As you would expect, the Surface Laptop Studio does offer some higher-end hardware than the Surface Book 3. Its Intel CPU is a generation newer than that of the Surface Book 3 and it can be equipped with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti  laptop GPU. By way of comparison, the top-end GPU for the Surface Book 3 is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.

The Surface Laptop Studio also offers some other nice upgrades, such as quad Onmisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos and dual far-field studio mics. It also supports Bluetooth 5.1, whereas the Surface Book 3 supports Bluetooth 5 (both devices support Wi-Fi 6). You can find the full hardware specs here.  The Surface Book 3 specs are here

One of the biggest selling points (besides the device’s articulating screen) is that Microsoft has done a lot of work around the Surface Pen. Using the Surface Pen now supposedly feels more like writing on paper (I haven’t had a chance to try it myself yet). The device also has built-in storage and charging for the Surface Slim Pen 2.

So does the Surface Laptop Studio make for a compelling upgrade to the Surface Book 3? It really depends on how you plan on using the device. In some ways, I think of the Surface Laptop Studio as a minor upgrade to the Surface Book 3. In other ways however, I actually consider it to be a downgrade.

Before I explain why that is, I want to be fair by mentioning that the Surface Laptop Studio is, for all practical purposes, branded as a Surface Laptop -- Not a Surface Book. Microsoft has always differentiated between the two and it is entirely possible that we will see a Surface Book 4 next year. Even so, Microsoft’s recent Surface event made it seem as though the Surface Laptop Studio might be a Surface Book replacement, although they stopped short of actually saying so.

So why do I consider the Surface Laptop Studio to be a downgrade? The main reason is because it has a significantly lower display resolution than the Surface Book 3, which seems off for a device that is heavily focused on graphics. The Surface Laptop Studio has a display resolution of 2400 x 1600 and a pixel density of 201 pixels per inch. In contrast, the highest-end Surface Book 3 has a resolution of 3240 x 2160 with a pixel density of 260 pixels per inch. That is not an insignificant difference in resolution. The 15-inch Surface Book 3 has over 3 million more pixels than the Surface Laptop Studio (3,158,400 to be exact).

The Surface Laptop Studio also has a smaller screen than the 15-inch Surface Book 3 and it’s top end configuration has 2 GB less of video memory than what is available on the Surface Book 3 (4 GB compared with 6 GB on a top-end configuration). Presumably however, less video memory is required since there are fewer pixels. Incidentally, the Surface Laptop Studio does not support on screen use of the Surface Dial as the Surface Studio and the Surface Book do.

So does that mean that the Surface Laptop Studio is a total bust? No, I don’t think so. The higher end CPU and GPU combined with a lower resolution display are inevitably going to make the Surface Laptop Studio’s display super responsive. My guess is that the machine will be a really good fit for those who are looking for a gaming laptop.

And even though the Surface Laptop Studio doesn’t measure up to the Surface Book 3 in terms of video resolution, it’s still an impressive machine. It will likely be a really good fit for those who need a versatile laptop that can do just about anything. However, the Surface Book 3 will probably remain the better choice for creative professionals who do a lot of photo or video editing.