• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, June 22, 2012

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Microsoft’s new tablet could cost around $599 for the standard model, and $799 for the “Pro” version. These price points wouldn’t exactly help Microsoft compete with the current tablet king, Apple. “It really would be poetic justice if the Windows-based post-PC solution was more expensive than the iPad,” VentureBeat writes. “One of the arguments for years in favor of Wintel-flavored PCs has been cost -- less of it, that is.”

Taiwanese trade journal Digitimes is reporting the prices for Surface, which Microsoft unveiled just this week. All things considered, “It would not be shocking if the Microsoft Surface tablets were more expensive than iPads,” VB notes. “The machines, arguably, offer more.”  The Pro version, for one, has all the power and functionality of a PC.

“However, coming in significantly above the iPad price points would be close to a death knell for the products,” VB warns. “Or, at a minimum very, very risky. Microsoft needs scale, and it needs a market success, both of which a higher price point would endanger.”