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Microsoft Announces Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Microsoft today unveiled the successors to its Surface line of tablets, announcing both the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro 2. The Surface 2 is an upgrade to the existing Surface RT tablet and includes a Tegra 4 processor, a 1920 x 1080 resolution, and 25 percent better battery life.

The Surface 2 is both thinner and lighter than the original Surface RT, retaining the adjustable kickstand. Instead of USB 2.0 ports it uses USB 3.0, and includes Microsoft's full Office software (adding Outlook).

surfacepro2s.jpg
Microsoft's Surface Pro 2, the next iteration of its existing Surface Pro tablet, is equipped with an Intel Haswell processor that boosts graphics performance by 50 percent and battery life by 75 percent. Overall performance is said to be up 20 percent, and while the Surface Pro 2 includes double the memory (8GB), the form factor remains unchanged.

Accompanying the two new tablets is a new Touch Cover ($119) that boasts additional sensors, new gestures, a thinner design, and backlighting. There's also a new Power Cover ($150-$200), designed to add additional battery life to the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2.

The Surface 2, priced at $449, is once again poised to compete with Apple's full-sized iPad. The Surface Pro 2 has a price tag of $899, putting it nearly on par with the MacBook Air. Microsoft does intend to continue selling the original Surface RT for $349.

Despite a vigorous anti-iPad campaign touting its Surface tablets, Microsoft has seen poor sales of the devices and was forced to initiate price cuts after taking a $900 million writedown for the Surface RT.

Microsoft will begin accepting pre-orders for the new Surface tablets on September 24, shipping them on October 22, which falls in the time frame of a prospective October Apple event that could see the introduction of Apple's fifth-generation iPad and Retina iPad mini.

Article Link: Microsoft Announces Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/23/microsoft-announces-surface-2-and-surface-pro-2/
TheOrioles33

TheOrioles33

macrumors 6502
Apr 3, 2008
297
0
Wait a minute. Sales were dismal for the Surface right? So why make a 2?

If first you don't succeed, try and try again. :)
 
A

afro-ninja

macrumors member
Jan 27, 2013
44
4
Interesting, but the Surface 2 should have been full Windows. At that price, nobody wants a dumbed down Windows OS...

The Pro looks good.
 
eltaurus

eltaurus

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2012
155
5
nice but pricing increment over storage space is scam by both Apple & Microsoft
 
BC2009

BC2009

macrumors 68020
Jul 1, 2009
2,237
1,393
I feel bad for Microsoft. I don't know how they get things back on track. I think there is going to be more decline before recovery, but I do think there will be a recovery. I don't think the new Surface tablets will sell well even if the Pro is a decent replacement for a Windows 8 Ultrabook. Until Microsoft fully embraces touch interface on tablets and optimizes all their apps, they are going to struggle.
 
cmChimera

cmChimera

macrumors 601
Feb 12, 2010
4,273
3,762
Oct 15., Apple announces new iPads, sells a lot of them. People continue to ignore the Surface.
 
dugbug

dugbug

macrumors 68000
Aug 23, 2008
1,865
1,926
Somewhere in Florida
Balmer logic: If you fail miserably at something, double down.

WHY did they keep the arm model? It splits their OS, office suite, app stores + developers, etc.
 
ValSalva

ValSalva

macrumors 68040
Jun 26, 2009
3,783
259
Burpelson AFB
Great! Let's see if Microsoft can beat their previous record $900 million loss :D

Same software. I'd say they have a great chance of losing even more money.
 
A

akm3

macrumors 68020
Nov 15, 2007
2,252
279
What about this release makes Microsoft think it will sell better than the previous one? I'm genuinely curious.
 
WilliamLondon

WilliamLondon

macrumors 68000
Dec 8, 2006
1,699
13
I don't mean this to be some petty anti-Microsoft or pro-Apple comment, but the original Surface failed for various reasons, and they've updated the product with mostly specs and tweaks - do those really address the reasons the product failed a year ago? Just seems like they've just updated a failed product and haven't really addressed the big reasons consumers aren't buying the thing.
 
J

Jim L

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2011
126
153
The Piedmont, NC
This will sell 9 million on launch weekend!

.. NOT. maybe 9,000 to poor unsuspecting fools.

I guess Uncle Fester (Ballmer) wants to go out with a bang and really bankrupt Microsoft.
 
A

ahlsn

macrumors member
Sep 1, 2013
84
22
This doesn't change anything. Just an upgraded failure. Sounds like a really stupid move to me. Maybe they should overlook why it failed and try to overcome that.
 
Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,147
31,204
And Microsoft stock is is essentially flat today so this announcement didn't do anything to excite Wall Street.
 
W

Wiesenlooser

macrumors 6502a
Jul 9, 2010
984
1,540
The surface pro (2) is actually a great device
For students - specially for those who need to draw (design engineering etc).

I don't think it's that bad of a device
 
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