Starlink drops Performance dish price by $500 to make room for gigabit speed model

After the $100 discount on the $499 Starlink Mini Kit that runs until July 7, Starlink has now cut the price of its rugged Performance dish by the sizable $500 for the same period.

While the Starlink Mini dish deal is not all that impressive given that it can be found discounted to $315 over on Amazon, the 33% down offer on the Performance dish may catch the attention of the enterprise customers it targets.

Instead of $1499, Starlink is now selling the Performance dish for $999 until July 7, or while supplies last, as it likely wants to clear inventory for the upgraded version that costs $1,999. Starlink's business service plans start from $65, so the big initial outlay is the kit.

The new Starlink Performance Kit includes a more rugged version that can withstand vibrations from a landing rocket and comes with a 10-year lifespan forecast even in adverse weather conditions. The current Performance dish whose price Starlink just dropped by $500 comes with a 2-year warranty still, but durability is not the only advantage of its expensive successor.

The latest Performance dish edition is the first Starlink piece of equipment that comes with support for gigabit Internet speeds, while the current kit maxes out at about 400 Mbps.

The dish is a bit ahead of its time, as Starlink will only light up the gigabit network when it starts launching its V3 satellite generation in 2026. The third generation of Starlink satellites are the size of a Boeing 737 when their solar panels are unfurled, and need the upcoming Mars-ready Starship 3 rocket for deployment.

The Starlink V3 satellites not only support 1 Tbps throughput each, or 10x the current V2 satellite capacity, but will also be set into lower orbit and offer greatly improved ping suitable for gaming.

Starlink does warn that the discounted Performance kit doesn't include a router and its shipment may be delayed by up to two weeks, but businesses looking to save $500 on a purchase would likely be fine with that, given that the gigabit Internet network won't be up and running until some time in 2026.