14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently announced the Surface Book 3, which the company described as the most powerful laptop it ever released.
And just like the previous generation, this new Surface Book comes with a 2-in-1 form factor that allows users to detach the screen and use it separately in tablet mode.
The biggest changes on the Surface Book 3, however, come under the hood, as the device features new hardware that indeed makes it one of the best Windows 10 laptops on the market right now.
As it was the case of the Surface Book 2, the new model comes in multiple hardware configurations, but the top-of-the-line is unsurprisingly the one that’s getting the most attention.
“Surface Book 3 is our most powerful laptop ever, providing up to 50% more performance than Surface Book 2 and up to 17.5 hours of battery life. Whether you choose 13-inch or 15-inch, Surface Book 3 has beautifully crisp, high-DPI PixelSense Display, smooth, precise trackpad, comfortable keyboard and the performance of 10th Generation Intel Core processors and choice of discrete NVIDIA GeForce GTX or Quadro RTX GPUs,” Microsoft explained in the official announcement.
“For developers that push the computing and IO performance of their device, Surface Book 3 now comes with up to 32GB of RAM and the fastest SSD we have ever shipped. For people who love to game, Surface Book 3 15-inch has an NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPU with enough power to play the top Xbox Game Pass for PC titles at 1080p in a smooth 60 frames per second. We’ve also added a new option with the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 to better meet the needs of commercial customers and higher education institutions.”
First and foremost, the most powerful configuration is only offered with the 15-inch Surface Book 3. In other words, the 13-inch Surface Book 3 won’t be available with the same configuration as the top-of-the-range 15-inch version, so if you want the best of the best, the only way to go is to stick with the larger Surface Book.
The top 15-inch Surface Book 3 comes with an Intel Core i7 processor paired with 32 GB of RAM and 2 TB of storage, and these are both the top options in the entire lineup. As a matter of fact, the 15-inch Surface Book 3 can only be ordered with an Intel Core i7 processor, as the i5 version is only offered on the 13-inch model.
The “base” price of this top configuration is $3,399, so it goes without saying it’s one very expensive laptop. However, Microsoft also gives customers the option to purchase Microsoft 365 with a discount, and the top tier is Microsoft 364 Family, which comes with a $79.99 one-year subscription.
Then, you can also purchase Microsoft Complete for Surface Book with Accidental Damage Coverage. In other words, you can buy insurance for your new laptop, something that will guarantee that no matter what happens, you’re not losing any money.
“Microsoft Complete for Surface Book provides extended protection for your device and includes accidental damage coverage for two years. Also includes software and hardware support,” Microsoft explains.
This option comes with a $249 extra price tag.
And then, you can get a series of Surface accessories that allow you to benefit from the whole Surface experience. One mandatory device is the Surface Pen, which is available with a $79 price tag – you are getting a $21 price cut if you get the Surface Pen when purchasing the Surface Book 3.
In the end, all of the above bring the final price for the Surface Book and the additional options and accessories to $3,807, which obviously is a pretty high price for most users. But this doesn’t necessarily mean the Surface Book 3 won’t sell good, even in this configuration, and it’s all because right now, it’s one of the best Windows 10 laptops around.