Microsoft may be planning to launch an affordable Surface to compete head-to-head with Apple's iPad

One of the merits that we cannot deny to Apple is that it knows how to create trends. Touchscreen _smartphones_ were there, not invented, but the iPhone was the forerunner of a concept that dominates us today. The same can be said of tablets, a type of device that had its beginning with the iPad, so much so that for many the line between iPad and tablet is indivisibleOne cannot be understood without the other.

After the iPad, many brands launched into the tablet market with greater or lesser success.In Android, the market was flooded with cheap tablets, which in many cases almost meant wasting money because of the poor quality they offered. And in the Windows field, Microsoft gave its all with the Surface range Tablets and convertibles, all-in-one, high-quality and high-performance.

How in the case of the iPad, we find products not suitable for all budgets. The traditional iPad has had a market niche clearly marked by its price, beyond the fact that sales of these devices have been dropping continuously.

To gain market share, especially in education, Apple recently launched a cheaper version of the iPad, compatible with the Apple Pencil. He was looking to win over users who do not want or cannot pay what an iPad Pro costs, 729 euros. And Microsoft may pursue this strategy

Attract users who do not want to spend the 949 euros that a Surface device costs to start with cheaper equipment

Keep in mind that the cheapest Surface we can find is priced at 949 euros. It's the Surface Pro with an Intel Core M3 and 128 GB SSD. Too expensive for some users, so Microsoft, according to Bloomberg, could be considering launching an affordable Surface

They talk about a considerable price reduction. A Surface that would cost around $400 as a base price and therefore would mean a significant price drop of almost half the price.

Apparently we would be facing a completely renewed Surface, in which the design would change, which would opt for less pronounced, more rounded edges and a battery that would reach 13, 5 hours of use.

It would lower the size of the screen, which would stay at 10.8 inches and in parallel we would find ourselves facing a reduction in weight , being 20% lighter than current modelsIn addition, we would finally see the USB Type-C connector. Inside it would use an Intel processor with an integrated graphics card with storage capacities of 64 and 128 GB with eMMC memory and with Windows 10 Pro as an operating system.

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It seems this new affordable Surface could see the light of day in the second half of 2018 to compete with the iPad that can currently be find for a price of 349 euros. It would also follow in the wake of the Surface 3, Microsoft&39;s latest cheap tablet, which could be found for less than 500 euros."

Source | Bloomberg In Xataka | Surface Pro (2017), analysis: the pencil shines with its own light in the reference convertible In Xataka Windows | From Shanghai: This is the new Microsoft Surface Pro with which Microsoft wants to fight the competition