Surface Laptop Ultra pre-orders are open, starting at $2,599 with availability beginning October 16. Microsoft announced the laptop on October 7, along with a Surface RTX Spark Dev Box that costs $5,999.
However, Microsoft’s footnotes qualify several of the headline numbers. Here is what they say.
What is inside the Surface Laptop Ultra
NVIDIA’s RTX Spark superchip powers the laptop. Microsoft lists a Blackwell GPU with up to 6,144 cores and a Grace CPU with up to 20 cores. It also lists up to 128GB of unified memory. According to Microsoft, that is enough to run AI models above 120 billion parameters locally.
Two footnotes matter here. The “up to 1 petaflop” figure is theoretical FP4 performance using sparsity. In addition, the CPU and GPU share the 128GB. The GPU can address less than the total.
The display, the thermals and the catch
The 15-inch PixelSense Ultra touchscreen reaches 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness. Microsoft measured that over a 10 percent window with HDR content, and it says sustained and standard-dynamic-range brightness are lower. It also claims the panel is up to 25 percent brighter at peak HDR than the MacBook Pro M5. That compares published specifications as of October 1.
However, the touchscreen does not support pen input, so it works for touch only. The chassis measures under 18 mm thick and weighs under 4.5 pounds. Microsoft says its thermal design has 2.5 times more power capacity than current Surface Laptops. Its touchpad is 30 percent larger than on the Surface Laptop 8th Edition.
The result is our most powerful Surface Laptop ever, built for demanding creative, technical, and AI workloads.
Microsoft
Magnetic Connect, ports and repairs
Magnetic Connect, the new charger, is the first built-in magnetic USB-C charging on a laptop, per Microsoft. The cable snaps onto the right-side USB-C port, which still handles video and data. The laptop also has two more USB-C ports, HDMI, USB-A, an SD card reader and a headphone jack. It can drive up to three 4K displays.
Storage is user-removable, so buyers can upgrade or replace it. However, Microsoft adds that its warranty may not cover damage during a repair. Replacement components and service options also vary by market.
Who Microsoft built it for
In particular, Microsoft aims the laptop at creators, developers and AI builders. For developers, it points to running local models with GitHub Copilot, so agentic coding can happen on the device. They can also prototype agents, review code and test larger models while their usual tools keep running.
Meanwhile, creative professionals get the display plus the graphics power for demanding projects. Gaming is a side benefit. Microsoft cites ray tracing, DLSS and NVIDIA Reflex in supported titles, along with the growing catalog of games on Windows on Arm. In other words, the machine is meant to handle work and play, though game support depends on the title.
Finally, agent security is part of the pitch too. Microsoft says Execution Containers contain agents, and that upcoming Windows features will use Microsoft Entra to separate agent activity from user activity. Those controls will also extend Microsoft Agent 365 to local agents. Commercial configurations of the laptop are available to pre-order now.
Surface RTX Spark Dev Box
The Dev Box uses the same RTX Spark platform in a compact desktop. It costs $5,999. Microsoft sells it only on Microsoft.com in the US, and shipping begins in November. It comes preloaded with Visual Studio Code, Git, GitHub Copilot, WSL, Python and Node. Microsoft also says its Execution Containers provide containment for agents.
Pricing, availability and the trade-in
The $2,599 MSRP is the starting price, available from Microsoft.com and select retailers worldwide. Colors are Platinum and Nightfall, and Microsoft says colors vary by model. The announcement does not give battery life or prices for higher configurations.
Microsoft also offers up to $1,000 cash back when you trade in an eligible MacBook Pro. The offer runs from October 7 to November 23 on the Microsoft Store online in the US and Canada. You must mail in the old device within 15 days, and the amount depends on its trade-in value.
Tech My Money covered the October 7 Windows event beforehand. Our report on the Surface Pro 12-inch and Laptop 13 covers the smaller Surface models.
