Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Go 3 is a more capable budget laptop

Surface Laptop Go 3 at Microsoft debut event.
Jacob Roach / DigitalTrends
This story is part of our complete Microsoft Events coverage

At today’s Surface event, Microsoft announced the third generation of its budget-priced Surface Laptop Go, the premium Surface Laptop Studio 2, and the Surface Go 4. Sporting a Microsoft pedigree, the Surface Laptop Go 3 is worth considering if you’re looking for a nice-looking touchscreen notebook.

Microsoft upgraded several components in this year’s offering to make the Surface Laptop Go 3 more competitive. Microsoft upgraded the processor to a 12th Gen Core i5-1235U, which deliversa massive upgrade of 88% faster performance. Memory and storage capacity are larger than ever for a Surface Laptop Go, with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. At the same time, battery life increases from 13 to 15 hours, so you can go all day with this laptop.

Recommended Videos

Ports include one USB-C and one USB-A, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a Surface Connect port. The Surface Laptop Go 3 has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity.

Microsoft's Surface Laptop Go 3 is shown on a white background.
Microsoft

The Surface Laptop Go 3 continues to provide several style choices. Microsoft offers its lightest Surface in four colors: platinum, ice blue, sage, and sandstone. The Surface Laptop Go 3 starts at $799, a significant increase over last year’s $600 Surface Laptop Go 2.

The 12.4-inch touchscreen display is protected with Gorilla Glass 3 and reaches 320 nits of brightness, which is good for indoor use.

Upgrades are available, but add to the cost. Fully loaded, the Surface Laptop Go 3 will offer 16GB and a 512GB SSD, doubling memory and storage of the entry-level model. Make sure to check out our roundup of Surface Laptop Go 3 specs for a full rundown of the device.

Microsoft is touting AI in everything right now and showed several demonstrations of that in the Surface Laptop Go 3. In addition, the company demoed its new Surface Laptop Studio 2.

Despite the higher price, Microsoft builds reliable hardware and offers some unique features, such as the tall 3:2 aspect ratio that works well for a touchscreen laptop. Secure Windows Hello sign-in makes authentication quick and easy. The Surface Laptop Go 3 is also light, weighing less than 2.5 pounds.

To learn more or preorder, visit Microsoft’s Surface store.

Alan Truly
Alan Truly is a Writer at Digital Trends, covering computers, laptops, hardware, software, and accessories that stand out as…
Microsoft has revealed one of its recent ads uses gen AI — can you tell?
Shot from a Microsoft advert.

In January, Microsoft released a minute-long advert for its Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. It currently has 42,000 views on YouTube with 302 comments discussing the hardware -- what the comments don't mention, however, is the AI-generated shots used in the ad. Why? Because no one even realized AI was involved until Microsoft smugly revealed it this week.

You can tell the company is proud of this little stunt it's pulled off because the blog about it begins with a dramatic summary of the history of film and how it has evolved -- implying generative AI tools are the next step in this grand evolution.

Read more
It’s a shame Microsoft’s upgraded Surface Laptop 7 is just ‘for business’
The Surface Laptop 7 on a table in front of a window.

Microsoft has offered 5G connectivity on the Surface Pro 11 since the laptop launched, but for the first time ever, Microsoft is expanding 5G support to its Surface Laptop 7, which ranks at the top of our list of the best laptops. There's just one small caveat; it's only available for business customers, at least right now.

There aren't a ton of details right now, but Microsoft says the Surface Laptop 7 for Business with 5G -- I don't make the names, folks -- will start rolling out "later in 2025." The company also promises to share more details on the laptop in the "coming months," which will hopefully clear up if this model is coming to the consumer market, as well.

Read more
AMD brings back 3D V-Cache chips for gaming laptops
The AMD Fire Range laptop CPU announced at CES 2025.

AMD just announced over a dozen new laptop CPUs, which will appear in over 150 new laptops being announced at CES 2025 and later this year, including a new 3D V-Cache chip for gaming laptops and some really impressive graphics in its new Ryzen AI Max+ halo chips.

Let's start with Fire Range. These chips are for high-end gaming laptops, a successor to Dragon Range line, catering to enthusiast gamers and, so far, only enthusiasts are going to be happy, as those laptops likely be quite expensive. On the other hand, the CPUs sound mighty powerful. The lineup includes, first and foremost, the next big 3D V-Cache chip, dubbed the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D.

Read more