All Surface mobile PCs also come with the Surface
Connect port, a proprietary jack that accepts the
included AC charging cable and adapter. The power
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charging external devices, though it can’t be used for
data transfer. In place of the charging cable, the Surface
Connect port can also link to one of Microsoft’s optional
expansion hubs, such as the Surface Dock 2, some of
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The Surface Book 3 has separate batteries in the
keyboard base and in the screen portion. It’s possible to
recharge the display portion’s battery by itself; part of
the docking connector doubles as a second Surface
Connect port when the Surface Book 3 is detached from
its keyboard base.
PREPARING THE SURFACE BOOK 3 FOR
DOCKING AND UNDOCKING
To disengage the screen from the keyboard, you press a
dedicated key on the top-right of the keyboard. After a
few seconds, a prompt lets you know that it’s free to
detach, and you can hear and feel it unlock. You grasp
the display with one hand and steady the keyboard base
with your other hand to pry the two halves apart.
When you use the Surface Book 3 as a tablet without the
keyboard base, you’ll be missing out on a few things
besides the obvious lack of a physical keyboard and
touchpad. Some of the guts—namely, the larger of the
two batteries and the discrete GPU—are built into the
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graphics card and two batteries into a tablet that weighs
less than two pounds, so these are acceptable
compromises. While detached, the Core i7’s integrated
Iris Plus handles graphics output. Just remember that
to make full use of the Surface Book 3’s power, you’ll
need to reconnect the keyboard base.
All Surface
mobile PCs
come with the
Surface
Connect port,
which accepts
the included AC
charging cable
and adapter.