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Surface Laptop Go 3
At just under 2.5 lb and with up to 15 hours of battery, Surface Laptop Go 3 features a portable design. The 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U Processor is a boost.
Pros- 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor
- Up to 15 hours of battery life
- 16GB of RAM available
Cons- Slightly heavier
- More expensive
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Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
The Surface Laptop Go 2 builds on the foundation of the original. It's light, has all the right connections, and has a 12.4-inch PixelSense Display.
Pros- Light and slim
- Pleasant design
- Affordable
Cons- Long in the tooth
- No backlit keyboard
There's a new lightweight Surface Laptop in town called the Surface Laptop Go 3. It's coming into the market to replace the aging Surface Laptop Go 2, which we liked in our review. It is one of Microsoft's more affordable laptop options. The new one, while still reasonably priced, does come with a higher starting cost than its predecessor, which means Microsoft needs to have made some smart upgrades to justify the higher price. Is it worth spending more on the new Surface Laptop Go 3, or is your hard-earned cash better spent on the previous cheaper model?
Price, specs, and availability
You can pre-order the Surface laptop Go 3 right now from Microsoft, and it'll arrive on October 3, 2023. It starts at $800, which is a $200 increase over the starting price of the Surface Laptop Go 2. You can choose between four colors: Platinum, Sage, Ice Blue, and Sandstone.
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Surface Laptop Go 3
- Operating System
- Windows 11
- CPU
- 12th Gen Intel Core i5
- GPU
- Intel Iris Xe
- RAM
- Up to 16GB
- Storage
- Up to 256GB SSD
- Battery
- Up to 15 hours
- Display (Size, Resolution)
- 12.4-inch, 1536 x 1024
- Camera
- 720p
- Speakers
- Omnisonic with Dolby Audio
- Color
- Platinum, Ice Blue, Sage, Sandstone
- Weight
- 2.49 pounds
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Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
- Operating System
- Windows 11
- CPU
- 11th Gen Intel Core i5
- GPU
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- RAM
- Up to 8GB
- Storage
- Up to 256GB SSD
- Battery
- Up to 13.5 hours
- Display (Size, Resolution)
- 12.4-inch, 1536 x 1024
- Camera
- 720p
- Speakers
- Omnisonic with Dolby Audio
- Color
- Platinum, Sage, Ice Blue, Sandstone
- Weight
- 2.48 pounds
You can get the Surface Laptop Go 2 now starting at $600. It comes in the same Platinum, Sage, Ice Blue, and Sandstone colors as the new model. You won't have to wait for this model to arrive, as it's been out for some time. You do want to order it fairly soon, as we have to assume Microsoft will phase it out now that the Surface Laptop Go 3 is out.
The physical size of the two laptops hasn't changed much. The new model is 2.49 pounds, and the older one is 2.48 pounds, a difference you won't be able to feel. The Laptop Go 3 is 10.95 x 8.12 x 0.62 inches, and the previous generation model is 10.95 x 8.12 x 0.62 inches, which is exactly the same. That makes sense, seeing as the screen hasn't changed between generations, a fact we'll get to shortly.
Display and cameras
The display is unchanged, with both laptops offering a 12.4-inch PixelSense Display with a mediocre 1536 x 1024 resolution (that's a 148ppi pixel density). Whether you choose to pick up the newer model or the previous generation, you won't be able to notice any differences between the screens, which is surprising when you consider how much more the new one costs.
Microsoft didn't do much to upgrade the built-in camera, with both laptops offering a 720p front-facing shooter. If you're using the laptop for basic Zoom calls, it should do the job. However, don't expect to do 1080p capturing for content creation or anything like that.
Hardware and performance
Speed and performance is the one place where Microsoft shook things up. Instead of offering either only 8GB of RAM, the company now offers 8GB or 16GB in the Surface Laptop Go 3. Additionally, Microsoft has done away with the 128GB SSD option, now offering only 256GB of space.
Perhaps the biggest change comes to the processor. While it's still a Core i5, the new laptop gets a 12th Gen model compared to the 11th Gen on the previous version. Specifically, it's an Intel Core i5-1235U with 10 cores compared to the Intel Core i5-1135G7's four. It's not the most current chip, with the 13th Gen already on the market and the 14th Gen right around the corner, but it is a notable upgrade that should greatly improve the laptop's overall performance.
Both feature Intel Iris Xe graphics, which will handle basic tasks but won't handle intense 3D gaming or anything like that.
Which is right for you?
Right now, we have to recommend going with the newer model because the extra performance offered by the newer processor will greatly increase the longevity. Additionally, it's becoming harder to find the Surface Laptop Go 2, as many retailers offer them on clearance, and once those are gone, you won't be able to snag one anymore.
Of course, if you can find a Surface Laptop Go on sale, it's still worthwhile. And if you already own one, it's not really worth upgrading to the newer model, as this one is still plenty powerful to handle all kinds of daily tasks.
