You Need to Pay $300 Extra for Surface Laptop's Cool Colors

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When Microsoft showed off its new Surface Laptop yesterday (May 2), it noted that the device comes in four colors: platinum, graphite gold, burgundy and cobalt blue.

There's a catch to that, though: you can't get those colors with the base $999 model. In fact, you can't get them with the most expensive $2,199 configuration, either. There's only one way to get anything other than platinum: order the $1,299 laptop with Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

Microsoft made a big deal out of these color options, which are just one subtle way that the company is trying to show more personality than Apple has been on its MacBooks (no rose gold here). But Microsoft also touted the $999 price point, and the college students Microsoft is targeting with its new laptop will have to drop an extra $300 for the red, gold or blue versions.

Here's what happens when you try to configure a Surface Laptop with a color:

See? All grayed out. Bummer. The same thing happens with RAM and storage options.

This doesn't appear to be a temporary issue. Not only does it show up this way on the site, but it's also in the fine print in the announcement video (start at 1:08) and in a blog post on Microsoft's newsroom site (again, in the fine print).

MORE: Why Doesn't the Surface Laptop Have USB Type-C?

"We are excited to share Surface Laptop with the world," a Microsoft representative said in a statement. "In order to ensure we meet customer demand and expectations, we are taking a measured and phased approach to Surface Laptop availability. We will announce additional color availability in other markets in coming months."

So yes, you can get those colors (and having seen the laptop in person, the Surface Laptop looks great in both burgundy and cobalt blue). But at the moment, there's only one configuration that gives you the color option, and it's pricier than the $999 model Microsoft is touting.

Lead image: Microsoft

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Andrew E. Freedman