Surface Pro 3 vs Surface Pro 2 vs Surface Pro: specs comparison

posted by Ray S. / May 20, 2014, 11:53 AM

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 has just been announced, and it marks yet another step forward for the company's tablet line. Naturally, the Surface Pro 3 improves upon the characteristics of its predecessors in every way - from the design, through the internals, to the screen and input methods. The Surface Pro 3 is yet another beautiful tablet by Microsoft, but it looks like with that third installment in the series, the company from Redmond is aiming higher than ever - the Pro 3 is a tablet designed to make the laptop obsolete - once and for all.

While that surely sounds like a rather imposing goal, we wouldn't really be so fast to jump to any conclusions. Yes, it's a beautiful tablet; yes, it's powerful; yes, it's lighter than a laptop, but will it blend? No, no, no, that's totally not the point of this article - please, don't get us wrong. The point is... while the Surface Pro 3 would definitely blend, it's so big that it will probably never fit inside that blender! And there we go, talking about blenders again... OK, this obviously isn't going to get any better, so let's just get right to the action, shall we?

Ahem, ladies and gents, please enjoy our specs comparison featuring the Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 2, and Surface Pro!

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 2 vs Microsoft Surface Pro

Display

Display size

12.0 inches

10.6 inches

Resolution

2160 x 1440 pixels

1920 x 1080 pixels

Pixel density

216 ppi

208 ppi

Technology

IPS LCD

Screen-to-body ratio

72.88 %

65.22 %

Camera

Rear

Single camera

Main camera

5 megapixels

1 megapixel

Video recording

1920x1080 (Full HD)

1280x720 (HD) (30 fps)

1280x720 (HD) (29 fps)

Front

5 megapixels

Yes

Video capture

1920x1080 (Full HD)

1280x720 (HD)

Design

Dimensions

11.5 x 7.93 x 0.36 inches (292 x 201 x 9 mm)

10.81 x 6.81 x 0.53 inches (275 x 173 x 13 mm)

Weight

28.16 oz (798 g)

31.99 oz (907 g)

32.00 oz (907 g)

Materials

Back: Metal

Features

Stylus

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Intel Core i7

Intel Core i5 4200U

Intel Core i5 3317U

Processor

Dual-core, 1600 MHz, 64-bit, 22 nm

Dual-core, 1700 MHz, 64-bit

GPU

Intel HD

Intel HD 4400

Intel HD 4000

RAM

8 GB LPDDR3

OS

Windows (8.1 Pro)

Windows (8 Pro)

Shopping information

MSRP price

$ 1949

$ 899

Options

15 Comments

1. AstronautJones

Posts: 305; Member since: Aug 01, 2012

Sounds like a specs beast for a tablet. But why not just spend that money on a good ultrabook?

posted on May 20, 2014, 12:02 PM 3

2. erikiksaz

Posts: 170; Member since: Apr 22, 2010

Because this thing is 9mm thick. It is essentially a laptop AND tablet depending if you use the type pad.

posted on May 20, 2014, 12:19 PM 2

4. sgodsell

Posts: 7451; Member since: Mar 16, 2013

I wonder what battery life will be like. There is no mention of the battery life. I know the new haswells are suppose to get better battery life, but this is a i7. I am really curious.

posted on May 20, 2014, 12:50 PM 0

5. brrunopt

Posts: 742; Member since: Aug 15, 2013

They said it would be around 20% better than in the SP2

posted on May 20, 2014, 1:09 PM 1

14. milesboy5

Posts: 179; Member since: Nov 07, 2012

The battery life according to Microsoft is supposedly 9 hours

posted on May 22, 2014, 11:55 AM 0

7. ErenJaeger

Posts: 119; Member since: Apr 22, 2014

$2000 for intel core i7 worth it? You can get almost 3 ultrabook laptops EACH with i7 for the same price. Price plays a huge factor on a success on a product. Even the poll on phonearena reflects it.

posted on May 20, 2014, 4:42 PM 2

15. milesboy5

Really? I would like to see a High-Resolution touch screen ultrabook, with 512 GB of SSD drive, 8 GB of RAM, a 4th gen i7 Intel processor a 9 hour battery life, a weight of 1.5lbs and two 5mp cameras... all for under $666.67.

posted on May 22, 2014, 11:59 AM 0

3. drazwy

Posts: 356; Member since: Jan 15, 2014

it basically is an ultrabook only thinner, lighter, more portable, and better specced than the curren tcrop of Ultrabooks. Granted, you are going to pay for that premium.

posted on May 20, 2014, 12:24 PM 3

6. vincelongman

Posts: 5724; Member since: Feb 10, 2013

The premium's not that bad, the $999 Pro 3 has the same specs as other $999 ultrabooks. So the Pro 3 would only be $100-150 more expensive assuming you buy the Pro 3's laptop/keyboard dock

posted on May 20, 2014, 2:08 PM 0

8. ausnote2

Posts: 84; Member since: Dec 07, 2012

this design is a failure so why are they continuing with it. It is more of a tablet and people starting to realize tablets are media content consumption not business and hence tablets are dropping in marketshare overall. oh well DOA again but the spec is a beast. A phablet plus a decent laptop/hybrid is all you need.

posted on May 20, 2014, 5:37 PM 0

9. SemperFiV12

Posts: 949; Member since: Nov 09, 2010

I do not understand why the Core i5 Surface Pro 3 was not compared here... This is lazy, clumsy, or clueless analysis.

posted on May 20, 2014, 7:10 PM 0

10. sbw44

Posts: 433; Member since: Dec 04, 2012

Since when does the Surface Pro 3 not support microSDXC or since when does the Surface Pro 2 have Intel HD 4400 GPU and the Pro 3 only Intel HD graphics? sloppy work by PA as usual when it comes to WP/Windows or Nokia!