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Surface Go 3 specs confirmed ahead of 22 Sept Microsoft event

by Mark Tyson on 6 September 2021, 13:11

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Surface

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Last week HEXUS reported on the publication of an official teaser for a Microsoft event scheduled for 22nd Sept. Teased by Microsoft as a reveal of "what's next", it is clearly a Surface event, as the teaser image shows a Surface Pro hybrid device in silhouette.

In my report, I mentioned that various Microsoft-focussed sites / reporters were pointing to the release of a new Microsoft Surface Duo 2 smartphone, the possibilities of a Surface Pro 8, and a revamped budget device – the Surface Go 3. Now WinFuture has tapped its sources and has more 'confirmed' info about the Surface Go 3 to share.

In brief, there isn't much in the way of change coming to the Surface Go 3. It appears to be that the form factor, screen size, and outward appearance will remain the same, with the only tweaks being inside the case of this fanless portable convertible. The Surface Go 3's screen will be thus a 10.5-inch 3:2 PixelSense touch display with 1920 x 1280 pixels. Other aspects probably unchanged to any major degree will likely be the overall size (245 x 175 x 8.3mm) and weight (544g, without Type Cover).

So, what are the main changes? They involve the upgrading of the CPU options, according to WinFuture. To make it simple to know what the new models deliver, compared to the older models, I've put together the table below.

 

Surface Go 2

Surface Go 3

Processor

Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y, or Intel Core m3-8100Y

Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y, or Intel Core i3-10100Y

RAM/storage

4GB or 8GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, or 128GB SSD

4GB or 8GB RAM, storage config not known

 

The Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y is a 2C/4T processor with 2MB cache, clock speed of 1.7GHz, and 6W TDP. Your upgraded choice with the Surface Go 3 will be a Pentium Gold 6500Y, which is a 2C/4T processor with 4MB cache, clock speed of 1.1GHz base/3.4GHz boost, and 5W TDP. These products have 4GB of RAM. Pentium-based Surface Go 2 hybrids were also saddled with 64GB of eMMC storage. The storage config might be carried over, we don't know.

The Intel Core m3-8100Y is a 2C/4T processor with 4MB cache, clock speed of 1.1GHz base/3.4GHz boost, and 5W TDP. Your upgraded choice with the Surface Go 3 will be a Core i3-10100Y, which is a 2C/4T processor with 4MB cache, clock speed of 1.3GHz base/3.9GHz boost, and 5W TDP. This model comes with a much more workable 8GB of RAM, compared to just 4GB for the Pentium version, and one might expect the Core i3 model to use 128GB or more of SSD storage, to follow the upgrade pattern. All the above four processors mentioned, old and new, come packing Intel UHD Graphics 615.



HEXUS Forums :: 13 Comments

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They need to ditch the eMMC storage…
Maybe it's just me, and considering windows 11 system requirements being 4GB minimum (8GB for android subsystem), but no windows pc should come with less than 8GB of ram now, especially when some of that 4GB of ram will be taken for the gpu.
LSG501
Maybe it's just me, and considering windows 11 system requirements being 4GB minimum (8GB for android subsystem), but no windows pc should come with less than 8GB of ram now, especially when some of that 4GB of ram will be taken for the gpu.

These 4Gb machines remind me of some of the 256Mb Vista laptops I had to try fixing for friends/relatives. Sure it'll run but it won't be fun. Its definitely only chosen to hit a price point. Having been looking at laptops recently its been surprising how many have 8Gb soldiered in. It really does limit a devices life span… (I think it a deliberate choice to use LPDDR rather than DDR to increase power saving but I'd take the hit personally to be able to upgrade but I guess most people just chuck a device now :( ).
2 core is… a bit ancient. One model could have worked with a quad cpu, surely?
I should imagine they are using it as a cheap intro to the Surface line, kids for school work etc.