Microsoft today announced launch times and pricing for the Surface Laptop Ultra introduced earlier this year.
The 15-inch Surface Laptop Ultra is priced starting at $2,599, undercutting Apple’s $2,999 16-inch MacBook Pro, and is aimed at the same market of creators and developers. Microsoft says it’s designed for “creative, software development, AI, engineering, and 3D workloads.”
Microsoft’s new laptop uses an Nvidia RTX Spark chip, which includes an Nvidia Blackwell RTX GPU with up to 6,144 cores and an Nvidia Grace CPU with up to 20 cores. It supports up to 128GB of unified memory and features a new thermal architecture to support the hardware. The RTX Spark is an Arm-based chip, so the laptop runs Windows on Arm with x86 apps using Microsoft’s Prism emulation.
According to Microsoft, the Surface Laptop Ultra is its most powerful notebook to date. It has the “brightest, sharpest, most vivid display” Microsoft has used in a Surface device, with 25% higher peak HDR brightness than the MacBook Pro M5. The mini-LED display is a touchscreen and supports gestures and navigation, but not pen input.
The laptop is lighter than the 16-inch MacBook Pro, with a large touch trackpad and upgradable storage. Microsoft has even adopted a MagSafe equivalent, adding support for Magnetic Connect. Microsoft says Magnetic Connect is “the world’s first integrated USB-C magnetic charging on a laptop.” The device has three USB-C ports, one USB-A port, one HDMI port, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Along with the Surface Laptop Ultra, Microsoft announced the $5,999 Surface RTX Spark Dev Box to compete with devices like the Mac Studio and Mac mini. It features an Nvidia RTX Spark chip and offers up to 1 petaflop of AI performance with support for AI models with parameters up to 120B.
Microsoft is offering a bonus to customers who “break up” with their MacBooks. MacBook owners can get up to $1,000 in cash back when purchasing a Surface Laptop Ultra by trading in an eligible MacBook. The Surface Laptop Ultra launches on October 16.
“We’re confident that once today’s creators and developers experience everything the Surface Laptop Ultra has to offer, they won’t look back,” Microsoft’s website reads.
The Surface Laptop Ultra will compete directly with Apple’s rumored OLED MacBook, which may also have an Ultra name. The MacBook Ultra is expected to feature a touchscreen, M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and a thinner and lighter design.
