Microsoft's $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra takes on the MacBook Pro with Nvidia's RTX Spark

Launch date and pricing confirmed

Microsoft used its Windows and Surface keynote in San Francisco to lock in release details for the Surface Laptop Ultra, the first laptop built around Nvidia's RTX Spark, an Arm-based processor. According to The Verge, the machine launches on October 16 and starts at $2,599 for a base configuration with an 18-core CPU, 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. One passage in The Verge's event roundup describes the entry chip as an 8-core CPU, but the outlet's dedicated reports on the laptop and its pricing both specify 18 cores.

The rest of the configuration ladder is still unclear. The Verge reports that Microsoft's preorder page currently offers only an email sign-up for updates, while a 48GB variant has already surfaced at Best Buy for $3,999.99.

Magnetic Connect and a 2,000-nit display

On the hardware side, The Verge says the laptop ships with a 15-inch HDR touchscreen offering up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness and a larger trackpad with haptic feedback. The RTX Spark platform supports up to 128GB of unified memory, and both Microsoft and Nvidia are positioning these machines at the very premium end of the market for creative software, gaming and local AI workloads.

Charging gets a notable change: after dropping its proprietary Surface Connect port on smaller Surface devices last year, Microsoft has introduced Magnetic Connect, a magnetic cable that attaches to the laptop's right-side USB-C port. Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri demonstrated on stage that you can, in his words, bring the connector close and it snaps into place, as The Verge reported. The magnetic attachment remains a Microsoft-specific design, but the port underneath still works normally for video, data and other USB-C connectivity.

A whole family of RTX Spark laptops

The Surface is the flagship of a broader wave. The Verge reports that RTX Spark laptops from Dell, Lenovo, MSI, HP and Asus are arriving alongside it, all starting at $2,599 for the 18-core, 24GB, 512GB tier. That is close in price to a similarly specced 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chip, though Apple includes 1TB of storage at that price. At the top end, an Asus ProArt P16 with a 20-core chip, 128GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage costs $6,999.99, still short of a maxed-out 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 Max, which The Verge says approaches $10,000. The outlet also points to ongoing memory shortages as a factor pushing laptop prices upward across the board.

A $5,999 dev box for local AI

Microsoft also opened preorders for the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a mini PC slated to ship in November for $5,999. According to The Verge, it runs the same Arm-based RTX Spark platform with 128GB of unified memory, housed in a flat anodized aluminum chassis that doubles as a heatsink and resembles the top vents of an Xbox Series X. With a 100-watt thermal envelope and Nvidia's Tensor cores, it is aimed primarily at developers: Microsoft says it is optimized for local AI, including models exceeding 120B parameters, prototyping AI agents and running AI coding tools on-device. It costs more than the DGX Spark mini PC Nvidia launched last year.

Windows gets Hybrid Intelligence

The event also brought software news. Microsoft showed what it calls Hybrid Intelligence, an approach where apps and tools combine local and cloud AI models. In practice, it gives Copilot access to files on your PC and the ability to take actions across the operating system. In an on-stage demo, Jacob Andreou, Microsoft's EVP of Copilot, had the Autopilot tool handle tax preparation by finding documents across folders, renaming them, zipping them and drafting an email with the archive attached. Windows is also gaining a new search experience with quick actions accessible from the search bar, and Meta's Muse AI agent will get a native Windows app, though no timeline was given; the Mac version arrived in September. CEO Satya Nadella and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined Davuluri at the event for a discussion, as The Verge describes it, on how local AI will shape the next chapter of the PC.

Why it matters

Nvidia entering the Arm-based PC chip market is the clearest sign yet that Windows manufacturers are converging on the recipe Apple perfected with its own silicon: unified memory, power efficiency and hardware acceleration for AI. With up to 128GB of unified memory and Tensor cores, RTX Spark machines target exactly the creators and local-AI users who have been drifting toward MacBook Pros. But near price parity with Apple means these Windows laptops no longer win on value, especially with memory shortages inflating costs, so the pitch has to rest on capability, app compatibility and Windows' deepening AI integration. Whether the first Arm wave from Nvidia runs existing Windows software well, and whether Copilot's new file-level autonomy proves genuinely useful rather than a demo flourish, will determine if this is a serious MacBook Pro rival or another premium experiment.