After a price cut to its Surface RT tablet and reports of modest sales last month, The Verge is reporting that Microsoft has cut the price of its Surface Pro tablet by $100 through August 29. The price cut applies to both the 64 GB and 128 GB versions of the tablet, bringing down the price of those models to $799 and $899 respectively.

surface_pro
In July, Microsoft filed its annual Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealing that its Surface lineup of tablets had garnered only $853 million in revenue for the company, which is less than the $900 million writedown the company took for the Surface RT. While Microsoft did not reveal how many Surface units it sold, GeekWire estimated that it sold approximately 1.7 million units by the end of June.

Last month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told employees at an internal Microsoft town hall meeting that the company had "built more devices than [Microsoft] could sell" in reference to slowing Surface sales. The company has been heavily marketing Windows 8 tablets recently, pitting different tablets against Apple's iPad in a series of ads that highlight the iPad's inability to multitask and its lack of built-in productivity software.

Despite the price cuts, Microsoft has suggested that new versions of both the Surface Pro and Surface RT are in the works, along with a number of new accessories.

Top Rated Comments

bmunge Avatar
139 months ago
Still not worth it.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JoeyCloverfield Avatar
139 months ago
No one cares about Microsoft Products, its not even in the same League as the iPad... also anyone who quotes this and tells me to stop moaning.. go cry to your moms.. if you don't have moms then to bad..

I was under the impression you had to be over 13 to make a forum account. I guess I was wrong.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2457282 Avatar
139 months ago
Microsoft is doomed.

What? Come on, this is MacRumors, therefore it's Apple that is doomed!

/sarcasm

:D
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
inlinevolvo Avatar
139 months ago
I can agree with you on the battery life. It's the major reason why I haven't considered picking one up for myself, even with the stylus and digitizer tempting me.

But the keyboard? You don't have to use the smartcover if you don't want to. Why not just use any number of bluetooth keyboards? Then you could set the tablet whereever you want, and type from your lap no problem. I did that with my iPad just a couple days back, actually. I set it down on a table off to my left, had my keyboard right in front of me, and typed away. It was almost like having an itty bitty portable iMac in a way. I could easily see me doing the same thing with the Pro.

I understand most of these shortcomings could be handled one way or another. Fundamentally MS was not able to approach this correctly and in my opinion that is mostly because of win 8. It is cumbersome to use on a non touch screen. This has generally translated to bad reviews, among other issues. While win 8 has major improvements it is poorly executed. Some of this is in the works with the upcoming service pack, but for the love of God, why did they remove the start button?? I switched to a Mac because of win 8 and I know I'm not the only one.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
inlinevolvo Avatar
139 months ago
When they reduce the price to 20%, I'll buy a dozen for target practice. There's a great app called "Bull's Eye" that draws a perfect target.

----------



Back in 2007 I would have probably bought one, but just like with my Pocket PC, for which I spent over $1700 in units and accessories that have become practically obsolete, I'm afraid the same is going to happen to the Surface.

Something just didn't click-in properly (could that be the Metro interface?) and it's not getting much attention.

I have a feeling the surface will follow the path of the "kin" and the "Zune". Microsoft has a habit of introducing ill researched products into the market and killing them off. They will leave the tablet marketplace in a few years. As someone else posted, you can get a MacBook Air for the price, which can do so much more. It also doesn't help that the metro interface isn't all that great to use. And the classic Microsoft desktop doesn't suit a tablet.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fafafoooey Avatar
139 months ago
Why get that...

when you can get a Macbook Air for the same original price and it has PCI SSD, can run Win7 or Win8 in addition to OSX, has a better warranty and more so with AppleCare, is built better.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
When To Expect New iPads Feature 1

Apple to Announce New iPads on March 26, Rumors Claim

Monday March 18, 2024 4:02 am PDT by
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

iOS 17.4.1 Update for iPhone is Imminent

Monday March 18, 2024 5:27 am PDT by
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
M3 iPad Feature 3

New iPads Likely to Begin Shipping in April

Monday March 18, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...
iOS 17 Passkey With Apple ACCOUNT Feature

'Apple ID' Expected to Change to 'Apple Account' Starting With iOS 18

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:13 am PDT by
MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to rebrand "Apple ID" to "Apple Account" across its software platforms and websites like iCloud.com as early as this year, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has corroborated this change. A mockup of the new Apple Account branding In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new "Apple Account" branding will start to be used later this...