What makes Microsoft's Surface devices special? Watch Now

Video: What makes Microsoft's Surface devices special?

Customers considering Microsoft Surface Pro devices have a couple of new options as of this week.

The Surface Pro with built-in LTE is now available and shipping in the U.S., Canada, and Australia by consumers. Microsoft made the LTE model -- with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, plus built-in LTE connectivity -- available for purchase by business customers a few months ago. It costs $1,449. (Hat tip, Windows Central.)

Microsoft also quietly added to its Surface lineup a new Surface Pro configuration. (Surface Pro with no number attached is basically the Surface Pro 5, a.k.a., the most recent version of the product, which Microsoft introduced in the summer of 2017.)

As Neowin first noticed, there's now a Core i5 Surface Pro with 8GB of RAM and 128GB SSD -- a previously unavailable configuration -- now listed in Microsoft's online store. This new model costs $999, which is what the Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD model originally cost. The Core i5, 4 GB Surface Pro model is available for $799 but is sold out on the Microsoft Store. (It is, however, still available at Office Depot on sale for $499, as MSPowerUser reported today.)

A related aside: Microsoft launched its hardware division, simultaneously with the launch of the original Microsoft Mouse, 35 years ago, as Chief Product Officer Panos Panay noted in a LinkedIn post.