MSFT Cuts Price of Surface 2

Microsoft has cut prices of its almost-retired Surface Pro 2 tablet by $100 days before the next-generation model hits retail.

New prices for the Surface Pro 2 -- which was introduced last fall -- now run $799 for the model with 64GB of storage and $899 for the 128GB configuration. The cuts represent discounts of 11% and 10%, respectively.

Microsoft is scheduled to start selling the Surface Pro 3 it's-a-tablet-it's-a-notebook on Friday. The company has been taking pre-orders for the device since the Surface Pro 3's debut on May 21.

The Surface Pro 3 tablets start at $999 for the 128GB model and end at $1,299 for 256GB of storage. 

Both devices sport a Core i5 processor, the same one used in 2013's Surface Pro 2.

Three other Surface Pro 3 tablets won't ship until August, Microsoft has said, including the $799 64GB model that runs an Intel Core i3 processor, and two configurations boasting the Core i7 CPU, priced at $1,549 (256GB of storage) and $1,949 (512GB).

The Surface Pro 3 devices available this week will be available in Microsoft's own brick-and-mortar stores and those of retail partners like Best Buy, and on Microsoft's online outlet.

When the $799 entry-level Surface Pro 3 reaches retail later this summer, Microsoft will probably slash the price of the Surface Pro 2 tablets even further to empty its inventory.