14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that an LTE version of the Surface Pro would be released by December 31 for businesses, promising a consumer SKU sometime in 2018.
It turns out that the company got everything ready a bit earlier, as after making the Surface Pro with LTE available for business customers in early December, Microsoft has now started selling the consumer version of the device as “Commercial Microsoft Surface Pro with LTE.”
There are two versions of the LTE device on sale, and the more powerful is already out of stock at the online Microsoft Store.
Users can choose between the more affordable Intel Core i5 version with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage sold for $1,149 or the more expensive version with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, also with an i5 chip, but with a price tag of $1,449.
Surface Pen and keyboard sold separately
On the other hand, customers need to spend extra for the Surface Pro Signature Type Cover and the Surface Pen, as both accessories are not included in the box and are sold separately.
At this point, the pricier model is currently out of stock, so you can only purchase the model with 4GB RAM from the online Microsoft Store. More units should become available in early 2018.
Unfortunately, LTE support isn’t offered for the top-of-the-range Surface Pro configurations coming with Intel Core i7 chips, 16GB RAM, and 1TB storage. Microsoft says the primary target for this Surface Pro SKU is the business market, so there’s a chance demand here for the top configurations is too weak for an LTE configuration to make sense.
It goes without saying that consumers who want to purchase the new Surface Pro with LTE need to hurry up because supply appears to be limited for the time being and the only version that’s still available is likely to go out of stock anytime soon.