In this article we will do a detailed specs comparison between the newest Surface member, the Surface Pro 2017 and the more powerful, the ultimate laptop Surface Book. Let’s get started.
| Surface Pro | Surface Book | |
| Display | Screen: 12.3″ PixelSense™ Display Resolution: 2736 x 1824 (267 PPI) Aspect Ratio: 3:2 Touch: 10 point multi-touch |
Screen: 13.5″ PixelSense™ Display Resolution: 3000 x 2000 (267 PPI) Aspect ratio: 3:2 Contrast ratio: 1700:1 Surface Pen enabled Touch: 10 point multi-touch |
| Processor | Intel® Core™ 7th-generation m3, i5, or i7 | 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i5 or i7 |
| RAM | 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB RAM LPDDR3 | 8GB or 16GB RAM LPDDR3 |
| Graphics | Intel® HD Graphics 615 (m3) Intel® HD Graphics 620 (i5) Intel® Iris™ Plus Graphics 640 (i7) |
Surface Book: i5: Intel® HD graphics 520; i5/i7: NVIDIA® GeForce® dGPU with 1GB GDDR5 memory, Surface Book with Performance Base: i7: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 965M 2GB GPU |
| Battery Life | Up to 13.5 hours of video playback | Surface Book: Up to 12 hours of video playback, Surface Book with Performance Base: Up to 16 hours of video playback |
| Storage | Solid state drive (SSD) options: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB | Solid state drive (SSD) options: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB |
| Connections | 1 x Full-size USB 3.0 microSDXC card reader Surface Connect 3.5mm Headphone jack Mini DisplayPort Cover port |
Two full-size USB 3.0 Full-size SD™ card reader (SDXC compatible) Two Surface Connect ports Headset jack Mini DisplayPort Compatible with Surface Dial Off-Screen Interaction |
| Camera, audio and video | Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p Full HD video Dual microphones 1.6W Stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium |
Windows Hello4 face sign-in camera (front-facing) 5.0MP camera with 1080p HD video (front-facing) 8.0MP autofocus camera with 1080p HD video (rear-facing) Dual microphones Stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible, Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology |
802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible, Bluetooth 4.0 LE wireless technology |
| Sensors | Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope |
Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Hall effect |
| Dimensions | 11.5″ x 7.9″ x 0.33″ (292 mm x 201 mm x 8.5 mm) | Surface Book: 12.30″ x 9.14″ x 0.51 – 0.90″ (312.3mm x 232.1mm x 13.0 – 22.8mm), Surface Book with Performance Base: 12.30″ x 9.14″ x 0.59 – 0.90″ (312.3mm x 232.1mm x 14.9 – 22.8mm) |
| Weight | m3: 1.69 lbs (768 g) i5: 1.70 lbs (770 g) i7: 1.73 lbs (784 g) |
Surface Book: Starting at 3.34 lbs (1,516 g) including keyboard, Surface Book with Performance Base: 3.68 lbs (1,647 g) including keyboard |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro (Office 30-day trial) | Windows 10 Pro (Office 30-day trial) |
| Price | Starts at $799 | Starts at $1,499 |
Which one should you buy?
From the specs, Surface Book looks quite the winner when it comes to raw performance. But, you won’t feel any lags or slow down in your daily tasks like web browsing, email or working with Office etc. with either of them. If you are a graphic designer or a user who is solely dependent on graphics intensive tasks like Adobe Photoshop etc. on a multi-monitor set up, then Surface Book with performance base is the best option for you.
However, if you do not fall into any of the categories, then go with the Surface Pro, it is a great new device, too. Surface Pro has a new hinge-design which lets you put it into Studio Mode and works with Surface Dial, too. It is 50% more battery efficient than Surface Pro 4, 1.7x faster than MacBook and 2.5x faster than Surface Pro 3.
One more thing is the price point of the device. Surface Pro is priced at half the amount you pay for the Surface Book. So, if you are on a tight budget but still want to feel premium, buy the Surface Pro else you know what to look for.
Pre-order Surface Pro
Buy Surface Book
