Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra and Surface RTX Spark Dev Box launched Globally with NVIDIA RTX Spark N1X SoC, up to 128GB LPDDR5x unified memory

Microsoft has launched the Surface Laptop Ultra and Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, two new Surface devices designed for creators, developers, AI builders, AI engineers, and technical teams.

The new devices form part of Microsoft’s broader Windows vision for hybrid intelligence, combining the capabilities of local PCs and cloud computing to handle demanding AI workloads.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft says the Surface Laptop Ultra was developed specifically for creators, developers, and AI builders. The company worked closely with NVIDIA to optimize Windows for the NVIDIA RTX Spark Superchip, designing the laptop around the platform from the ground up to handle demanding creative, technical, and AI workloads.

The NVIDIA RTX Spark platform combines NVIDIA AI capabilities with Blackwell RTX graphics and a Grace CPU. The Surface Laptop Ultra offers the following hardware:

• NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU with up to 6,144 cores
• NVIDIA Grace CPU with up to 20 cores
• Up to 128GB of unified memory
• Up to 1 petaflop of AI performance
• Local support for AI models with more than 120 billion parameters
• Access to the CUDA ecosystem and Windows AI stack

Microsoft has equipped the laptop with a new thermal architecture that provides up to 2.5 times the thermal power capacity of the Surface Laptop 15-inch (8th Edition). Despite the increased cooling capability, the device is less than 18mm thick and weighs under 4.5 pounds. The thermal system is designed to maintain sustained performance during intensive workloads.

The 15-inch PixelSense Ultra touchscreen features a 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision IQ, and 100% DCI-P3 color coverage. Microsoft claims it offers the brightest peak HDR brightness of any laptop, reaching up to 25% higher peak HDR brightness than the MacBook Pro with M5.

Surface Laptop Ultra Design

The touchscreen supports functions such as zooming, scrolling, marking up documents, signing, and navigating through content. The touchpad is 30% larger than the previous-generation model and incorporates advanced haptic feedback for more precise control.

Storage is user-removable, allowing users to upgrade, replace, or secure the SSD themselves. Storage configurations are available with up to 2TB capacity.

The Surface Laptop Ultra also introduces Magnetic Connect, which Microsoft describes as the world’s first built-in magnetic USB-C charging connection on a laptop. The supplied cable attaches magnetically to the USB-C port on the right side and can be detached easily. The USB-C port remains available for video output, data transfer, and other compatible USB-C accessories.

Connectivity options include:

• Three USB-C ports
• USB-A port
• HDMI
• SD card reader
• 3.5mm headphone jack

The laptop can support up to three external 4K displays. Its RTX graphics also provide features such as ray tracing, DLSS, and NVIDIA Reflex in supported games.

For developers, the device can run local AI models alongside GitHub Copilot, enabling agentic coding workflows directly on the laptop.

Security Features

Microsoft has equipped the Surface Laptop Ultra with several security features aimed at protecting sensitive data and development workloads. These include:

• Secured-Core PC protections
• Windows Hello with facial recognition, fingerprint, and PIN authentication
• Device encryption to help protect source code, client projects, and other files if the laptop is lost or stolen

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft Surface RTX Spark Dev Box

The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is a compact desktop designed to handle AI workloads locally. It delivers up to 1 petaflop of AI performance, up to 128GB of unified memory, and supports AI models with more than 120 billion parameters along with large context windows.

The system enables local inference, evaluation, and experimentation at interactive speeds. Running workloads directly on the device can reduce dependence on cloud infrastructure while helping lower per-token API expenses and cloud computing costs during AI development.

Microsoft ships the Dev Box with a preconfigured development environment that includes:

• Visual Studio Code
• Git
• GitHub CLI
• GitHub Copilot
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
• Python
• Node
• PowerShell 7

Microsoft Surface RTX Spark Dev Box Design

Windows 11 includes GitHub Copilot in Windows Terminal. Intelligent Terminal adds AI-assisted capabilities for planning, building, and debugging directly from the command line, while Coreutils for Windows brings familiar command-line utilities to the platform.

The Dev Box features 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 incorporates the aluminum chassis into the cooling system and is designed to maintain consistent performance during extended training workloads.

Connectivity options include:

• Two USB-C ports
• USB-A
• HDMI
• Ethernet
• Headphone jack

Microsoft Execution Containers provide isolation for agents. Upcoming Windows capabilities will use Microsoft Entra to differentiate agent activity from user activity and extend Microsoft Agent 365 controls to local agents running on the device.

The local environment also supports agent-based workflows, including GitHub Copilot tasks that can investigate builds and suggest fixes. When additional computing resources are needed, Microsoft Dev Box can provide extra cloud capacity.

Windows ML with the TensorRT-RTX Execution Provider is designed to optimize GPU performance for bring-your-own-model workloads. Aion 1.0 Instruct, meanwhile, provides text intelligence and agent tool calling directly on the device.

The Dev Box can run coding models locally with up to 120 billion parameters. Intelligent routing in GitHub Copilot can also offload up to 20% of workloads using MAI-1-Code-Flash and Nemotron-3-Super.

Security Features

The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box includes the following security technologies:

• Windows 11 Secured-Core PC
• BitLocker
• Microsoft Defender
• Microsoft Entra ID
• Intune

Surface RTX Spark Dev Box

Pricing and Availability

The commercial variants of the Surface Laptop Ultra are now available for pre-order and are scheduled to go on sale from October 16. The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is also open for pre-order and is expected to ship in November.

Surface Laptop Ultra: Starts at USD 2,599 MSRP (approximately Rs. 2,51,470) and will be sold through Microsoft.com and select retailers worldwide.

Surface RTX Spark Dev Box: Priced at USD 5,999 MSRP (approximately Rs. 5,80,445) and available exclusively through Microsoft.com in the U.S.

Microsoft is also offering up to USD 1,000 cashback to customers who trade in an eligible MacBook Pro. The Surface Laptop Ultra will be offered in Platinum and the new Nightfall color options.