Microsoft has announced the Surface Laptop Ultra and Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, two new Surface devices aimed at creators, developers, AI builders, AI engineers, and technical teams.
The two devices are part of Microsoft’s broader Windows vision for hybrid intelligence, bringing together PC and cloud computing to support AI workloads.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra
Microsoft developed the Surface Laptop Ultra with creators, developers, and AI builders in mind and worked with NVIDIA to optimize Windows for the NVIDIA RTX Spark Superchip. The laptop was designed around the platform from the beginning to support demanding creative, technical, and AI workloads.
The NVIDIA RTX Spark platform combines NVIDIA AI with Blackwell RTX graphics and a Grace CPU. The Surface Laptop Ultra offers:
- NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU with up to 6,144 cores
- NVIDIA Grace CPU with up to 20 cores
- Up to 128GB unified memory
- Up to 1 petaflop of AI performance
- Support for AI models exceeding 120 billion parameters locally
- CUDA ecosystem and the Windows AI stack
A new thermal architecture provides up to 2.5 times the thermal power capacity of the Surface Laptop 15-inch (8th Edition). The laptop measures under 18mm thick and weighs under 4.5 pounds, with the thermal system designed for sustained performance during demanding workloads.
The 15-inch PixelSense Ultra touchscreen features a 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision IQ, and 100% DCI-P3 coverage. Microsoft says it delivers the brightest peak HDR of any laptop, with up to 25% higher peak HDR brightness than the MacBook Pro with M5.
The touchscreen supports zooming, marking up, scrolling, signing, and navigation. The touchpad is 30% larger than the previous generation and uses advanced haptics for precise control. Storage is user-removable, allowing users to upgrade, replace, or secure their own storage, with SSD configurations available up to 2TB.
The laptop introduces Magnetic Connect, which Microsoft describes as the world’s first built-in magnetic USB-C charging connection on a laptop. The included cable attaches magnetically to the right-side USB-C port and releases easily, while the port remains available for video, data, and other USB-C devices.
Connectivity includes:
- Three USB-C ports
- USB-A
- HDMI
- SD card reader
- 3.5mm headphone jack
The laptop can drive up to three 4K displays. Its RTX graphics support ray tracing, DLSS, and NVIDIA Reflex in supported games. Developers can also use local models with GitHub Copilot for agentic coding workflows on-device.
Security features include:
- Secured-Core PC protections
- Windows Hello with face recognition, fingerprint, and PIN sign-in
- Device encryption to help protect source code, client work, and other files if the laptop is lost or stolen
Quick Specs
Microsoft Surface RTX Spark Dev Box
The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is a compact desktop system for local AI workloads. It offers up to 1 petaflop of AI performance, up to 128GB unified memory, and support for AI models exceeding 120 billion parameters with large context windows.
The Dev Box supports local inference, evaluation, and experimentation at interactive speeds. Local processing can reduce reliance on cloud resources and help reduce per-token API costs and cloud compute fees during AI development.
The Dev Box comes with a preconfigured developer environment that includes:
- Visual Studio Code
- Git
- GitHub CLI
- GitHub Copilot
- Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
- Python
- Node
- PowerShell 7
Windows 11 includes GitHub Copilot in Windows Terminal, while Intelligent Terminal adds AI-powered assistance for planning, building, and debugging from the command line. Coreutils for Windows provides familiar command-line tools.
The device uses an anodized aluminum chassis with 1,000 air vents arranged in a grid, referencing its 1,000 teraflops of compute performance. Its 100W thermal envelope uses the aluminum chassis as part of the cooling system and is designed to maintain consistent compute performance during long training runs.
Connectivity includes:
- Two USB-C ports
- USB-A
- HDMI
- Ethernet
- Headphone jack
Microsoft Execution Containers provide containment for agents, while upcoming Windows capabilities will use Microsoft Entra to distinguish agent activity from user activity and extend Microsoft Agent 365 controls to local agents running on the device. The local setup also supports agent workflows, including GitHub Copilot tasks that investigate builds and propose fixes, while Microsoft Dev Box can provide additional cloud capacity when required.
Windows ML with the TensorRT-RTX Execution Provider optimizes GPU performance for bring-your-own-model workloads, while Aion 1.0 Instruct provides text intelligence and agent tool calling directly on the device. The Dev Box can run coding models locally at up to 120 billion parameters, while intelligent routing in GitHub Copilot can offload up to 20% of workloads using MAI-1-Code-Flash and Nemotron-3-Super.
Security features include:
- Windows 11 Secured-Core PC
- BitLocker
- Microsoft Defender
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Intune
Quick Specs
Pricing and availability
Commercial configurations of the Surface Laptop Ultra are available for pre-order today and will be available from October 16. The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is also available for pre-order and will begin shipping in November.
- Surface Laptop Ultra: Starts at USD 2,599 MSRP (Rs. 2,51,470 approx.), available through Microsoft.com and select retailers worldwide
- Surface RTX Spark Dev Box: $5,999 MSRP (Rs. 5,80,445 approx.), available exclusively through Microsoft.com in the U.S.
Microsoft is also offering up to $1,000 cash back when trading in an eligible MacBook Pro. The Surface Laptop Ultra is available in Platinum and new Nightfall.