Microsoft Surface will be Wi-Fi only at launch: prices to start from $599 for RT, $999 for Pro?

posted by Victor H. / Jun 22, 2012, 4:18 AM

Microsoft Surface will be Wi-Fi only at launch: prices to start from $599 for RT, $999 for Pro?

Microsoft’s upcoming Surface tablet stirred our minds a couple of days ago when the company from Redmond announced it - a sleek device with an even sleeker keyboard, and the promise of the full Windows experience on the Pro version is something that could be a true competitor to the iPad. If priced right.

And Microsoft might have just come a bit short on that last if as a source close to the company whispered to The Next Web that the price of the Tegra 3 Surface tablet with Windows 8 RT will start from $599, while the Ivy Bridge full Windows 8 Pro tablet will cost the whopping $999 for the most basic version.

And that might be a bit too much for customers used to Apple’s $499 pricing for a new iPad at its basic version.

Update: Bloomberg has learned that the Microsoft Surface will only launch with Wi-Fi on board and no cellular data connectivity option. That's still just a rumor but it's coming from the publication's infamous "people familiar with the matter" and could well turn out to be true.

Now, there’s no real surprise here if you listened close to Microsoft Surface general manager Panos Panay who said at the event that the RT Surface tablet will cost as much as similar ARM tablets with 32 and 64 gigs of internal storage. We should also add that Microsoft has chosen a 32GB version as the most basic one for its ARM tablet, and 64GB for Ivy Bridge.

At that same price, though, the iPad smokes the Surface tablet in terms of resolution. The Surface is expected to feature a 1366x768-pixel display, much less than the whopping 2048x1536-pixel screen on Apple’s tablet.

And if you compare it with Android tablets, it also seems a bit overpriced. A second-gen Galaxy Tab 10.1 would set you back only $399.

Finally, the Ivy Bridge version of the Surface tablet costs as much as a MacBook Air, the premium notebook king at the moment, which also seems like a pretty solid competitor to Microsoft’s slate.

One possible explanation for the hiked prices is that Microsoft is shipping the Surface tablets with the keyboard. But would this convince user to spend the extra bucks? Have your say in the comments below.

source: The Next Web

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65 Comments

1. Whateverman

Posts: 3295; Member since: May 17, 2009

I can almost hear Tim Cook laughing historically. Did Microsoft learn nothing from the release of the Motorola Xoom? You don't compete with the iPad by charging more, it doesn't what the specs are like. Nice looking tablet but at these prices, very few will be buying it.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 3:22 AM 18

4. bobfreking55

Posts: 866; Member since: Jul 15, 2011

for the Pro Version, I think it's reasonable - especially for those that can't decide between a tablet / laptop or an ultrabook --- it is still spec'd like an ultrabook. for the RT i'm not sure... I'd rather keep my Transformer Prime. i wish i knew the prices for the Asus Taichi and the Transformer Book, which has Core ix btw.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 3:39 AM 8

5. RoundBallmer

Posts: 43; Member since: Jun 19, 2012

Now tell me what the xoom offers as compared to surface ? Its just yet another oversized android.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 3:47 AM 6

37. Whateverman

Posts: 3295; Member since: May 17, 2009

Well, the Xoom is outclassed at this point by this and the iPad. But the reason I brought it up is because they originally tried to sell the Xoom at $800 bucks. At first glance at the specs, the Xoom was the better device, but the experience was nowhere near the iPad. Updates made it much better and lower the price to match the ipad but people were already turned off by then. They pretty much screwd the pooch, much like what Microsoft is doing right now.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 11:02 AM 1

10. scnix

Posts: 41; Member since: Jul 01, 2010

I can't say about yourself, but I'm pretty damn sure I'll be buying the Pro version when it gets released. Who needs cellular when you have a smartphone with tethering?

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 4:34 AM 3

34. CharlieAtInfinity

Posts: 253; Member since: Apr 10, 2012

I definitely wont be buying with that $999 price tag to run x86 apps, better continue using my laptop!

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 10:48 AM 1

54. CellularNinja

Posts: 306; Member since: Sep 27, 2011

But I think people are forgetting what each can do. The iPad (though great) is basically a big iPod Touch. I'm not saying that's a bad thing! It's great for consuming content, playing games, reading, web browsing, exc. But the Surface will be the full Windows 8 experience with the ability to run the full fledged Office Apps, which is huge! You should be able to do way more things in terms of productivity with the surface. I would easily pay the extra $100 for a tablet I can use for school and for play. Rather than just play.

posted on Jun 23, 2012, 7:03 AM 0

61. DFranch

Posts: 547; Member since: Apr 20, 2012

and don't forget the Surface comes with Office built in. No additional charge for the software.

posted on Jun 24, 2012, 12:32 PM 1

63. CellularNinja

Posts: 306; Member since: Sep 27, 2011

I doubt he's laughing about having serious competition. Competition that will probably do very well because it's way more productive.

posted on Jun 25, 2012, 10:28 AM 0

2. valapsp

Posts: 565; Member since: Aug 12, 2011

Touch cover costs $50 at most. If this is true Microsoft will face another failure.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 3:34 AM 8

20. e.wvu unregistered

The covers for the iPad is $50 as well, so it wouldn't neccessarily be a fail.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 6:40 AM 1

24. tigermcm

Posts: 861; Member since: Sep 02, 2009

but the cover for the iPad wasnt a keyboard

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 7:38 AM 2

28. Synack

Posts: 688; Member since: Jul 05, 2011

Or even a badass touch keyboard.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 9:39 AM 2

56. Jeromeo

Posts: 135; Member since: Jan 11, 2010

Wait 'till they've sold so few of these keypad boards that Microsoft offers it as a free bonus if you're desperate enough to buy one of these tablets before the price drops to either half or a third before it becomes a HP Touchpad... BTW, my $99 HP Touchpad 32GB makes an amazing ICS Android tablet for the $.

posted on Jun 23, 2012, 5:58 PM 0

3. bobfreking55

Posts: 866; Member since: Jul 15, 2011

Hmm... great tablet but this will suck in sales. I am thinking that even if Android's functionality as a tablet OS is lacking, the Asus Google Nexus will destroy all the other tablet's sales. Although, the main idea of the Surface is that the world is ready for tablets and hybrids. This has just marked the post laptop era IMO. In 5 years, laptops will be extinct and the hybrids will be the norm. Another prediction of mine is: Android Tablets will die in 5 years if they don't make the functionality better than a Windows RT, because believe it or not - the app store of Windows will surely adapt as fast as a blink of an eye.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 3:36 AM 10

16. TylerGrunter

Posts: 1544; Member since: Feb 16, 2012

This is actually a race: Google and iOS use more performing OS but with stripped functionalities. Windows RT has more functionality, but higher prices. Google will keep adding funcionality in the next years as far as hardware and prices allows. Windows will be getting cheaper as the hardware becomes more powerful. But if you ask me Apple and Google are ahead in the game, as their strategy allows the tablets to be cheaper. Most of the people buy a tablet as the second or third computer, just a toy to surf the web, play vidios, games, etc. So price is key in the tablet market to gain volume. The Pro version has an opportunity in the profesional market for people traveling a lot that need a full computer AND a tablet. But for $600 the RT has very little chances to gain track. You can buy an Asus transformer 300 with keyboard for $500 or a higer resolution iPad. 500 would have been a good price, for 600 I don't see it getting a lot of market.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 5:03 AM 2

17. bobfreking55

Posts: 866; Member since: Jul 15, 2011

I agree with that. To put it shortly, Apple and Google has been competing in a non-matured market yet wherein the products they sell are not yet a necessity. On the other hand, Windows Pro has set up the era, it will mature. Though expensive, it is a necessity as a PC replacement... because it is a PC. Tablets present nowadays are laptop wannabes --- android is the closest u'll get right now - with the file manager and open source nature of it.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 5:23 AM 1

62. DFranch

Posts: 547; Member since: Apr 20, 2012

Don't forget it comes with Office. That's easily worth the extra $100.

posted on Jun 24, 2012, 12:36 PM 0

6. doubler86

Posts: 320; Member since: Jan 26, 2011

Should have been $499 and $799. Priced competitively to tablets and competitively to ultrabooks.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 3:48 AM 12

8. tigermcm

Posts: 861; Member since: Sep 02, 2009

thats the price i was hoping for but um those prices......i'm going to have to wait for a nokia tablet

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 4:10 AM 0

52. Joshing4fun

Posts: 1245; Member since: Aug 13, 2010

Agreed. Otherwise how could it challenge the iPad? At $200 higher than the iPad; heck even id start to consider the iPad to save that cash.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 10:17 PM 1

7. wendygarett unregistered

The New iPad FTW!!!!

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 4:03 AM 4

15. haseebzahid

Posts: 1853; Member since: Feb 22, 2012

can ur Ipad run Crysis 2 err no and never Surface probably CAN

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 4:48 AM 5

35. Dr.Phil

Posts: 2367; Member since: Feb 14, 2011

I wouldn't think the Surface RT would be able to run it (or if it did, it would be on the low graphic setting since this is Crysis 2) and the Surface Pro is $999, which is pretty much the same cost as building your own PC with most likely even better specs than what is on the Surface. So, I guess my question is, why would you want to buy a $1000 10 inch screen tablet to play a game that should be meant for a $1000 PC with the graphic and processor capability that could bring out the full potential (or as close to the full potential since we are just talking $1000) of the game?

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 10:54 AM 0

38. Dr.Phil

Posts: 2367; Member since: Feb 14, 2011

Also, I want to add that I have nothing against the Surface. I think it's great that Microsoft has decided to enter the competitive tablet world. I was just pointing out that I don't think anyone should buy this tablet just so they can say they "can possibly run Crysis 2." When it comes to buying a tablet, I think you should ask yourself what you are going to really be using the device for and compare the tablets that way.

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 11:04 AM 0

45. saiki4116

Posts: 413; Member since: Mar 31, 2011

but how you play on it matters,i can run ubuntu on galaxy s2.....

posted on Jun 22, 2012, 1:42 PM 0

9. CX3NT3_713

Posts: 2350; Member since: Apr 18, 2011

Well yea it is pricey...but that's the price you pay , for a real tablet/ PC / innovation ,, oh and a retina display? ((Yawn))...enjoy your higher quality photo viewing experience.. .. LOL