Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Ultra in San Francisco, with preorders open before shipments begin October 16.
The launch gives U.S. buyers a new high-end Windows option built around Nvidia's RTX Spark chip and Microsoft's push toward AI that works across local devices and the cloud. Microsoft describes the laptop as part of a broader shift in how personal computers handle AI.
The Surface Laptop Ultra runs on Nvidia's RTX Spark chip. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appeared onstage together at the event.
The laptop costs $2,599 and begins shipping on October 16. It is now available on preorder.
The base configuration is described in two different ways: one has an 8-core CPU, 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, while the other has an 18-core CPU, 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The supplied descriptions do not resolve the discrepancy, and the full specifications beyond those listed are not known.
Microsoft's hybrid AI approach
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said: "The trajectory for me is so clear. There will never be a moment where we will go and look and say: 'Oh, this runs locally, this runs in the cloud.' You will expect this hybrid intelligence to be everywhere and pervasive,"
Since at least 2024, Microsoft has worked to build AI PCs, including laptops powered by Qualcomm chips.
The wider AI PC push
Apple unveiled the Mac mini and Mac Studio in September and touted them as powerful new options capable of processing AI software locally.
- The launch follows Microsoft's announcement, just a couple of weeks earlier, that it would bring Word, Excel and PowerPoint into Copilot, its AI-powered assistant.
Microsoft said its in-house artificial intelligence models currently power only a few products, including GitHub's Copilot coding tool, and that it unveiled its own artificial intelligence models in June.
Preorders are open, with shipments scheduled for October 16.
