Surface Book specs, features, and analysis

Here's what you need to know about 2015 Surface Book including price, display info, CPU, RAM, storage, battery, and more.

Availability

Surface Book
Released2015
Release Date
  • Introduced: October 7, 2015
  • Pre-ordered: October 7, 2015
  • Released: October 26, 2015
PricingStarting at 1,499$
Generations
Surface Book Price
Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum
Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum
By Microsoft
$1,026.03
New Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum
New Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum
By Microsoft
$790.00
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$350.73
$378.00 7% OFF
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$495.94
$574.95 14% OFF
Microsoft Surface Book 13.5" 2-in-1 Touchscreen Tablet Laptop Computer Intel Core i5-6300U up to 3GHz 8GB RAM 128GB SSD Windows 10 Pro (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Book 13.5" 2-in-1 Touchscreen Tablet Laptop Computer Intel Core i5-6300U up to 3GHz 8GB RAM 128GB SSD Windows 10 Pro (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$271.00

Exterior

Surface Book
Dimensions12.3” x 9.14” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm)
Weight
  • Tablet Only: 1.6 lbs (726 g)
  • Surface Book: 3.34 lbs (1,515 g)
  • Surface Book with dGPU: 3.48 lbs (1,578 g)
Colors
Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Keyboard:
    • Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1.55mm travel.
    • Mechanical friction attaches the Clipboard to the keyboard.
  • Trackpad:
    • Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.

Display

Surface Book
Size13.5 Inches
Info
  • Display Resolution: 3000 x 2000 (6M Pixels)
  • Display Density: 267 PPI
  • PixelSense™ Display
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Contrast ratio: 1700:1
  • Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch

Ports

Surface Book
Ports
Surface Book Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
  • 2 x Full-size USB 3.0
  • 2 x Surface Connect™
    1 in tablet, 1 in keyboard base, both supports charging and docking.
  • 1 x Mini DisplayPort
  • 1 x Headset jack
  • 1 x Full-size SDXC card reader (UHS-II performance)

Internal Specs

Surface Book
Processor
  1. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.40 → 3.00 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Surface Book1
6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U58678.66%
2
6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U745100.00%
0745

Geekbench 5 Multi-Core

Surface Book1
6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U1,31983.27%
2
6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U1,584100.00%
01,584
Integrated Graphics
  1. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300U
    Intel® HD Graphics 520
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz
  2. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6600U
    Intel® HD Graphics 520
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
Memory
8GB 16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Discrete Graphics
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU
    Maxwell Architecture, 1GB GDDR5 128-bit, 954 - 993 MHz, 384 CUDA Cores.
Storage
128GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD

Connectivity

Surface Book
Wi-Fi
  • Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology

Battery

Surface Book
Size
  • Total: 69Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 51Wh
Battery Life
  • Up to 12 hours of video playback
Power Supply
  • Surface Book
    36W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.
  • Surface Book with dGPU
    65W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.

Software

Surface Book
OSWindows 10 Pro
Built-in AppsMicrosoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio

Surface Book
Camera
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video
  • 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio
  • Dual microphones
  • Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium

Misc

Surface Book
InkingSupports Surface Pen
1024 levels of pressure
Magnetic storage
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Proximity sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
Security
  • HW TPM chip for enterprise security
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box
  • Surface Book
  • Surface Pen
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
WarrantyOne-year limited hardware warranty
MoreSupports Surface Dial
Supports off-screen interaction only.

Key Features

Surface Book
At Glance
Released in Late
2015
3:2 3K
13.5”
2000p 60Hz
Weight
1.6 lb
0.73 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-6600U
2C/4T, 2.60 → 3.40 GHz
Geekbench 5
745
Single Core
Geekbench 5
1,584
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® HD Graphics 520
24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3
Surface Book Ports
NVIDIA
GeForce® GPU
1GB GDDR5 384 CUDA

Photos

Our analysis and reviews

Surface Book image

What we like

Reasons to like about Surface Book.

Great battery life of up to 12-hours

According to Microsoft, the Surface Book lasts up to 12 hours of battery life.

  • Up to 12 hours of video playback
Upgradable storage

Surface Book comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that you can replace and upgrade in the future. Learn more

Storage SlotsSurface Book
M.2x1
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to NVIDIA GeForce® GPU 1GB GDDR5 384 CUDA

What we don't like

Reasons not to like about Surface Book.

Not supports Windows 11
RequirementsSurface Book
Secure BootYes
TPM 2.0 TPM 2.0
ProcessorIntel Core i5-6300U → Intel Core i7-6600U
4GB RAM8GB → 16GB
64GB Drive128GB → 2TB
2 Cores CPU2 cores
Non-upgradable memory

The memory on Surface Book is soldered to the motherboard, and there is no additional RAM slot for expansion. Since you can't change or add more RAM after you buy, you want to make sure you pick the configuration with the right amount of memory at the initial purchase. Learn more

MemorySurface Book
Slots0 - Onboard
TypeLPDDR3
Speed1866 MHz