Microsoft launched a new class of Windows-powered laptops featuring Nvidia’s RTX Spark chipset, in an effort to take on Apple Inc.’s MacBook Pros. The new laptops are aimed at developers and creators who want high-end machines capable of running demanding AI workloads locally rather than in the cloud.
At an event on Wednesday in San Francisco, Microsoft and Nvidia unveiled a new category of laptops, headlined by the new Surface Laptop Ultra with RTX Spark, alongside new features in Windows 11 that leverage the new system chip’s capabilities.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was joined by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on stage alongside Windows and Devices head Pavan Davuluri.
“It took more than 4,000 engineering years. This is a massive project. We have reinvented the personal computer. For the first time, we took all the capabilities that used to be in a gaming laptop, a workstation, a supercomputer or the cloud, unified the architecture and made it run on one superchip,” Huang said.
For the first time, Microsoft showed the Surface Laptop Ultra, the company’s new 15-inch premium laptop featuring Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip. Pricing for the Ultra starts at $2,599, with up to 128 GB of unified memory. The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a device designed for hardcore developers and creators, starts at $5,999.They, along with PCs from Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and MSI will ship next Friday, October 16.
For the first time, Microsoft showed the Surface Laptop Ultra, the company’s new 15-inch premium laptop featuring Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip. Pricing for the Ultra starts at ,599, with up to 128 GB of unified memory.
The new Surface Pro Ultra has been marketed as the most powerful Windows computer designed for everything from local AI computing, creative workloads, and ray traced gaming and it’s all thanks to Nvidia’s new CPU; the RTX Spark.
Davuluri showed the Surface Laptop Ultra running GitHub Copilot and playing Gears of War: E-Day at 60 frames per second. He said that “hundreds” of AAA and indie titles will be available on day one, and that Call of Duty will come to RTX Spark in 2027.
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The laptop has the brightest peak HDR display on a laptop, Duvuluri said. The system also features a magnetic USB-C charger called “Magnetic Connect.” The connector plugs in similarly to Apple’s MagSafe, except that it uses a standardised port.
Microsoft compared the Spark with the M5 Pro in the MacBook Pro, promising performance of up to 2.1 times faster time to first token, 4.3 times faster image generation, and 6.2 times faster video generation.
Microsoft gave a video demo using multiple local and cloud models across Blender, Photoshop, ComfyUI, and Unreal Engine. The demo showed a workload that took hours instead of days.
Hybrid Intelligence
With new high-performance laptops, Microsoft is bringing an updated Windows 11, adding new quick actions in the Search menu in the Task Bar, making quick changes to settings, taking screenshots, or arranging windows using natural language.
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Microsoft also pushed hybrid intelligence, which allows Copilot to access your files, take actions and use local AI models as well as those on the cloud. In this new structure, Copilot will only tap into the cloud for difficult AI tasks, while running local models to save your precious tokens.
Beyond Copilot, Windows 11 will be able to host multiple AI agents locally including Hermes Agent, OpenClaw, Perplexity, and even Facebook Muse.
Nadella describes the event as building the “frontier ecosystem,” centered on Agent 365, Microsoft IQ, and Copilot. Davuluri described Windows 11 as the most secure platform for AI agents, emphasisng built-in containment.
The writer is in San Francisco on the invitation of Nvidia
