Microsoft doubles RAM quantity on $999 USD Surface Pro 2017

[AlTech]

Microsoft has doubled the RAM quantity found on their $999 USD Surface Pro (2017). This refreshed $999 USD 2017 Surface Pro model still features Kaby Lake CPUs but with 8GB RAM now instead of 4GB.

 

Microsoft appears to have lowered the retail price of the model with 4GB RAM to $799 USD however at the time that the original article was posted, the 4GB RAM model was sold out. This conflicts with the Core m3 model which launched with a MSRP of $799 USD.

 

Quote

The new Core i5 model, first spotted by Neowin, features 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $999.

Of particular interest is that price point, which places this model at the same price of the previously available Core i5, 128GB model with 4GB of RAM. That original model is currently discounted to $799 (the same price as the Core m3 model), but it's listed as sold out. Microsoft could be positioning this new 8GB configuration as a replacement for the original 4GB option, but that's just speculation for now.

 

It's been almost a year since the 2017 Surface Pro was announced. Whilst I'm not expecting a 2018 Surface Pro next week, I definitely think the 2018 product could be launched later in May or June. Offering up 8GB RAM in the $999 USD Surface Pro 2017 may be an effort by Microsoft to make the product more compelling from a value perspective. This could be to help sell units as the 2017 product is getting a little long in the tooth. 

 

The LTE models of the 2017 product do seem fairly overpriced as a result of the introduction of this new model/configuration.

 

Source:

https://www.windowscentral.com/new-999-surface-pro-configuration-now-available-microsoft

[vanished]

Good move.  4 GB is still ok for basic tasks imo but has no place on anything but an extremely budget device.

Looks like they're still selling the 4 GB model for $800 though?  That's twice what is should be...

[AlTech]

10 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Good move.  4 GB is still ok for basic tasks imo but has no place on anything but an extremely budget device.

Looks like they're still selling the 4 GB model for $800 though?  That's twice what is should be...

It is still supposed to be an aspirational halo like product.

 

It's like the GTX 1080. Sure, you probably would really want one, but less than 30% of those interested would actually end up buying one. It's supposed to inspire OEMs to do better and give people an image of what a Windows Device can be.

[Guest The Viking]

12 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Microsoft has doubled the RAM quantity found on their $999 USD Surface Pro (2017). This refreshed $999 USD 2017 Surface Pro model still features Kaby Lake CPUs but with 8GB RAM now instead of 4GB.

 

Microsoft appears to have lowered the retail price of the model with 4GB RAM to $799 USD however at the time that the original article was posted, the 4GB RAM model was sold out. This conflicts with the Core m3 model which launched with a MSRP of $799 USD.

.... 4gb ram? doubled to 8gb? an m3?

 

just get a 2016 huawei matebook, you get the design & same specs for 500$.....

[AlTech]

Just now, The Viking said:

.... 4gb ram? doubled to 8gb? an m3?

No. the $999 USD i5 model with 128GB Storage got bumped from 4GB RAM to 8GB.

[vanished]

2 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

It is still supposed to be an aspirational halo like product.

 

It's like the GTX 1080. Sure, you probably would really want one, but less than 30% of those interested would actually end up buying one. It's supposed to inspire OEMs to do better and give people an image of what a Windows Device can be.

Doesn't it have to be better than other things on the market to inspire OEMs?  Putting in low end hardware and then charging a lot for it doesn't push the market forward.

 

I agree it gives people an image of what a Windows device can be, but I'm sure Microsoft's intention was to be "wow, imagine if more things were like that", not "thank god there's other options"

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Doesn't it have to be better than other things on the market to inspire OEMs?  Putting in low end hardware and then charging a lot for it doesn't push the market forward.

The technical specifications are not meant to be amazing. The hardware itself is great but the specs are honestly quite insulting.

[Guest The Viking]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

No. the $999 USD i5 model with 128GB Storage got bumped from 4GB RAM to 8GB.

oh I see, it just poses issue with the m3 model. My bad, didn't read that properly.

 

Get a 2016 Matebook regardless, cheaper & kinda same specs. 

 

ps. checked specs. Yeah matebook is the way to go. The hell microsoft, 

4 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

It's supposed to inspire OEMs to do better and give people an image of what a Windows Device can be.

well at least try to make something people can use without ripping them off?

[GoodBytes]

Considering that the Surface brand is all about "the best Windows experience", 4GB should not even be an option today in my opinion.

Good move.

 

In an side topic: I would still love to see a panel behind the kick stand that you can unscrew and access the SSD inside. If your device fails, even under warranty, you have no data recovery options, if you didn't put your stuff on a cloud service.

[Drak3]

5 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

the specs are honestly quite insulting.

Not when considering the digitizer and pen. That's a big part of the package when buying into Surface.

[kirashi]

9 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Considering that the Surface brand is all about "the best Windows experience", 4GB should not even be an option today in my opinion.

Good move. I would still love to see a panel behind the kick stand that you can unscrew and access the SSD inside. If your device fails, even under warranty, you have no data recovery options, if you didn't put your stuff on a cloud service.

This. x100. I know some people really argue this for upgradability - don't get me wrong; I'd love it if everything were easily upgradable too, but being an IT consultant I can't tell you how many times I have people come to me with their UberBook UltraThinLight MegaTiny DongleWidget 6000 product to see if data can be retrieved only to be told nope.jpg can't be done should have backed up. Now, there's something to be said about backing up, for sure, but at the end of the day there is absolutely no reason to glue together a product so tightly that retrieving the SSD is impossible, either for recovery reasons, or to simply re-use the SSD in another product. As far as I'm concerned, we should be mailing all of our old gadgets back to the front doorsteps of the companies that make them as they're the ones responsible for recycling the product since they've made it impossible to do so ourselves.

[79wjd]

58 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Not when considering the digitizer and pen. That's a big part of the package when buying into Surface.

It's not just a big part, it's the main part of the package. The surface is a pretty shitty choice if you don't intend to heavily use the pen, and if you do then it's a great choice (where the only real competition is a 2018 iPad/iPad Pro, which is more limited in functionality but still with its own set of advantages, ultimately leaving the surface the best and only option under certain conditions).

[Drak3]

7 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

That's the main part of the package.

Not the Surface Laptop. The main part of that package is momentary lapse of judgement.

8 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

where the only real competition is a 2018 iPad/iPad Pro

Viao Z Canvas

The old Wacom Cintiq Companions

The new Wacom MobileStudio Pros.

[79wjd]

47 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Not the Surface Laptop. The main part of that package is momentary lapse of judgement.

Viao Z Canvas

The old Wacom Cintiq Companions

The new Wacom MobileStudio Pros.

Don't the Vaio Z and mobilestudios start out much higher? And isn't the companion not a standalone product?

 

(And all three look much heavier and bulkier). Still, I guess it works equally well for some.

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, djdwosk97 said:

Don't the Vaio Z and mobilestudios start out much higher? And isn't the companion not a standalone product?

Vaio Z and MobStudio start out at the price of the top model Surface, but both start with quad cores I believe.

 

The companion functioned both as a pen display and as a high end tablet.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Out of pure curiosity, would it be better to say "capacity" instead of "quantity"?

 

Wording aside, I still wouldn't buy one.

[captain_to_fire]

4 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

4 GB is still ok for basic tasks imo but has no place on anything but an extremely budget device

Opening multiple PDF files inside a browser window regardless whether it's Chrome or not can easily chew on a paltry 4GB RAM. Somehow I'm starting to believe the notion of "there's no such thing as too much RAM". 

[vanished]

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

Opening multiple PDF files inside a browser window regardless whether it's Chrome or not can easily chew on a paltry 4GB RAM. Somehow I'm starting to believe the notion of "there's no such thing as too much RAM". 

I have 32 GB in my main rig so you know that's how I think too But I've also got 4 GB in my 2 in 1 and it works just fine if you don't try to do to anything too crazy.

[Drak3]

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

Opening multiple PDF files inside a browser window regardless whether it's Chrome or not can easily chew on a paltry 4GB RAM. Somehow I'm starting to believe the notion of "there's no such thing as too much RAM". 

 

9 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I have 32 GB in my main rig so you know that's how I think too But I've also got 4 GB in my 2 in 1 and it works just fine if you don't try to do to anything too crazy.

I run Photoshop CC, Sketchbook, and Krita just fine with 4GB.

[rawrdaysgoby]

Finally a worthy buy now....

[DrMacintosh]

6 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

4 GB is still ok for basic tasks imo but has no place on anything but an extremely budget device.

Looks like they're still selling the 4 GB model for $800 though?  That's twice what is should be...

Yeah, even Apple knew 4GB was too small for a device that costs 1k. 

 

The ancient MacBook Air has had 8GB to start for a few years! 

 

Personally I don't need much more than 8GB of RAM. 12GB would be enough for me to be to never have to worry. 8GB is just right atm 

[vanished]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

Yeah, even Apple knew 4GB was too small for a device that costs 1k. 

 

The ancient MacBook Air has had 8GB to start for a few years! 

And that is saying something coming from them.  They've often (or at least used to) lag by one factor of 2 behind what they should have had in the past.

[Okjoek]

So what's it now 4gb instead of 2gb? /s

[aezakmi]

$1000 for an i5 with 8GB memory? lulz

Ms is totally nuts

[79wjd]

12 minutes ago, aezakmi said:

$1000 for an i5 with 8GB memory? lulz

Ms is totally nuts

And yet it's still a good price when you consider that the competition is a an iPad/iPad Pro if you can get away without a full desktop OS, or something that costs at least twice as much.