Today, the Surface Team has announced their thinnest and lightest Surface yet: the
Surface 3. The Surface 3 borrows a lot of awesomeness from its big brother the Surface Pro 3 – like its design and the use of premium materials – but is more compact at only 8.77mm thin and 1.37 pounds. It has a 10.8-inch 1920×1280 display with a 3:2 aspect ratio just like the Surface Pro 3. It also has a kickstand just like all the Surfaces before it – with three pre-set positions.
The Surface Pro 3 comes powered by an quad core Intel Atom Core x7 processor and is the first device in stores to feature this new system-on-a-chip from Intel. This new processor doesn’t require a fan for cooling – which allows the Surface 3 to be so thin. But is also offers the right amount of performance needed to do everyday tasks like working in Office or browsing the web. It also has some power-saving capabilities that allow the Surface 3 to achieve up to 10 hours of battery life. Speaking of battery life – you can charge the Surface 3 with the 13W charger included with the device. However it also includes a micro-USB charger which is the same connect as most smartphones. This means you can also use your phone charger to charge the Surface 3 (note – using the 13W charger that it comes with will charge it faster though).
And finally, it comes with full 64-bit Windows 8.1 (for business customers, it’ll come with Windows 8.1 Pro) so you can run all your desktop application in addition to all your favorite apps and games from the Windows Store. And you’ll be able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free this summer when its available.
The Surface 3 also supports the same pen experience as the Surface Pro 3 – which will be sold separately from the Surface 3 but available in new colors – blue, red, and black – in addition to silver.
And of course you get a Surface 3 Type Cover in wonderful colors!
For more on the new Surface 3 – check out this blog post from Panos Panay, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Surface.
You can pre-order the Surface 3 starting today at Microsoft Stores, microsoftstore.com, and select retailers starting at $499. Starting tomorrow, you can stop by a local Microsoft Store and check out the device for yourself and get an hands-on experience. The Surface 3 will be on sale beginning May 5th with availability in 26 markets by May 7th !
