It has taken a good while for Microsoft to finally be transparent about the impressive looking Surface‘s pricing. While sporting a really good looking design and a innovative keyboard design, Microsoft did not reveal too much about the tablet. Finally, the pricing has been revealed, and it does look good compared to Cupertino’s offerings (via Paul Thurrott)

Surface Tablet 32GB with Windows 8 RT: $500

Surface Tablet 32GB with Windows 8 RT (with black keyboard cover): $600

Surface Tablet 64GB with Windows 8 RT (with black keyboard cover): $700

If you want to later buy the magnetically attached keyboard seperately, it will cost $120, but it will then also be available in other colours: White, Cyan, Pink, Red. There is also no mention of 3G or LTE options, so it looks like it will be Wifi only at launch.

This pricing is for the ARM processor based tablet which will require specifically coded Windows RT apps, so dont expect to replace your traditional laptop with the RT based Surface just yet. The Surface “RT” will also ship with a special edition of Office 2013.

Surface specs:

Microsoft is also planning a Intel based Surface, which will run your “legacy” Windows apps, but expect a much higher price. Previously Microsoft said to expect pricing similiar to ultrabooks, so expect pricing in the $1000 range. Due to Intel Core i5 hardware inside, it will require a bit more cooling, and thus, a slightly thicker and heavier chassis. Specs for the Pro: