Microsoft Offers Surface Pro 3 Buyers $650 on a MacBook Air Trade

Microsoft, who is touting its Surface Pro 3 tablet as a laptop replacement, is now selling it under a special promotional scheme, where customers will get $650 store credit on select MacBook Air trade-in until July 31 at select stores in the US and Canada only.

In order to trade-in a MacBook Air, the ultraportable laptop from Apple should meet certain requirements - such as perfect working condition with no cracked screens or water damage, and more. Further the store credit value will depend on the trade-in device's condition.

Last month, Microsoft had unveiled the next generation of its Surface Pro tablet, running Windows 8.1, called the Surface Pro 3 at its 'small' Surface event in New York.

With this Microsoft takes aim at Apple's MacBook range - long considered the benchmark for ultra-thin laptops claiming its tablet has been designed as a powerful all-purpose computer fit to replace a laptop.

'We want products and technologies that enable people to dream and get stuff done,' Microsoft chief Satya Nadella said at the press event in New York.

The Surface Pro 3 features a high-resolution screen that is 12-inches (30.5 centimetres) measured diagonally, weighs approximately 28 ounces (800 grams) and is slightly more than a third of an inch (0.9 centimetres) deep.

The 12-inch 2160x1440 pixel display features a 3:2 aspect that supposedly delivers more surface area or visual real-estate to work with. The company boasts of the Surface Pro 3 display's contrast ratio, which it claims is the highest in the industry.

The company's Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Surface, Panos Panay had introduced the tablet, and said Microsoft worked closely with Intel to make it the 'thinnest Core product that's ever been created'. The Surface Pro 3 comes in a choice of Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors.