Microsoft unveiled the Surface Laptop Ultra on Wednesday, its first laptop built around Nvidia's RTX Spark chip, at an event in San Francisco. The device starts at $2,599 and ships October 16, according to CNBC and The Verge.
RTX Spark is an Arm-based chip designed to run AI models directly on the device instead of in the cloud. The base configuration carries 24GB of unified memory — a single pool of memory shared by the processor and the graphics chip — rising to 128GB on higher-end models, CNBC, The Verge and Spanish outlet Hipertextual reported. Both Microsoft and Nvidia are positioning RTX Spark laptops at the premium end of the market, aimed at creative software, gaming and local AI work, according to Engadget.
The laptop has a 15-inch touchscreen display with up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness and HDR support, according to CNBC, The Verge, Engadget and Hipertextual. It weighs about 4.4 pounds, or roughly 2 kilograms, CNBC and Engadget reported.
Price climbs fast with more memory
Pricing rises sharply with memory. Hipertextual listed a mid-tier configuration with 64GB of memory at $4,699, and the top configuration, with 128GB of memory and a 20-core processor, at $5,899.99. TechCrunch reported that the top-end version had already sold out in the United States on launch day.
The laptop has three USB-C ports, one USB-A port, an HDMI output and an SD card reader, according to Engadget and Hipertextual.
A magnetic port and a developer PC
The laptop introduces a magnetic USB-C port Microsoft calls Magnetic Connect. It detaches if someone trips on the cable, similar to Apple's MagSafe, while still working as a standard USB-C port, CNBC and The Verge said.
Microsoft also introduced the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a developer mini PC with the same chip, starting at $5,999 and shipping in November. It is built for developers who need to run AI models directly on the device instead of relying on cloud infrastructure, according to The Verge and TechCrunch.
Microsoft wasn't the only company detailing RTX Spark-powered PCs that day. Dell revealed pricing and a launch date for its Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition, also built around Nvidia's chip and priced at $3,800, according to TechCrunch.
Windows 11 adds guardrails for AI agents
Microsoft is also updating Windows 11 with a feature called Execution Containers, which sandboxes AI agents to block unwanted access to the rest of the system, according to CNBC and TechCrunch. A separate feature, Hybrid Intelligence, lets the Copilot assistant use files stored on the PC to carry out tasks, according to The Verge and Engadget.
Meta is also bringing a Windows version of its Muse AI agent, currently available only on Mac, according to CNBC and The Verge.
TechCrunch reported that Microsoft is offering up to $1,000 off to buyers who trade in a MacBook Pro, an attempt to win over developers who currently favor Apple's computers for AI and coding work.
A second attempt at tying hardware to AI
It is not Microsoft's first attempt to tie its hardware to AI. In 2024, the company introduced the Copilot+ PC standard, which required a dedicated AI chip in participating devices. A company spokesperson told CNBC that Microsoft has since simplified product naming to lead with the Surface brand.
At the event, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the industry will start rethinking the shape of edge computing — processing done on the device itself, close to the user — in the years ahead, according to CNBC. "That classic edge that distributed computing will always remain distributed will be more true," Nadella said, according to the outlet.
