When it debuted last month, many people (including myself) thought Microsoft featured the entry-level Surface RT tablet with 32GB at $499 because it wanted to be price-competitive with the iPad, who’s 32GB costs $599. As it turns out, that probably isn’t the reason why.

You see the two Surface RT models come with 32GB or 64GB internal storage. The catch is roughly 16GB of that internal storage is already used up by Windows, recovery tools, and built-in apps. The end user actually only has access to 16GB (32GB model) and 45GB (64GB model). In other words, Surface RT may come with 32GB/64GB internal storage, but there is only 16GB/45GB of free space available for storing your downloaded content (apps, photos, movies, etc.) Sure 16GB free storage is better than the roughly 13GB free storage 16GB iPad and Android tablets come with, but it isn’t by much.

On the bright side, Microsoft Surface tablets support expandable storage via microSD slots. So you aren’t limited in storage space, unlike the iPad and some Android tablets.