did Microsoft give me the wrong power supply? Does it matter?

[APierson]

Hi, I've read that the Surface Book is supposed to come with a 65-watt power supply (model 1706), but my Surface Book (the lowest end, non-GPU model) came with what model 1625, which seems to be a 36-watt Surface Pro 3 power supply. Did anyone else get this older power supply with their Surface Book? And would the newer 65-watt charger charge my Surface Book any faster?

 

[mkenny28]

Hi, I've read that the Surface Book is supposed to come with a 65-watt power supply (model 1706), but my Surface Book (the lowest end, non-GPU model) came with what model 1625, which seems to be a 36-watt Surface Pro 3 power supply. Did anyone else get this older power supply with their Surface Book? And would the newer 65-watt charger charge my Surface Book any faster?

I think it only matters for the I7 dGPU models. They gave me a 65 watt with mine but I have read others got the 36 watt and they have issues with is not charging while in use. I could be wrong but I think the lower end models come with the 36 Watt.

 

[hughlle]

I imagine that the GPU models come with the higher wattage charger because well, it requires more power.

 

[APierson]

Yeah, I thought this was probably the case. Would the 65 watt charger charge my Surface Book any quicker? Or would it not matter?

Thanks!

 

[hughlle]

I do not think it would make any difference. I make that statement purely on the fact that the higher output charger can be used with the SP4 and was shown to have absolutely no benefits.

 

[Niterider4]

I read that the 65w charger is supplied with the dGPU SB and the 36 watt charger (which is basically the SP3 charger) is supplied with non-dGPU units. I received a 36 watt charger with my non-dGPU i5 SB, and I bought a separate 65w charger. The 36w charger is slightly smaller and lighter, so I use it for traveling and I use the 65w charger at home. From what I can tell (no real testing), they charge at about the same rate.

 

[flar]

The Anandtech article has graphs of the charging rates of the two adapters. The 65 watt unit charged the i7 SB much faster mainly due to being able to charge both batteries at full capacity rather than charging battery 1 slowly until it is done with battery 2...

The Microsoft Surface Book Review

One caveat - I don't think they were using the SB at the same time. It's likely that both will charge their SB's at the same rate if you are using them while charging, but when you put it to sleep, the higher wattage charger can make good use of the extra power that the dGPU is no longer using...

 

[DanielHolzer]

I had a related question. Can the Surface Dock also charge the SB, and does it operate at 36W or 65W? I love my SB, but am infuriated that Microsoft provides less technical information than even Apple does.