Surface Laptop Ultra Starts at $2,600, Ships Oct. 16

At its Oct. 7 Windows and Surface event, Microsoft announced pricing and a release date for the Surface Laptop Ultra, CNET reports.

The 15-inch laptop runs on Nvidia's RTX Spark system-on-chip platform, which brings Blackwell GPU architecture to Windows laptops. It's built for developers, creators, and other users who need serious computing power for AI and graphics-heavy work. Microsoft also gave the laptop a magnetic USB-C charging cord, a first for the company.

Pricing varies by configuration. The base model costs $2,600 and comes with 24GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and the lower-end RTX Spark N1X processor (18 CPU cores, 5,120 GPU cores). A version with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD runs $3,300. The top-end model, with 128GB of RAM, costs $5,900 before shipping and taxes.

'We built it for developers and creators pushing the limits of performance, who want portability with exceptional craft.' - Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's Windows chief, as quoted by CNET.

Preorders are open now, and the first units ship Friday, Oct. 16.

Local AI is a big part of the pitch. Running models on the device keeps data secure and can be cheaper for businesses than cloud-based AI. The chip is designed to handle generative and agentic tasks without slowing down.

CNET has not yet published full test results. Based on what's known, the Surface Laptop Ultra is not for everyone. It's a flagship machine for a narrow audience. Unless you need that level of portable AI performance, this is an easy skip.

• AI
• Microsoft
• Nvidia
• RTX Spark
• Surface Laptop Ultra
• Windows