Microsoft Surface Go 2018 Latest News & Update: $399 Price for iPad Competitor Aimed at No One in Particular

Microsoft Surface Go 2018 has been confirmed and there’s a lot about this nifty little device to unpack. First is the $399 price point, which is considerably cheaper than the Apple iPad Pro. This is significant because one of the goals with regards to this particular device is to stand out from the crowd of tablets. Unfortunately, this can be difficult when the target audience is so undefined.

As The Verge notes, the Microsoft Surface Go 2018 is a device that is intended to be a cheaper alternative to any of the company’s Surface products. At 10 inches, the tablet is definitely small. It’s also less powerful, coming with 4GB of RAM, an Intel Pentium Gold processor, and a 64GB eMMC storage setup with the $399 option.

For those who want a little more muscle on their tablets, there are much more expensive options, but they cost upwards of $600 once the extra RAM, the faster SSD storage, and other add-ons are tallied. Suffice it to say, it can be a bit of a confusing offer, especially to those who aren’t well versed with regards to choosing devices. This is also where the biggest weakness of the Microsoft Surface Go 2018 comes in.

The device doesn’t seem to have a specific audience in mind. Unlike the more powerful Microsoft Surface Pro, which aims squarely at working professionals, the Go seems to be all over the place.

This is why CNBC points out that it might be better to stick with the more established lineup than risk getting burned with the new offering. For those who want the Microsoft Surface Go 2018 to have a keyboard, for example, spending $650 would not be out of the question. At that point, choosing the Surface Pro bundle worth $799 would not be such a big leap to take.