Hands On With The Microsoft Surface Laptop 3: Gorgeous Reworking, Inside And Out

The Surface Laptop 3 prices, though, push up well beyond what a student could normally afford.

- Mark Hachman

Even before you can start talking about the new 15-inch Surface Laptop 3, or AMD’s custom Ryzen inside of it, you simply have to admit: Microsoft’s new all-metal Surface Laptop 3’s are gorgeous.

Full disclosure: I’m typing this on a Microsoft Surface Book 2, so there’s some justification for my love of shiny metal. And that’s where the Surface Laptop 3 starts: with metal options in Sandstone, plus Matte Black, Cobalt Blue and the traditional Platinum. Yes, the Alcantara fabric is still an option, but if you want a Surface Book–like option without the price, Microsoft has you covered.

The Surface Laptop 3 ships in two options: the traditional 13-inch form factor, and the new 15-inch option. But while the original Surface Laptop may have been priced affordably for students, the Surface Laptop 3 soars into higher budget ranges. The base prices are $999 for the 13-inch version and $1,199 for the 15-inch. A tricked-out 15-inch laptop costs a whopping $2,799—the same price as the MacBook Pro. However, both the memory and storage in the top-tier Surface Laptop 3 exceed the MacBook Pro’s. The most expensive 13-inch Surface Laptop 3 is $2,399, $400 more than the most expensive MacBook Pro. Daaaaamn.

Is it worth it? Aesthetically, we’ve already told you that we’re a sucker for pretty notebooks, and both are lighter than you might expect. More objectively, when you look at the spec list, there’s a lot to like.

Display: 13.5 inch (2256 x 1504) PixelSense; 15-inch (2496 x 1664) PixelSense; both touch-enabled