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Surface Studio vs. Surface 3 - Detailed Specs Comparison

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

BY Evan Forrest February 21, 2026

Surface Studio vs. Surface 3

The 2016 Surface Studio features the 45W 6th Generation Intel Skylake quad-core Intel Core i5-6440HQ up to quad-core Intel Core i7-6820HQ with the boost speed up to 3.60 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 28″ Surface Studio (2016) and the 10.8″ Surface 3 (2015), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface Studio vs. Surface 3: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Studio 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 (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 Studio	Surface 3
Released	2016	2015
Release Info	Introduced: October 26, 2016 Pre-ordered: October 26, 2016 Released: December 15, 2016	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015
Pricing	Intel® Core™ i5 $2,999 - 8GB \| 1TB (64GB SSD) \| GTX 965M Intel® Core™ i7 $3,499 - 16GB \| 1TB (128GB SSD) \| GTX 965M $4,199 - 32GB \| 2TB (128GB SSD) \| GTX 980M	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
Amazon Deals	$2,249.99 Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 14.4" Tablet 2-in-1 Laptop 120 Hz Intel Core i7-13800H 32GB RAM 1TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Platinum $2,899.00 Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 14.4" Touchscreen Convertible (Floating Slider) 2 in 1 Notebook - Intel Core i7 - Intel Evo Platform - 64 GB - 2 TB SSD - English, French Keyboard - Platinum $974.99 Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel Core i7-32GB Memory - 1TB SSD - Platinum (Renewed)	$379.99 Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) $674.99 Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) $174.44 Microsoft Surface Go 3-10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium Gold-4GB Memory - 64GB SSD - WiFi - Platinum Windows 11 PRO (Renewed)

Surface Studio AIO Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 14.4" Tablet 2-in-1 Laptop 120 Hz Intel Core i7-13800H 32GB RAM 1TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Platinum By Microsoft $2,249.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 14.4" Touchscreen Convertible (Floating Slider) 2 in 1 Notebook - Intel Core i7 - Intel Evo Platform - 64 GB - 2 TB SSD - English, French Keyboard - Platinum By Microsoft $2,899.00	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel Core i7-32GB Memory - 1TB SSD - Platinum (Renewed) By Microsoft $974.99 $1,109.39 12% OFF	See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface 3 10.8-inch Price
	Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) By Microsoft $379.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $674.99	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3-10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium Gold-4GB Memory - 64GB SSD - WiFi - Platinum Windows 11 PRO (Renewed) By Microsoft $174.44	See at Amazon

Display	Surface Studio	Surface 3
Size	28 Inches	10.8 Inches
Info	Resolution: 4500 x 3000 (13.5M Pixels) Density: 192 PPI PixelSense™ Display Contrast ratio typical: 1100:1 Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: designed together with Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch Color: DCI-P3 individually color-calibrated Color profiles: sRGB (standard), DCI-P3 (Cinema), Vivid (P3-D65)	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 Studio	Surface 3
Size Comparison
Dimensions	Display 25.1” x 17.3” x 0.5” (637.35 mm x 438.90 mm x 12.50 mm) Base 9.8” x 8.7” x 1.3” (250.00 mm x 220.00 mm x 32.20 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	up to 21 lbs (9.56) kg	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)
Colors	Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Included Surface Keyboard Included Surface Mouse	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	4 x full-size USB 3.0 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Full-size SD™ card reader (UHS-II performance) 1 x 3.5mm stereo headphones/microphone jack 1 x Gigabit Ethernet	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 Studio	Surface 3
Processor	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6440HQ 4 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 6 MB Smart Cache, 45W 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6820HQ 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.70 → 3.60 GHz, 8 MB Smart Cache, 45W	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W
Integrated Graphics	6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6440HQ Intel® HD Graphics 530 24 Execution Units, 350 → 950 MHz 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6820HQ Intel® HD Graphics 530 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz
Discrete Graphics	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 965m Maxwell Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 944 MHz + Boost, 1024 CUDA Cores. NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980m Maxwell Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1038 MHz + Boost, 1536 CUDA Cores.
Memory	8GB 16GB 32GB DDR4 RAM	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.
Storage	1 TB (64GB SSD) 1TB (128GB SSD) 2 TB (128 SSD) Rapid Hybrid Drive Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC

Connectivity	Surface Studio	Surface 3
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology
Ethernet	Ethernet: 10/100/1000Mb (Gigabit)
	Xbox Wireless built-in	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS

Battery	Surface Studio	Surface 3
Size		27.5 Wh
Battery Life		Up to 10 hours of video playback
Power Supply	Internal power supply with AC inlet Grip-release cable (AC power cable)	13W Micro USB power supply

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

Camera & Audio	Surface Studio	Surface 3
Camera	Windows Hello face sign-in camera, enterprise-class authentication 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p video support	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio	Stereo microphones Stereo 2.1 speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium 8 x speakers in the display 2 x speakers in the base	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound

Misc	Surface Studio	Surface 3
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 1024 levels of pressure magnetic storage	Supports Surface Pen 256 levels of pressure N-trig Active Pen technology
Sensors	Ambient light sensor	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Digital compass
Security	Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in TPM chip for enterprise security, biometric security; Interface for Kensington Lock Kit for Surface Studio
In the box	Surface Studio Surface Pen Surface Keyboard Surface Mouse AC power cord with grip-release cable Quick start guide Safety, warranty and product documents	Surface 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Physical buttons: Volume, Power.	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power