iPad Air 11" Gen 2 (M3, Early 2025) vs Microsoft Surface Go 3 (Amber Lake-R, Late 2021)

iPad Air 11" Gen 2 (M3, Early 2025) $599
Microsoft Surface Go 3 (Amber Lake-R, Late 2021) $400
Base Price (MSRP)
$599
Base Price (MSRP)
$400
CPU
M3 (8C9G-FL)
CPU
Pentium Gold 6500Y
GPU
9-Core M3-FL
GPU
UHD 615 23EU 900MHz
Memory
8GB
Memory
4GB
Storage
128GB
Storage
64GB
Display
10.9" LCD IPS 2360×1640 Touch
Display
10.5" LCD IPS 1920×1280 Touch
CPU Image
M3 (8C9G-FL)
8 Cores
8 Threads
4.05GHz Clock
CPU Image
Pentium Gold 6500Y
2 Cores
4 Threads
1.1GHz Clock
M3 (8C9G-FL) vs Pentium Gold 6500Y Full Specs Comparison
GPU Image
9-Core M3-FL
1152 Shaders
1398MHz
Shared Memory
GPU Image
UHD 615 23EU 900MHz
184 Shaders
900MHz
Shared Memory
N/A
0%
3.22 TFLOPS FP32
6%
4 FPS 1080p
3%
331 GFLOPS FP32
1%
9-Core M3-FL vs UHD 615 23EU 900MHz Full Specs Comparison
8GB
LPDDR5-6400
4GB
LPDDR3-1866
24 Tabs
5%
8 Tabs
2%
128GB
64GB
186 min 4K Video
5%
58 min 4K Video
1%
No Optical Drive
No Optical Drive
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10.9"
LCD IPS
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10.5"
LCD IPS
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Area
55.7 in² (359.2 cm²)
23:16 Aspect Ratio
Area
50.9 in² (328.3 cm²)
3:2 Aspect Ratio
Brightness
500 Nits
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Brightness
400 Nits
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Refresh Rate
60Hz
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Refresh Rate
60Hz
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Resolution
2360×1640
3.9 Million Pixels
264 PPI
Resolution
1920×1280
2.5 Million Pixels
220 PPI
LED Backlight
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1,300:1 Contrast
LED Backlight
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1,500:1 Contrast
Viewing Angles
178° Horizontal
178° Vertical
Viewing Angles
178° Horizontal
178° Vertical
Colour Depth
8-bit
Colour Depth
8-bit
Coverage
99% sRGB
97% DCI-P3
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Coverage
100% sRGB
68% DCI-P3
70% Adobe RGB
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Coating
Glossy Anti-Reflective
Fully Laminated
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Fully Laminated
Touch
Capacitive
Touch
Capacitive
Main
12.2MP
28mm Lens
ƒ/1.8 Aperture
1/2.93" Sensor Size
1.22 µm Pixel Size
Optical Image Stabilization
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Main
8.1MP
26mm Lens
ƒ/2 Aperture
1/4" Sensor Size
1.12 µm Pixel Size
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Front
12.2MP
12mm Lens
ƒ/2.4 Aperture
1/3.4" Sensor Size
1.00 µm Pixel Size
122˚ Diagonal Field of View
Front
5.0MP
26mm Lens
ƒ/2.2 Aperture
1/5" Sensor Size
1.12 µm Pixel Size
80˚ Diagonal Field of View
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Zoom
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5x Digital Zoom-In
Zoom
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5x Digital Zoom-In
Max FPS
30 FPS 720p
240 FPS 1080p
60 FPS 4K
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Max FPS
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30 FPS 1080p
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Max Front FPS
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60 FPS 1080p
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Max Front FPS
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30 FPS 1080p
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Features
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Autofocus
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Center Stage
HDR Photo
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Video Stabilization
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Photo Geotagging
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Features
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Autofocus
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Video Stabilization
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Modes
Slow Motion
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Time-Lapse
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Panorama
Burst Mode
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Not Included
Not Included
Not Included
Not Included
Not Included
Not Included
Not Included
Not Included
Fingerprint
Facial
2
2
2
2
No Cellular
Modem
Qualcomm
X62
5G mmWave
No Cellular
Modem
Qualcomm
X16
4G
Speed
Up to 4400Mbps Download
Up to 1600Mbps Upload
Speed
Up to 1000Mbps Download
Up to 150Mbps Upload
SIM Slots
1x eSIM
SIM Slots
1x nano SIM
1x eSIM
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
2 Stream
Up to 2400Mbps
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
2 Stream
Up to 1200Mbps
Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth 5.0
Motion
Accelerometer
Gyroscope
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Barometer
Motion
Accelerometer
Gyroscope
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Utility
Proximity
Ambient Light
Magnetometer
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Adaptive Colour
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Utility
Proximity
Ambient Light
Magnetometer
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Location
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iBeacon
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Location
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Compass
Integrated Chipset
Integrated Chipset
Data
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1x USB-C 3.0 (5Gbps)
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Data
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1x USB-C 3.0 (5Gbps)
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Audio
1x Audio Jack
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Card
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1x micro SDXC Card UHS-I
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External
External
20W
9.00V
2.22A
24W
15.00V
1.60A
USB-PD
3.00A 5V (15W)
2.22A 9V (19.98W)
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USB-C
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Removable Cable
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Surface Connect
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1.4M (5 ft) Cable
28.9Wh
7715mAh
3.75V
Lithium-Ion
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28Wh
3655mAh
7.66V
Lithium-Ion Polymer
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Up to 10 Hours
Up to 11 Hours
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iPadOS
Windows
Build Material
Aluminum, Glass
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Build Material
Magnesium, Glass
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Height
247.6 mm (9.7 in)
Width
178.5 mm (7 in)
Depth
6.1 mm (0.2 in)
Volume
0.300 L
Height
245 mm (9.6 in)
Width
175 mm (6.9 in)
Depth
8.3 mm (0.3 in)
Volume
0.400 L
Weight
460 g (16.23 oz)
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Weight
544 g (19.19 oz)
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CPU
Not Upgradable
CPU
Not Upgradable
GPU
Not Upgradable
GPU
Not Upgradable
Memory
Not Upgradable
Memory
Not Upgradable
Storage
Not Upgradable
Storage
Not Upgradable
Wi-Fi
Not Upgradable
Wi-Fi
Not Upgradable
Motherboard
Not Upgradable
Motherboard
Not Upgradable
Power Supply
Not Upgradable
Power Supply
Not Upgradable
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Change Comparison