Microsoft Quietly Discontinued $999 Entry-Level Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7

After opening pre-orders for its new 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop two days ago, Microsoft has quietly removed the $999.99 entry-level Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 from its store (via Windows Central). Both devices now start at $1,199.99 when they’re not on sale, but you’ll get 512 GB of storage instead of the 256 GB previously offered by the entry-level models.

Microsoft’s new 12-inch Surface Pro starts at $799.99, while the new 13-inch Surface Laptop starts at $899.99. Both models have the same 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage that can be upgraded to 512 GB.

By removing the entry-level Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7, Microsoft may want to create more product differentiation in the Surface line. The two new models priced below $1000 have the low-end Snapdragon X Plus chip with just 8 CPU cores instead of 10, no Surface Connect port, slower USB 3.2 ports, and inferior displays. In the US, the Surface Pro 12-inch also ships without a power supply, while the 13-inch model does (except in the EU).

The Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 are still regularly on sale on the Microsoft Store, however. As of this writing, there’s a $170 discount on the 13-inch Surface Pro in Sapphire color ($1,029.99), and a $294.76 discount on the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7 with a Snapdragon X Elite chip in black color ($1,105.23).

As for the new Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch, they are already available for pre-order and will start shipping on May 20. Business versions with anti-reflective displays and additional security features are also coming on July 22.