When Microsoft unveiled the Surface Laptop earlier today, the company revealed that prices would start at $999 for an entry-level model. Now we also know how much a top-of-the-line Surface Laptop goes for: $2,199.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop is now available for pre-order from the Microsoft Store or Best Buy, with the first models shipping as soon as June 15th.
One reason to consider Best Buy? The store is currently throwing in a $50 gift card when you place a pre-order.
Each model has the same 13.5 inch, 2256 x 1504 pixel touchscreen display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, a Gorilla Glass screen, and support for Microsoft Surface Pen and Surface Dial accessories, as well as 802.11ac WiFi, USB 3.0, mini DisplayPort, and headset jacks. And Microsoft says you should get up to 14.5 hours of battery life while playing videos on the laptop.
The Surface Laptop ships with Windows 10 S and comes with a free 1-year subscription to Office 365. But if you’d prefer to use Windows 10 Pro, you can upgrade for free… as long as you do it before the end of 2017. That’s when the free upgrade promotion ends.
Entry Level ($999)
Now let’s talk about configurations. For $999 you get a Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of PCIe solid state storage. Since memory and storage are soldered to the motherboard, you may want to opt for a pricier model if you think you’ll need more: there’s no easy way to upgrade.
Note that the $999 model is only currently available in one color: platinum.
A Step Up ($1299)
For an extra $300 you get 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a choice of platinum, gold, burgundy, or blue colors.
But you still get just a Core i5 processor.
Hello Core i7 ($1599)
Pony up another $300 and you get a Core i7 processor, but still just 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Moving from Core i5 to Core i7 also gets you a GPU spec bump: instead of Intel HD 620 graphics, you get Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640.
The Works ($2199)
Finally, if you want the best Surface Laptop money can buy, you’ll need a lot of money. A model with an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage will set you back $2199, or more than twice as much as the entry-level model.
Another thing to keep in mind about this configuration is that it won’t ship until August 15th. All the other models should be available in June.
Can I buy it without the OS and get $100 off?
Can’t imagine why Microsoft would have a problem with that…
Funny price brackets, the $999 entry-level model with 4 GB of RAM is a terrible purchase, the top of the line at $2199 still doesn’t get you more than Iris Plus 640 for a GPU or a quad-core CPU.
In essence, the midrange models are the only ones that makes sense for the price (a little pricy, but the display is of much higher quality than the average).
Surface Laptop just made Thinker i35 look like a genius product marketing retroactively.
what ports do these have?
MS lists the following:
– USB 3.0 (just one?)
– Headset jack
– mini DisplayPort
– 3.5mm AV (same as headset jack?)
– SurfaceConnect
Compatible with Surface Dial off-screen interaction1
This is a dumb MS release! You have to wait 45 days (15th of June) by then you will have more reasonable choices.
Just one word: FAIL
If all of those prices were cut in half, they’d still be kinda high.
They must be trying to appeal to Apple customers.
It’s even worse when you consider any repair is likely impossible, and that they essentially ship with the new Windows RT…