What wifi chip (brand/model) is in the Surface Pro 3 models

Question

Hello,

I can't find any information about brand and model of the Surface Pro 3 WiFi chip -- is it the same for the i3, i5, i7 model line?

Has anybody that information?

Thanks

Frank

Answer 1

Greetings,

The Surface Pro 3 uses the Marvell AVASTAR Wireless AC Network Adapter.

Answer 2

Marvell?  That puppy better work.  Planning on getting either the i5 (next month) or the i3 (in September).

Jokes aside, I think the last patches and firmware updates have fixed the issues with it.  I do notice that Bluetooth keeps showing up but some of those could be the device they are pairing up to.  Printers, for instance, have to be pre-configured with a regular computer to turn on/configure Bluetooth/WiFi before they can be used on portable devices.  Those functions are turned off at the factory and have to be setup.

My RT is now doing a bang up job now.  It gets online instantly and last week, used it for the whole week.  May be doing that more often now.  I have already retired the iPad Air even though I did download Office for iPad for it (works good).

Thanks for the input Steven_B!

Answer 3

The i5 model is out there right now.  Best Buy is also supposed to have them as well.  Today is June 20th, the 'magic' day.  So, if you have a local Best Buy store, head on over and at least look at a demo model and open up the Device Manger and check out what adapter it is using.

My local Best Buy is almost going out of business and have not been able to sell any Surface tablets - so, they don't carry them.

Answer 4

Hi James,

Thanks for sharing that.

I agree, hopefully they got it right this time.

I'll check the models out once they hit the store.

Regards,

Frank

Answer 5

In the conference video, the speaker mentioned Broadcom.  The engineering and manufacturing of the Pro 3 is almost completely different, yet, same style as the Surface line.  This time, they may have gotten it right.

We have to wait and see for sure, though.  The i5 models ship out tomorrow.  The new keyboards are supposed to be available as well.  You have to check Microsoft's online store to verify that though.

Also, the only difference between the models are the processors/storage capacity.  All three are built from the same parts.

I have scoured the web and there are no actual technical details on the Pro 3 line.