Microsoft unveils Surface Book 3, ships May 21 starting at $1,599

Microsoft today unveiled the Surface Book 3, its “most powerful laptop ever.” The company promises “up to 50% more performance” over the Surface Book 2 released 2.5 years ago. Battery life lasts up to 17.5 hours, a minor bump compared to its predecessors’ 17 hours. Starting at $1,599, it’s also $100 more expensive than the Surface Book 2. Both 13-inch and 15-inch flavors are available for preorder now and start shipping on May 21.

Surface Book 3 is powered by the latest Intel 10th-generation Core CPUs and Nvidia discrete GPUs. There are Nvidia GeForce GPU options “with enough power to play the top Xbox Game Pass for PC titles at 1080p in a smooth 60 frames per second.” There’s also a new option: an Nvidia Quadro RTX 3000 “to better meet the needs of commercial customers and higher education institutions.” Developers, designers, and professionals use the Surface Book for coding, compiling, and gaming. Microsoft wants to expand that list — Quadro graphics cards are better suited to applications like CAD, CGI, DCC, scientific calculations, and machine learning. Surface Book 3 also comes with up to 32GB of RAM and “the fastest SSD we have ever shipped,” Microsoft says.