Microsoft Unveils Surface Laptop Ultra With Nvidia RTX Spark, Windows AI Push

The base Surface Laptop Ultra configuration includes an 18-core CPU, 24GB of unified memory and 512GB of storage, according to Microsoft. A top configuration priced at $5,899.99 comes with 128GB of memory, a 20-core CPU and 1TB of storage, The Verge reported. A 48GB model listed at Best Buy costs $3,999.99, The Verge also reported.

Nvidia’s RTX Spark is an Arm-based processor that combines CPU and GPU, with a Blackwell-based GPU capable of up to one petaflop of AI compute, according to Slashdot. Microsoft says the laptop supports up to 128GB of unified memory and can run AI models locally. Slashdot reported support for models as large as 120 billion parameters; The Verge reported that Microsoft says the system can handle compressed 280 billion-parameter models locally. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the event that the new device has as much computing power as Nvidia’s DGX-1 data center server from 2016, which cost $250 million, according to CNBC.

The laptop has a 15-inch PixelSense Ultra mini-LED touchscreen with a 3:2 aspect ratio, 262 pixels per inch and peak HDR brightness of up to 2,000 nits. It is less than 18mm thick and weighs under 4.5 pounds, or about 2kg, Microsoft said. It will be sold in Platinum and Nightfall finishes and includes a precision haptic touchpad more than 30% larger than the one on the 15-inch Surface Laptop 7th Edition. Ports include three USB-C ports, USB-A, HDMI, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a full-size SD card reader, The Verge reported. Microsoft says the device has the world’s first built-in USB-C magnetic charging.

Microsoft developed a new cooling system for the laptop that offers up to 2.5 times the thermal capacity of the 15-inch Surface Laptop 7th Edition, according to Slashdot. The Verge reported that because Nvidia combined the CPU and GPU, Microsoft was able to shrink the motherboard and increase fan size. The company also focused on repairability, with no components glued down and marked instructions and QR codes for disassembly, The Verge reported.

Microsoft is positioning the Surface Laptop Ultra against Apple’s MacBook Pro. Brett Ostrum, corporate vice president of Surface at Microsoft, told The Verge that the company’s earlier Copilot Plus PC initiative was “really aimed at MacBook Air,” and that existing chips were not capable enough to reach MacBook Pro-level compute. Nvidia began privately showing what its forthcoming chips could handle for AI, and Ostrum said Nvidia was “a logical choice.” Jit Hirani, lead designer for Surface devices, told The Verge that the product “is built for us” and that Microsoft’s engineering team went through about 300 iterations on the magnetic USB-C connector.

On Windows, Microsoft used the event to emphasize agentic AI. With user permission, Copilot will be able to carry out actions based on local files, run AI models locally while using the cloud for extra compute, and generate apps and widgets. Starting this fall, users will be able to take thousands of quick actions directly in Windows search from the taskbar, including switching on dark mode, taking a screenshot, adjusting volume, getting answers, sending text messages and opening the new Copilot app. CNBC reported that Meta will introduce a version of its Muse AI agent for Windows; Muse has recently topped Apple’s App Store, surpassing ChatGPT.

Microsoft said it is working to make Windows the most secure platform for AI agents and is taking a hybrid approach that runs AI both locally and in the cloud. The company is updating the Windows 11 setup experience to help users get started with the open-source OpenClaw AI agent software, and developers can confine coding agents to Microsoft Execution Containers to prevent unwanted system access, according to CNBC. Microsoft’s head of Windows and Devices, Pavan Davuluri, spoke at the San Francisco event alongside CEO Satya Nadella. Nadella said the frontier ecosystem may take “slightly different contours” in two, five or 10 years, adding that “that classic edge that distributed computing will always remain distributed will be more true.”

Microsoft also opened preorders for the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a developer-focused desktop PC priced at $6,000 that will ship in November. The Dev Box uses Nvidia’s RTX Spark N1X chip and ships with 128GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage, with removable storage but no other customization, according to Engadget. It includes two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, Ethernet, DisplayPort 2.1 and HDMI 2.1b, and comes with Windows 11 Pro plus Visual Studio Code, Git, GitHub CLI, GitHub Copilot and Python preinstalled. Engadget reported that it can run AI models exceeding 120 billion parameters and is a larger, more expensive version of Nvidia’s earlier DGX Spark, which launched at $3,999 but now sells for nearly $7,000 for a 128GB model.

Other RTX Spark laptops from Dell, Lenovo, MSI, HP and Asus start as low as $2,599 for configurations with an 18-core CPU, 24GB of unified memory and 512GB of storage, The Verge reported. An Asus ProArt P16 with a 20-core chip, 128GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage costs up to $6,999.99. The first RTX Spark laptops are launching this month, with Oct. 16 as the earliest date. Microsoft is not among the top six PC vendors by unit shipments, according to an estimate from Gartner cited by CNBC, and its own AI models are less popular than leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic, CNBC reported.

Separately, TechRadar reported that two MSI laptops were discounted for Amazon Prime Day: the MSI Katana 15 HX fell to $1,791 from $2,200, and the MSI Crosshair A16 HX fell to $2,294 from $2,699. Both have RTX 5070 graphics, 32GB of DDR5 memory and 1TB SSDs. TechRadar recommended the Katana 15 HX for most buyers because it offers similar core hardware for $503 less.