(Windows 10 Professional 64 bit) (Renewed) By Microsoft $229.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB) with Windows 10 Anniversary (Renewed) By Microsoft $149.99 $159.99 6% OFF	See at Amazon
Surface 3 Price
	Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablet PC - Intel Core i5-4300U 1.9GHz 4GB 128GB SSD Windows 10.1 (Renewed) By Microsoft $119.99 $129.99 8% OFF	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, Ice Blue Color Copilot By Microsoft $736.69 $799.99 8% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB) with Windows 10 Anniversary (Renewed) By Microsoft $149.99 $159.99 6% OFF	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Pro 3	Surface 3
Size	12 Inches	10.8 Inches
Info	Resolution: 2160 x 1440 (3.1M Pixels) Density: 216 PPI ClearType Display Aspect ratio: 3:2 Touch: 10 point multi-touch Surface Pen support	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 Pro 3	Surface 3
Size Comparison
Dimensions	11.50” x 7.93” x 0.36” (292 mm x 201.3 mm x 9.1 mm) Width: 11.50” (292 mm) Height: 7.93” (201.3 mm) Thickness: 0.36” (9.1 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	1.76 lbs (800 g)	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)
Colors	Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	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 Full-size USB 3.0 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Surface Connect™ Supports charging and docking station. 1 x Headset jack 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x 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 Pro 3	Surface 3
Processor	4th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-4020Y 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 11.5W 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-4300U 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.90 → 2.90 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4650U 2 cores, 4 threads, 1.70 → 3.30 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W
Integrated Graphics	4th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-4020Y Intel® HD Graphics 4200 20 Execution Units, 200 → 850 MHz 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-4300U Intel® HD Graphics 4200 20 Execution Units, 200 → 1100 MHz 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4650U Intel® HD Graphics 5000 40 Execution Units, 200 → 1100 MHz	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz
Memory	4GB 8GB 1600 MHz LPDDR3 RAM	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.
Storage	64 GB 128 GB 256 GB 512 GB SSD	64GB 128GB eMMC

Connectivity	Surface Pro 3	Surface 3
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology
		Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS

Battery	Surface Pro 3	Surface 3
Size	42.2 Wh	27.5 Wh
Battery Life	Up to 9 hours of web browsing	Up to 10 hours of video playback
Power Supply	36W proprietary power supply USB-A output: 5W Surface Connect: 31W	13W Micro USB power supply

Software	Surface Pro 3	Surface 3
OS	Windows 8.1 Pro Free upgrade to Windows 10	Windows 8.1 Pro Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps	Microsoft Office 30-days trial	1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal

Camera & Audio	Surface Pro 3	Surface 3
Camera	5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video 5.0MP rear-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio	Front and rear-facing microphones Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound

Misc	Surface Pro 3	Surface 3
Inking	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
In the box	Surface Pro 3 Surface Pen 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 150 degrees Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability Physical buttons: volumes, power	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power