Microsoft Surface Laptop 3: A cheat sheet

Microsoft’s new Surface devices are loaded with ‘impressive engineering’
Microsoft’s seven-year-old Surface line welcomes a slew of new and updated devices–including a few surprises. Ed Bott walks us through the highlights.

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 3 is a thin, lightweight, midrange Windows PC designed to compete with rival devices such as the Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Announced at Microsoft’s Surface event on October 2, 2019, the Surface Laptop 3 also aims to outshine its two predecessors with beefier specs and more versatile features as well as a choice of a 13.5-inch or 15-inch screen.

This guide will describe the details of the new Surface Laptop 3, and it will be updated on a regular basis as new information becomes available. 

SEE: All of TechRepublic’s cheat sheets and smart person’s guides

What is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3? 

The Surface Laptop 3 is the third generation of Microsoft’s midrange Apple MacBook challenger, following the original Surface Laptop in 2017 and the Surface Laptop 2 in 2018. The Surface Laptop 3 comes in two flavors: A 13.5-inch model with a price tag that starts at $999 and a 15-inch model starting at $1,199. Both models are currently available at Microsoft retail stores and via Microsoft’s website. The new laptops are also available at Amazon and other third-party vendors.

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What are the new features in the Surface Laptop 3?

The 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3 is powered by a quad-core 10th-generation Intel Ice Lake processor, which Microsoft says is twice as powerful as the chip in the Surface Laptop 2 and three times more powerful than the chip that drives the MacBook Air. The 15-inch model boasts an Advanced Micro Devices Ryzen 7 Microsoft Surface Edition processor, which…