The Estimates Were Wrong, Microsoft's Surface Pro 128GB Sold Out Hours After Going on Sale

Microsoft’s $999 128GB Surface Pro has sold out in the online Microsoft Store in the U.S. (via WinBeta), just a few hours after going on sale today, February 9. The 64GB version is still available as of this writing, and the Surface Pro is still likely in stock at physical retail locations like Best Buy, where it also went on sale today, although checking the stock levels via their online tool reports the Surface Pro as “Unavailable” across the board.

The Surface Pro is Microsoft’s more powerful, Intel-powered Windows 8 tablet, which runs the full version of Windows 8 unlike the Surface RT and can handle full-fledged Windows desktop applications. In the TC review, John Biggs said that the Pro was a much more compelling device than the RT, in part because of its ability to run software that enterprise IT departments depend upon from legacy windows installations.

The Surface RT sold out of the $500 32GB model within one day, but the Pro’s more expensive model has sold out even faster. That could indicate that users are placing a higher value on storage with the Pro, which is marketed as a device much more suited to getting serious work done than the Surface RT. The 64GB model remains in stock for now, and given that there’s only $100 price difference to trade up to double the storage capacity with the 128GB version, that’s not surprising.

Storage was recently the subject of a number of back-and-forth reports regarding the Surface, with some claiming Microsoft left little room on-device for personal files once you accounted for the Windows 8 OS install. Ed Bott reported earlier todays on the actual storage numbers, which beat the original estimates by a fair amount, but the free space on the 64GB version still represents a 200 percent increase from the actual usable space on the base Surface Pro model.

The 128GB Surface Pro is still available to order from the Microsoft Store online in Canada as of this publication date, and you may still be able to grab one by visiting a physical retail location. [TechCrunch]

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Apple Announces That The Full Size iPad 4 is Now Available With 128GB of Storage

Apple has announced the full-size iPad with Retina display now comes in a 128GB capacity, which is double the previous maximum. From 5 February, the 128GB model will cost £639 with just Wi-Fi, or £739 with Wi-Fi + 4G.

It's a big expense, although considering the Wi-Fi-only 64GB model currently costs £559, 80 quid to double the storage doesn't seem too unreasonable.

For me, it's what Apple didn't announce that was more interesting: there was no 128GB iPad mini. With every upgrade Apple seems to be aiming to make the "iPad maxi" the "pro" version, introducing the mini as an everyday user's best choice.

The iPad mini is to the full-size iPad what the MacBook Air is to the MacBook Pro -- smaller, less expensive, more convenient, yet just as capable at handling what most people want an iPad for as its bigger brother; the iPad maxi (which I wouldn't be surprised if Apple ended up callng the iPad Pro in the future, once the iPad mini gets a Retina display) is the model for the creative professionals.

I can say with some confidence that a full-size iPad no longer has much use to me; the mini, on the other hand, has become something I value more than my phone. In fact, if push came to shove, I'd give up my phone for a week faster than I'd give up the iPad mini.

I put this to the test this year. The iPad mini allowed me to cover the whole of CES earlier this month without using any paper or turning my iPhone on. I didn't even take a notepad into the conference halls. Its size was just right to be carried around the show floor, acting as a writing device (Pages), a shorthand notepad (the GoodNotes app and a Bamboo Stylus), a dictaphone (SoundCloud) and a photo editor (iPhoto). Hell, it was even the camera as well on a couple of occasions. I never considered doing this with the main iPad because it was just that bit too big and I always needed two hands to use it.

But as a result of the iPad mini having become my go-to device for damn-near everything, a 128GB model is on my wish list. The 64GB model I use is already full and that's despite iTunes downgrading my lossless audio CD rips into 256Kbps AAC files. The rest is taken up with photos, a few RPG games (Baldur's Gate alone is about a 2GB install) and various other apps and media files.

A 128GB iPad mini won't happen until Apple can divide the mini and the "Pro" a bit more, and for that we'll have to wait for the next generation of both models. It will happen, but not for a few months yet. [WiredUK]

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Apple Gets Ready to Launch a High Capacity 128GB iPad

Following today's revelation of code in iOS 6.1 Beta 5 hinting at future 128 GB iOS devices, 9to5Mac reports that four new high-end iPad configurations have appeared in a U.S. retailer's database.

While the exact identity of the devices is not revealed in the stock database, they do appear as "ultimate" configurations of the current full-size iPad models, suggesting that they may represent 128 GB models of the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad in both black and white.

While it is certainly plausible that this new iPad model is the 128GB iPad, we are currently not confident enough to outright claim that, but it seems likely based on the evidence. [..]

The P101 and P103 names are Apple’s internal nomenclature for the WiFi-only and Cellular-compatible fourth-generation iPads, respectively. Both of those models comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB configurations. These storage sizes are known as “GOOD,” “BETTER,” and “BEST,” respectively. As you can see in our table above, Apple is preparing to release the additional “ULTIMATE” model. “ULTIMATE” frequently refers to the most premium or highest capacity model available. The “A” points to a black configuration, and “B” stands for the white option.

No additional information such as specifications, price, or a launch date for the new configurations have yet been revealed.

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