TL;DR: Microsoft opened preorders October 7 for the $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra, with shipments starting October 16.

Microsoft has set pricing and shipping for its most powerful Surface Laptop ever. According to The Verge, the Nvidia RTX Spark-equipped Surface Laptop Ultra will launch on October 16th, with pricing starting at $2,599 for a base configuration with an 18-core CPU, 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, preorders opened October 7 for both the Surface Laptop Ultra and the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, bringing a Windows vision for hybrid intelligence that combines PC and cloud power for AI work.

Preorders opened October 7 ahead of October 16 launch

Microsoft first showed the laptop months earlier and then supplied purchase details at a Windows and Surface keynote in San Francisco. According to The Verge, the device is available to preorder starting October 7. According to CNBC, Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's executive vice president of Windows and devices, said at the San Francisco event that the computer will begin shipping on October 16.

The announcement ended months of waiting after an earlier reveal without price or date. According to The Verge, Microsoft revealed the Surface Laptop Ultra months before the October announcement. The October update added the base price, the top configuration price and the release date.

Base model starts at $2,599, top model at $5,899.99

The entry price positions the machine at the premium end of Windows laptops. According to The Verge, pricing starts at $2,599 for the 18-core CPU model with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. According to CNBC, Microsoft said the new laptop containing an Nvidia AI chip will start at $2,599 as it brings more artificial intelligence capabilities to its devices.

More memory, more CPU cores and more GPU cores raise the price. According to The Verge, the priciest $5,899.99 model includes 128GB of RAM, a 20-core CPU and 1TB of storage. That range lets buyers choose between a lower-cost entry system and a fully equipped system for larger local models and heavier creative projects.

Nvidia RTX Spark Superchip powers local AI

At the center of the system is Nvidia's RTX Spark Superchip. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, Microsoft optimized Windows to take advantage of the chip and designed an entirely new device around the platform. According to The Verge, the device uses Nvidia's new RTX Spark chip, an Arm-based processor with up to 128GB of unified memory.

The chip combines graphics, processor and memory in one system. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, Surface Laptop Ultra unites an Nvidia Blackwell RTX GPU with up to 6,144 cores, an Nvidia Grace CPU with up to 20 cores and up to 128GB of unified memory. According to CNBC, the device can contain up to 128GB of unified memory and supply up to one petaflop of computing power.

Microsoft links that hardware to on-device model execution. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the laptop can run AI models exceeding 120B parameters locally, with up to 1 petaflop of AI performance. According to CNBC, users can install and run a variety of models on the new laptop without racking up high monthly cloud bills.

Built for creators, developers and AI builders

Microsoft describes the Ultra as a machine for demanding creative, technical and AI workloads. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the result is the company's most powerful Surface Laptop ever, built for demanding creative, technical and AI workloads. According to The Verge, both Microsoft and Nvidia are positioning RTX Spark laptops at the very premium end of the market for high performance across creative software, gaming and local AI tasks.

Creative users get graphics acceleration and memory headroom for multitasking. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, creative professionals get a display they can trust, graphics acceleration when projects get demanding and up to 128GB of unified memory for multitasking across demanding creative and local AI workflows. Developers can use local models with GitHub Copilot to bring agentic coding on device, prototype agents, review code, test larger models and keep development tools running side by side.

The Windows approach also emphasizes hybrid operation. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the devices bring to life a broader Windows vision for hybrid intelligence, combining the power of the PC and the cloud to help people do more with AI. According to CNBC, a presenter showed how apps on the Surface Laptop Ultra can route some AI coding requests to the local GPU, displaying a green leaf icon, and others to the cloud.

15-inch PixelSense Ultra display hits 2,000 nits

The screen is a 15-inch touchscreen built for visual work. According to The Verge, the Surface Laptop Ultra ships with a 15-inch HDR touchscreen display with up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the 15-inch PixelSense Ultra touchscreen is the brightest, sharpest and most vivid display ever put on a Surface Laptop.

Microsoft also makes a comparative brightness claim. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, it delivers the brightest peak HDR of any laptop, up to 25 percent brighter peak HDR than MacBook Pro M5, with color accuracy for creators. The display is intended for reviewing footage frame by frame, annotating designs, exploring datasets and interacting directly with work.

Thin chassis with new thermal design

Power management received a separate engineering effort. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, Microsoft designed a new thermal architecture that delivers up to 2.5 times more thermal power capacity than current Surface Laptops. The chassis is less than 18 mm thin and under 4.5 pounds, built for sustained performance.

Weight and size place it in large-screen premium laptop territory. According to CNBC, the new device sports a 15-inch display and weighs 4.4 pounds. According to The Verge, it comes with a sleek aluminum chassis that looks a bit like the MacBook Pro, which the laptop is meant to compete with.

Magnetic Connect brings breakaway USB-C charging

Charging uses a new magnetic approach. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the laptop features Magnetic Connect, described as the world's first built-in magnetic USB-C charging on a laptop. According to The Verge, it uses a magnetic USB-C charging solution.

The cable attaches magnetically and releases easily. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the included charging cable attaches magnetically to the right-side USB-C port and releases easily. According to CNBC, the device contains a magnetic USB-C port similar to Apple's MagSafe charging connector.

The magnetic port remains a full-function connection. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the port remains fully functional for video, data and other USB-C devices. That means the charging connection can also handle other USB-C uses rather than serving only for power.

Full port set includes HDMI, USB-A and SD reader

Beyond the magnetic connection, the laptop keeps legacy and pro ports. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, other ports include two additional USB-C ports, HDMI, USB-A, an SD card reader and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. According to The Verge, the Surface Laptop Ultra comes with three USB-C ports, an HDMI port, a single USB-A port, a full-size SD card reader and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

External display support covers multi-monitor desks. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the system can drive up to three 4K displays. It is also positioned for importing footage without adapters, with one device supplying the needed connections.

Larger haptic trackpad and removable storage

Input and storage include two practical changes. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the touchpad is 30 percent larger, with advanced haptics for precise control across demanding creative workflows. According to The Verge, the device has a larger trackpad that supports haptic feedback.

Storage can be serviced by the user. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, storage is user-removable, so owners can upgrade, replace or secure their own storage. Finishes are Platinum and Nightfall.

Gaming uses RTX features and Windows on Arm

The same RTX Spark architecture serves entertainment after work. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, ray tracing, DLSS and Nvidia Reflex in supported titles, together with the deep and growing catalog of games on Windows on Arm, mean the work machine can keep delivering at play time. According to The Verge, the system is designed for high performance across creative software, gaming and local AI tasks.

Microsoft frames that as continuity rather than a separate mode. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, the same RTX Spark architecture that accelerates creative and AI workloads also powers gaming. Creative work, development and immersive gaming can proceed without switching machines.

Dev Box puts Spark on the desk for $5,999

A second product targets desk-bound AI development. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, Surface RTX Spark Dev Box gives developers, AI engineers and technical teams powerful AI compute at their desks. It is also built around the Nvidia RTX Spark Superchip in a compact small form factor.

Microsoft lists preorder pricing for developers in its announcement coverage. According to The Verge reporting on the event lineup, Microsoft also announced that the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is tied to the same RTX Spark family. The Microsoft Devices Blog says Dev Box offers up to 1 petaflop of AI performance and 128GB of unified memory, with support for models exceeding 120B parameters with large context windows.

Local experimentation is the stated benefit. According to the Microsoft Devices Blog, when experimentation happens locally, teams can iterate faster, reduce cloud dependency and reserve cloud resources for workloads that truly need them. Local inference, evaluation and experimentation can run at interactive speeds.

Sources referenced