Reader poll: Would you trade in your MacBook Air for a Surface Pro 3?

By Konrad Krawczyk June 24, 2014

Microsoft SURFACE Pro 3 front angle — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Right now, Microsoft is offering people a credit of up to $650 towards the purchase of a Surface Pro 3.

The catch? You have to trade in a MacBook Air in order to get the credit. Oh, and don’t even think about giving them one that’s busted. It has to be in working condition.

Once we learned of this offer from Microsoft, we couldn’t help but wonder whether anyone would actually take them up on this offer. After all, even the cheapest MacBook Air you can get today costs significantly more than the maximum value of this credit. Right now at Apple.com, the entry-level 11-inch Air costs $899. That’s $249 more than the full credit you could get from Microsoft.

Plus, only “select” MacBook Air models are eligible for the trade in, but Microsoft doesn’t specify which versions are and aren’t eligible. Also, considering that Microsoft language mentions that consumers could get “up to” $650, this leads us to believe that you would have to trade a 2013 or 2014 model in order to get the maximum trade in value. At the end of the day, part of what determines how good of an offer this is depends on how much you could get for an older MacBook Air, and how the amount of credit that Microsoft doles out breaks down as you move up the ladder from older MacBook Airs to newer ones.

The base model Surface Pro 3 costs $799, packs an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The next step up is the $999 version, which bumps the CPU to a Core i5, keeps the RAM constant at 4GB, and doubles the storage. For $1,299, you still get a Core i5-powered Surface Pro 3, but the RAM jumps to 8GB and storage shoots up to 256GB.

From there, the price goes up to $1,549, which nets you an Intel Core i7 processor, but keeps the RAM and storage at $1,299 levels. And then there’s the mack daddy model: an Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of memory, and a 512GB hard drive for $1,949.

With all of that in mind, would you consider trading your MacBook Air in for up to $650 towards the purchase of a Surface Pro 3?

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Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

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