Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra launches October 16, starting at $2,599

Microsoft announced on 7 October that the Surface Laptop Ultra will launch on 16 October, according to The Verge. Pricing starts at $2,599 for a base configuration with an 18-core CPU, 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The most expensive model is $5,899.99 and includes a 20-core CPU, 128GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, The Verge reported. Preorders opened the same day.

The laptop is the debut platform for Nvidia's RTX Spark, an Arm-based processor with up to 128GB of unified memory, and The Verge reported that other RTX Spark devices launch alongside it on 16 October. Both Microsoft and Nvidia are positioning RTX Spark laptops at the premium end of the market, aimed at creative software, gaming and local AI tasks. Microsoft says the chip is powerful enough to run compressed 280 billion-parameter AI models locally, models that The Verge reported needed to run in the cloud a year earlier. The RTX Spark combines CPU and GPU and uses unified memory, the same approach Apple takes with its M-series chips, The Verge reported.

The device has a 15-inch HDR touchscreen with up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness and a larger trackpad that supports haptic feedback, according to The Verge. It comes in an aluminum chassis with three USB-C ports, an HDMI port, one USB-A port, a full-size SD card reader and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Surface Laptop Ultra charges through a magnetic USB-C connector that Microsoft calls Magnetic Connect, The Verge reported. The cable attaches to the right-side USB-C port, which still works for video, data and other USB-C connectivity. At Microsoft's Windows event on 7 October, Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri said users can "bring the connector close, and it snaps right into place," according to The Verge. The Verge reported that Microsoft scrapped its proprietary Surface Connect magnetic charging on its smaller Surface devices last year.

The Verge reported that Microsoft is positioning the Ultra mainly at developers who want a powerful GPU for local AI compute, and also at creatives and professionals who would buy a MacBook Pro. Brett Ostrum, corporate vice president of Surface at Microsoft, said the company's 2024 Copilot Plus PC initiative, focused initially on Qualcomm chips, "was really aimed at MacBook Air." Ostrum said Microsoft also wanted to compete with the MacBook Pro but that existing chips were not capable enough — "We knew that was not going to reach MacBook Pro-level compute" — and that Nvidia "was a logical choice." Jit Hirani, lead designer for Surface devices, said of the product: "It is built for us."

The Verge reported that Microsoft tests Surface devices in a windowless, warehouse-like lab on its Redmond, Washington, campus, where robots press buttons thousands of times, antennas direct radio waves at devices and machines drop objects from increasing heights. The Verge described the Surface Laptop Ultra as a high-end device with a CNC-machined aluminum body, chicklet keys and fan vents under a slightly elevated base.