Microsoft is said to be working on a more budget friendly line of Surface tablets; readying them for a release in the second half of this year. This won’t be the first time that the company has tried selling a budget Surface, but the circumstances have changed since then.
The report indicates that the new Surface line will be smaller than the existing models, with 10-inch displays instead of the current 12-inch Surfaces. It will also be adopting newer technologies like USB Type-C connectors; although it’s unclear if this will include Thunderbolt 3 support.
Battery life is expected to be lower than the 14 hours offered on the Surface tablets available today, although this will also result in a lighter device. It looks like a tradeoff for having a smaller display; which isn’t too unreasonable.
Microsoft is said to be exploring the possibility of selling the new Surface at $400 (RM1600), roughly half the price it’s currently asking for the Surface line. This could likely mean that the cut down Windows 10 S will be in use; although Redmond may shy away from reminding people of the disastrous Windows RT launch.
A new lower cost keyboard cover is also said to be in the works to accompany the product launch. Seeing that the Surface line isn’t always bundled with a cover; and picking one up can easily set customers back by several hundred ringgit.
There has been no official word about supposed budget Surface tablets, but the report indicates that we should be hearing more later this year.
[Source: Bloomberg]
