Microsoft’s MacBook Pro killer has up to 128GB RAM, starts at $2,599, and it’s called Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft officially launches the Surface Laptop Ultra. Image: Microsoft

Microsoft has launched the Surface Laptop Ultra, a 15-inch Surface powered by NVIDIA’s RTX Spark superchip, with up to 128GB of unified memory and up to one petaflop of AI compute, enough to run AI models with up to 120 billion parameters locally. Microsoft says it’s “the most powerful Surface Laptop ever built.”

All of these fit inside a chassis that’s less than 18mm thick and weighs under 4.5 pounds, with a mini-LED display that reaches 2,000 nits. Finally, Microsoft has a Surface Laptop built to take on the MacBook Pro.

The Surface Laptop Ultra launches at a starting price of $2599.99 for the 18-core model with 24GB of memory. Preorders are open now, and shipping begins on October 16.

Surface Laptop Ultra packs NVIDIA RTX Spark into a surprisingly thin Surface

RTX Spark puts NVIDIA’s Grace Arm CPU and a Blackwell RTX GPU on a single superchip. The top configuration has 20 CPU cores and 6,144 CUDA cores, with 32GB, 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB of memory. The 18-core model drops to 5,120 GPU cores and 24GB or 32GB.

The CPU and GPU share this unified memory, so a large AI model can use far more of it than the VRAM on a typical gaming laptop. RTX Spark also supports CUDA natively, which means developers don’t have to give up NVIDIA’s AI tooling to use an Arm laptop.

Microsoft changed Windows to keep up. They rebuilt the Windows 11 task scheduler with Workload Profile Scheduling to spread work across those 20 cores, and developed the Microsoft Power and Thermal Framework with NVIDIA to sustain performance without the laptop running hot.

Microsoft says Surface Laptop Ultra beats M5 Pro MacBooks at local AI

On stage, Microsoft claimed the Surface Laptop Ultra delivers faster time-to-first-token for language models and shorter image generation times than M5 Pro-powered laptops “across the models we tested.” However, Microsoft didn’t share any numbers or name the models, so I’d wait for independent benchmarks.

Microsoft also showed a senior designer’s concept art workflow that he says used to take days and now takes a few hours. Starting from his Blender renders, he used Gemma 4 and Flux 2 Dev in ComfyUI to describe and generate assets locally, turned them into 3D models and an animation with other local models, and then had a cloud agent build a scene in Unreal Engine that he could walk and fly around in.

Microsoft calls this mix of local and cloud models “hybrid intelligence,” and to be fair, a 128GB laptop is where it makes the most sense.

Surface Laptop Ultra runs Gears of War at 60fps, and Call of Duty is coming in 2027

During the demo, the new Gears of War ran at 60 frames per second while a GitHub Copilot workload and a DaVinci Resolve mastering job ran simultaneously. Microsoft says hundreds of AAA and indie games will run well on RTX Spark at launch, and Call of Duty is coming to RTX Spark in 2027.

In case you forgot, RTX Spark is, in fact, an ARM chip, and hence gaming was a concern. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang already said that the RTX Spark would run all Windows apps, and now we have more information about the kind of games that the Surface Laptop Ultra is capable of running.

The Surface Laptop Ultra has the display and design to challenge the MacBook Pro

The 15-inch mini-LED PixelSense Ultra touchscreen has a 3:2 aspect ratio, 262 PPI, and up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness, which Microsoft claims is “the brightest peak HDR of any laptop”. The haptic touchpad is over 30% larger than the one on the 15-inch Surface Laptop, and you can pick Platinum or a new Nightfall finish.

Don’t let the thin chassis fool you, because Microsoft didn’t skimp on the ports. You get three USB-C ports, USB-A, HDMI, a full-size SD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack (the MacBook Pro still has no USB-A). Microsoft says it’s the most ports it has ever put on a Surface Laptop.

One of the USB-C ports also supports Magnetic Connect, which Microsoft calls “the world’s first built-in magnetic USB-C charging.” You bring the charger close, it snaps into place, and the port still works as regular USB-C when you aren’t charging. It’s basically MagSafe, except you don’t lose a USB-C port for it. Now, that’s the Surface DNA in action.

Inside, the cooling system has up to 2.5 times the thermal capacity of the 15-inch Surface Laptop 7th Edition, which Microsoft says keeps it fast under sustained load. It also holds “over 99% of its power” on battery, according to Microsoft, so unplugging doesn’t mean a slower laptop.

Full Specifications of Surface Laptop Ultra

SpecificationSurface Laptop UltraPriceStarts at $2,599 (18-core CPU, 24GB memory)AvailabilityPreorders open now, shipping begins October 16, 2026ProcessorNVIDIA RTX Spark superchip with Grace Arm CPU, 18-core or 20-coreGraphicsNVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU, 5,120 CUDA cores (18-core) or 6,144 CUDA cores (20-core)AI performanceUp to 1 petaflop (FP4)Memory24GB to 128GB unified memoryStorageUser-replaceable SSDDisplay15-inch mini-LED PixelSense Ultra touchscreen, 3:2 aspect ratio, 262 PPI, up to 2,000 nits peak HDR brightnessTouchpadHaptic touchpad, over 30% larger than the 15-inch Surface Laptop’sPorts3x USB-C (one with Magnetic Connect magnetic charging), 1x USB-A, 1x HDMI, full-size SD card reader, 3.5mm headphone jackBatteryAll-day battery life, with over 99% of performance retained on batteryCoolingUp to 2.5x the thermal capacity of the 15-inch Surface Laptop (7th Edition)SecurityWindows Hello facial recognitionThicknessUnder 18mmWeightUnder 4.5 pounds (2 kg)ColorsPlatinum, NightfallOperating systemWindows 11

 

Surface Laptop Ultra price starts at $2,599.99, up to $5,899.99 for 128GB unified memory

The Surface Laptop Ultra starts at $2,599.99 for the NVIDIA RTX Spark N1X model with an 18-core CPU and 5,120-core GPU. That price gets you 24GB of unified memory, a 512GB SSD, and Windows 11 Home, in Platinum only. The 20-core model with the 6,144-core GPU starts at $3,699.99 with 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD.

Nightfall starts at $2,999.99, as the 512GB base model is Platinum only. Every 32GB configuration and above also switches to Windows 11 Pro. The 48GB, 64GB, and 128GB models are listed only in Nightfall.

The top configuration, with 128GB of unified memory, costs $5,899.99. That’s $1,600 more than the 64GB model with a 1TB SSD, and the 2TB SSD option is only offered with 64GB. Luckily, the SSD is user-replaceable, so you can add storage later instead of paying Microsoft for it.

ProcessorMemoryStorageOSColorPrice18-core CPU, 5,120-core GPU24GB512GBWindows 11 HomePlatinum$2,599.9918-core CPU, 5,120-core GPU24GB1TBWindows 11 HomePlatinum, Nightfall$2,999.9918-core CPU, 5,120-core GPU32GB1TBWindows 11 ProPlatinum, Nightfall$3,299.9920-core CPU, 6,144-core GPU32GB1TBWindows 11 ProPlatinum, Nightfall$3,699.9920-core CPU, 6,144-core GPU48GB1TBWindows 11 ProNightfall$3,999.9920-core CPU, 6,144-core GPU64GB1TBWindows 11 ProNightfall$4,299.9920-core CPU, 6,144-core GPU64GB2TBWindows 11 ProNightfall$4,699.9920-core CPU, 6,144-core GPU128GB1TBWindows 11 ProNightfall$5,899.99

 

RTX Spark is why Microsoft thinks Windows can fight the MacBook Pro

Until now, developers who wanted lots of unified memory for local AI usually ended up with a MacBook Pro or Mac Studio, while those who needed CUDA were stuck with bulky gaming laptops or desktops. Surface Laptop Ultra gives both in one portable machine, while also looking arguably better than a MacBook Pro.

Yes, there’s no going around the insane pricing, but at this point, we weren’t expecting anything less.

Lenovo is betting on the chip too, with its Yoga Pro 9n built around RTX Spark. Microsoft also showed RTX Spark laptops from ASUS, Dell, MSI, and HP, including the ProArt P14, XPS 16, Prestige N16, and OmniBook Ultra 16, and all of them are up for preorder now, with shipping from October 16.

For desks, there’s the $5,999 Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, which packs 128GB of memory into a chassis that reminds me of Apple’s cheese grater Mac Pro. It ships with Project Zenith, a Windows setup that’s preconfigured and ready to code out of the box, and it’s also up for preorder now.

In my opinion, the biggest winners here are Windows developers who no longer need a MacBook Pro to run large AI models locally.