The Surface Laptop Go is Microsoft's budget laptop, positioned as a more affordable alternative to the Surface Laptop and Surface Laptop Studio. However, the lower cost does mean it has skipped out on features like a high-resolution screen and a wide port selection, which can be found in other PCs in the same price range. Microsoft just revealed a new model that addresses many of the limitations of the previous laptop, but at a new price that places it (mostly) outside the budget laptop market.
Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Go 3 today, which visually looks identical to the last model. That's definitely not a bad thing, with a large 12.45-inch touchscreen in a 3:2 aspect ratio and a spacious trackpad. There are even a few different color variants to choose from, like the MacBook Air M2.
The previous Surface Laptop Go 2 didn't have the best hardware around, especially the base model, but the situation has been improved this time around. Microsoft has swapped out the 11th-generation Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor for a newer 12th-gen Intel Core i5-1235U, with two high performance cores and eight efficiency cores. That's not one of the latest 13th-gen mobile processors, but it should have plenty of performance for everyday tasks.
The base model also now ships with 8GB RAM instead of 4GB, and the internal SSD has been doubled from 128GB to 256GB. That's great news, but it's also the bare minimum for a usable Windows laptop in 2023 — Windows 11 is not really usable with 4GB RAM, and system updates and apps would eat up 128GB quickly.
Even though the internal hardware is much better this time around, the connectivity is still a problem. There's still only one USB Type-C port, a USB Type-A connector, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, which are all located on the same side. The other side has the proprietary Surface Connector, which only works with the included charger (the laptop should also be able to charge over Type-C) or the company's expensive external docks. As great as a magnetic charger is, replacing it with another Type-C port would probably make the laptop more useful. You'll have to take a trip to dongle town if you need to plug in more than two USB devices.
The Surface Laptop Go 3 starts at $799, which is around the usual price for the M1 MacBook Air. You can buy it now from the Microsoft Store, and it will likely show up at other retail stores soon. That's a notable bump from the $599 starting price of the previous model, and it means the Surface Laptop Go isn't really a budget laptop option anymore — that's firmly in ultrabook territory.
Source: Microsoft