Inside the Microsoft Surface Pro 3: Intel keeps things humming

surface-pro-3-intel-inside-small.jpg
Microsoft and Intel “spent tireless hours together” working on the silicon, says Microsoft’s Panos Panay, general manager of the Surface team.
Microsoft

The Surface Pro 3 is a snapshot of state-of-the-art Intel technology as much as it is a Microsoft tour de force.

On Tuesday, Microsoft’s Panos Panay, general manager of the Surface team, had a lot to say about all the work it did with Intel to make the Surface Pro 3 — which runs the full version of Windows 8.1 — tick.

“We’ve partnered superclose with Intel. It’s been the closest thing to a technical love affair,” he said.

Related stories

And the gush-fest didn’t stop there. “We spent tireless hours together to put the Core i7 in the new Surface Pro 3,” Panay said, referring to Intel’s high-end processor. “To pack it this thin, how do you do that? Remember, the new Surface Pro [has] 10 percent more performance than the Surface Pro 2.”

Core i7, high-end: That extra performance, to be exact, comes from the 1.7GHz Core i7-4650U (which can run as fast as 3.3GHz in turbo mode), a Microsoft spokesman told CNET.

This marks the first time Microsoft has tapped Intel’s high-end HD 5000 graphics — integrated into the 4650U processor — in a Surface product. And those graphics are the most proficient at pushing around all the pixels in the Pro 3’s 2,160×1,440 resolution 12-inch display.

For those keeping score, they also match the MacBook Air’s HD 5000 graphics.

So how does Microsoft pull this off in a 0.36-inch thick tablet? By “reinventing” the fan. Microsoft said it was able to make the fan 30 percent more efficient compared with conventional fans.

This model starts at $1,549.

Core i3, low-end: “The i3 is probably the most interesting [of the models]” as far as wringing the most performance out of an Intel processor, the Microsoft spokesman said.

Because of the new fan technology, Microsoft is able to run the 1.5-GHz Core i3-4020Y a little faster than is typical for Y series processors, which are the most power-efficient (and slowest) Core processors Intel makes.

Y series chips are typically used in fanless designs. For example, the Hewlett-Packard Spectre 13 x2 tablet-laptop hybrid uses the 4020Y and is fanless. But note that the Spectre is thicker, at 0.44-inches, and heavier, at 2.18 pounds, than the Pro 3, at 1.76 pounds.

The Y series uses Intel’s HD 4200 graphics processor.

The Core i3 Surface Pro model starts at $799.

Core i5, midrange: This is probably the least interesting of the processors because it’s already used in the quietly updated Surface Pro 2 (Microsoft did a “stealth” update of the Pro 2’s internals in January).

And, not surprisingly, it’s the first Pro 3 that will be available on June 20 (the others are available in August).

“Application performance was comparable with Apple’s current 13-inch MacBook Air, the tabletlike Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, and even last year’s Surface Pro 2,” CNET Reviews said.

The Core i5 model starts at $999.

surface-pro-3-side-keyboard.jpgsurface-pro-3-side-keyboard.jpg

Sarah Tew/CNET

Check Also

The M2 MacBook Air Is the Ultimate Laptop Gift

This story is part of 84 Days of Holiday, a collection that helps you find the perfect gift for anyone. Over the years, I’ve often described Apple’s MacBook Air as the most universally useful laptop you can get (or in this case, give). The latest version, now with Apple’s new M2 chip inside, hits the fresh …

Leave a Reply