Microsoft has started its Black Friday sale a little early this year, but buyers hoping to save some cash on the company’s newly announced Surface Studio are out of luck.
Surface Studio, the company’s first all-in-one PC designed for designers, digital artists and other creative professionals, is only available for preorder at its full price. Shoppers who reserve a unit now won’t receive it until early 2017, according to the company’s online store.
However, those eyeing Surface Pro 4 tablets and Surface Books can save upwards of $400 in some cases during the sales period.
Surface Pro 4 tablets with an Intel Core i5 processor and 128GB of storage are now available for $799, a savings of $200. The base Surface Book 2-in-1 laptop is available now for $1,249, or $250 off its MSRP. Waiting a couple of days yields even bigger savings.
On Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24) and running through Cyber Monday (Nov. 28), Microsoft is slashing the price of the Surface Book i5 256GB model by $400. Its retail partner Best Buy is offering an exclusive Surface Pro 4 Core M model with 128GB of storage and a Signature Type Cover for $599. Also on Nov. 24, the company is offering the Surface Pro 4 Core i5 with 256GB of onboard storage and 8GB of RAM for $999, complete with a Type Cover. This model normally costs $1,299 for the tablet alone.
For the gamers on the gift list, Microsoft will cut the price of any Xbox One S bundle by $50 between Nov. 24 and Nov. 28. First introduced during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in June, the upgraded video game console features High Dynamic Range (HDR) support and 4K output, albeit only for video content and not gameplay.
Finally, fans of Microsoft smartphones can pick up an unlocked Lumia 950XL handset ($499) and get an unlocked Lumia 950 and a Microsoft Display Dock at no added cost.
Shoppers who prefer the competition from Cupertino may be in luck this year. After sitting out Black Friday last year, Apple is teasing a one-day shopping event on its website.
“Friday can’t come soon enough,” reads the new webpage, which shows an image of an Apple Watch displaying a “save the date” notification for Nov. 25. “Our one-day shopping event will be here before you know it. Come back this Friday to check everyone off your list.”
Apple already held a sale of sorts earlier this month when it slashed the price of its USB-C adapters after the late-October launch of the company’s new MacBook Pros. Featuring a slimmer profile and a new Touch Bar that replaces the function keys on all but the base 13-inch model, the latest flagship laptops from Apple also dispense with many of the legacy ports that customers use to connect their equipment and accessories. To mend fences, Apple is offering reduced pricing on its USB-C and adapters through the end of 2016.
