Microsoft Targets MacBook Pro With $2,599 Nvidia-Powered Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft has opened pre-orders for the Surface Laptop Ultra following its keynote presentation in San Francisco, setting open availability for October 16, 2026. The computer is built around Nvidia's Arm-based RTX Spark system-on-a-chip with Blackwell GPU architecture, targeting demanding developer and creator workloads.

Configurations and Pricing Tiers

Pricing starts at $2,599 for the base configuration, which includes an 18-core Arm CPU, 5,120 CUDA cores, 24GB of unified memory, and a 512GB solid-state drive. Microsoft will also offer memory options across 32GB, 48GB, and 64GB tiers.

A higher-tier configuration with a 20-core CPU and 6,144 CUDA cores starts at $3,700. The fully maxed-out build pairs that chip with 128GB of unified memory for $5,899.99. Microsoft is also offering up to $1,000 in trade-in cashback for eligible MacBook Pro models.

Display and Hardware Engineering

The chassis measures under 18 mm thick and weighs under 4.5 pounds, housing a 15-inch Mini-LED PixelSense Ultra touchscreen. The panel retains a 3:2 aspect ratio and reaches up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness, which Microsoft claims is up to 25 percent brighter than published specifications for Apple's MacBook Pro M5 Pro.

Microsoft claims the device delivers up to one petaflop of theoretical FP4 AI compute and can run models with up to 120 billion parameters locally. The company also states the laptop maintains 99 percent of its maximum power output on battery power, though independent benchmarks have not yet verified real-world sustained performance.

Ports and Magnetic Charging

Port selection includes three USB-C ports, one USB-A port, a full-size HDMI output, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader.

For charging, Microsoft introduced Magnetic Connect, a breakaway mechanism integrated directly into a standard USB-C port to prevent drop accidents without requiring a proprietary connector.

Surface RTX Spark Dev Box

Microsoft also opened pre-orders for the desktop Surface RTX Spark Dev Box at $5,999. Microsoft listings indicate it will begin shipping in November 2026, despite early conflicting reports suggesting an October 16 date.

International pricing and market availability outside the United States have not been announced.