When I saw the GPU leaks for the Surface Book 3, my initial thoughts were positive. Finally, the Surface Book would get more powerful, and hopefully be another Windows laptop to compete with the MacBook Pro lineup. And after the product unveil, I have mixed feelings.
The design of the convertible laptop is still a strongpoint, with Microsoft’s minimalist design aesthetic and the detachable base being standout features. It comes in either a 13.5″ or 15″ variant, with both displays in a 3:2 aspect ratio at near-1440p resolution. But compared to the previous models, there isn’t much of a difference in design.
Microsoft has focused on the Internals, with high stress given to the greater graphical horsepower. The 13.5″ comes with either an integrated Iris Plus or dedicated 1650 Max-Q GPU. The 15″ comes with a more powerful 1660 Ti Max-Q or Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q. This is a huge improvement from last year, but I feel Microsoft has focused on the GPU so much that they’ve forgotten about the CPU.
The processor options you can select are both 10th Gen Ice Lake chips, the i5-1035G7 or i7-1065G7. Both have four hyperthreaded cores and much better integrated Iris Plus graphics, but they’re lower wattage chips optimized for less intensive usage. This is in comparison to the Comet Lake chips on the 16″ MacBook Pro, which can go upto 8 hyperthreaded cores at much higher clock speeds and wattages. Overall, this seems like an odd decision from the internals team.
The rest of the laptops seem pretty solid. You can get 8 to 32GB of DDR4X 3733Mhz RAM, and 256GB to 2TB of fast SSD storage (based on variant). Ports are slightly disappointing – 2 USB Type-A, 1 USB-C, 2 Surface Connect ports, and a headphone jack. What’s missing? Thunderbolt 3. It is such an important connector, allowing laptops like the MacBook Pro to connect to eGPUs and fast external storage. Microsoft says it’s something about security, but nevertheless it’s a downfall.
On a final note, the Surface Book 3 has done some things right, like much higher graphical horsepower and keeping the much loved design. But with less-powerful processors, lack of Thunderbolt 3 and really expensive pricing for the higher tiers, the MacBook Pro 13″ and 16″ take the crown in most cases and even underprice the Surface. And the best rival to the MacBook Pro line is still the much cheaper ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 , with the 8-core Ryzen 4900HS and RTX 2060 Max-Q. Microsoft should’ve gone with Ryzen.
Which is what I thought, until I received some honest feedback from some of our readers. Yes, the Surface Book 3 is lacking in some departments but it still keeps it’s best selling point – the flexibility. With both models featuring detachable touchscreens, this convertible is perfect for artists, especially considering Microsoft’s competent accessory ecosystem comprising of the Surface Pen, Surface Dial and much more. Maybe the target audience of this product is for that specific niche, but the sales figues will tell the whole story.
Last modified: May 10, 2020
