When you’re thinking of picking up a new laptop, Microsoft wants you to think of Surface. And during its big September event, the company not only debuted Copilot, its AI-focused assistant rolling out with the next big Windows 11 update, it also showcased two new Surface laptops, both of which could shake up the current status quo for Windows laptops.
Surface Laptop Go 3
Microsoft’s first hardware announcement was for the new Surface Laptop Go 3 (not to be confused with the Surface Go 3), which is all about computing on the go: It weighs in at just under 2.5 pounds and sports up to 15 hours of battery life. It’s as ultraportable as the Surface laptop line has ever been, but even still, Microsoft has blessed it with some beefy specs to help make it even more appealing.
The Laptop Go 3 comes with a 12.4-inch 148 PPI touchscreen with a resolution of 1536 x 1024, and an aspect ratio of 3:2. Under the hood, it’s powered by a 12th Generation Intel Core i5 processor. Fast-charging ensures you can quickly top off the battery if need be, which is a convenient touch if you plan on using this laptop as a daily driver.
The Laptop Go 3 comes with a standard 720p resolution webcam, which likely won’t look amazing but should be good enough for video calls on Teams. It sports a USB-C 3.2 port as well as a USB-A 3.1 port, and thankfully still comes with a headphone jack. There’s still a place for wired headphones, after all.
The laptop comes with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, which is expected in a powerful but ultraportable laptop like this one. There are also options for 8 or 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a removable SSD option up to 256GB. All that, and you can also pick from one of four colors: Platinum, Ice Blue, Sage, and Sandstone.
Specs-wise, this is probably one of the more promising Surface laptops I’ve seen. But Microsoft had a bit more to show off.
Surface Studio 2
Microsoft also introduced the Surface Studio 2. This particular laptop functions as a 2-in-1, offering “2x more power” compared to past iterations, according to the company. (Even still, they promise a 19-hour all-day battery life.) It sports a larger touchscreen than the Surface Laptop Go 3 and isn’t nearly as light (the Intel Iris Xe graphics model weighs 4.18 pounds, while the NVIDIA graphics models weigh 4.37 pounds), and seems to be marketed towards users who prioritize power over portability.
The Surface Studio 2 comes with a rounded 14.4-inch display with a resolution of 2400 x 1600. It will likely appear sharper than the Laptop Go 3, as it has a PPI of 200, and motion will appear smoother, as the display has a refresh rate of 120Hz.
Microsoft offers multiple options, all of which include a 13th Generation Intel i7 processor. You can also choose between 16, 32, and 64GB of RAM in the configurations, and the company will even offer several different options for Nvidia RTX graphics cards as well. These cards include the RTX 4050, 4060, and RTX 2000 Ada. If you don’t need the dedicated graphics card, you can also opt in for Intel Iris Xe-only graphics, which are built into the 13th Generation i7s. You can choose from removable SSDs of either 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB.
The laptop also comes with a higher resolution 1080p webcam with Windows Hello 2.0 face authentication, Wi-Fi 6e, and Bluetooth 5.3. It has two USB4 ports, one USB-A 3.1 port, a MicroSDXC card reader, and a headphone jack.
You can preorder both new Surfaces right now
We haven’t seen specific benchmarks for either of these laptops yet, so the verdict is still out on how they will perform in the real world, but if what you’ve seen intrigues you, both new Surfaces are available for preorder now.
The Surface Laptop Go 3 starts at $US799.99, and the Surface Studio 2 begins at $US1,999.99. Both of those prices can go significantly higher depending on the configuration you choose.
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