rumors, yes, but they align with the previously speculated launch window. And while Redmond is yet to comment on this officially, or provide any specifics, it did confirm in late 2013 that the LTE enabled model of the slate would arrive in early 2014. And now some new information about this device has floated up. According to this report, again from unnamed sources, it appears that only the 64GB model of Surface 2 will get LTE capabilities. It does not truly compute, but maybe it makes sense in some aspects. What doesn’t, however, is the pricing tag that Microsoft reportedly plans to attach to the tablet. It is being claimed that the 64GB version of Surface 2 with LTE will retail for $679 — which is a significant increase from the $549 that the standard model retails at. A $130 increase for simple cellular capabilities? Pretty dense, in my opinion. In an ideal world, this would have been built in, or at most a $49 premium. Even $99 is pushing it. In any case, if you are game for the LTE slate at this price point, then you will get support for 2G (bands 850/900/1800/1900), 3G UMTS (bands 1, 2, 5) and LTE (bands 4, 7, 17) to go with the WiFi a/b/g/n connectivity that comes as standard. AT&T is said to be handling the cellular duties, and the device will exclusively be available in the United States, at least for the foreseeable future. Your comments on these reports? Agree with what Microsoft is cooking? Or do you feel that the company should have gone in at more affordable price points?]]>
Why are prices going up instead of down? How much does it really cost just to add an LTE card to a device? It the price because they have to make completely new main boards? Even if subsidized by the carrier, the new devices will end up costing me the same as going and buying a non-LTE device right off the shelf. That’s crazy. I’d hate to see how much an LTE Surface Pro would be
Well considering some Android tablets charge an additional $29 to $49, this should have been the range Microsoft should have targeted.
But really, what I want to know is what NVIDIA was smoking when they designed the Tegra 4, leaving the cellular capabilities to the Tegra 4i. This should have been built in from the start.
Yeah I’m just not understanding that. I guess they figured the first generation wasn’t LTE, so why bother
This definitely isn’t the move I would make. While I do think the table is nice, I agree with your analysis that it’s not $130 nicer. I guess Microsoft is making an effort to make their tablet seem like a superior product. The price increase is their strategy.
On paper not a bad strategy, taking up the high end, and leaving the midrange and low end to other hardware partners, but $130 is Apple territory.
Since this is not official, let’s hope there is little truth in it.
This is an interesting point. Does Windows think there Tablet is as good as the iPad, or are they simply trying to make people think it is? I guess it’ll be one of those two if this becomes official.
$130 price increase is too much for me. I do not think this would be a smart move for Microsoft. It doesn’t have the same brand recognition or popularity as the iPad. Prices wont change that.
True, Apple can get away with this highway robbery, and for the fact that it still charges $100 for storage increments (particularly now that prices of flash memory have fallen), because of it’s brand.
Surface is yet to get there, and this is not the best route.
Great point on the storage increments. You have to give credit to Apple for getting their brand to this point, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Windows should know that.
It’s not just you, Fahad. This is too much money for the tablet. I hope Microsoft is just putting feelers out to see what the response is, and I think they’ll quickly find it’s negative.
Fingers crossed, then, I’m in for a Surface Pro 3, and would be royally turned off if this were to be the case. Keep it reasonable, people!
I would potentially pay the price they’re asking for, but they need to add more features to get that price out of me.