Microsoft concluded a major keynote in San Francisco focused on Windows and Surface hardware, headlined by the official release details for the Surface Laptop Ultra. The new laptop, which runs on Nvidia’s RTX Spark Arm-based chip, is set to go on sale on October 16th. Pricing begins at $2,599 for a base model equipped with an 8-core CPU, 24GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. Notably, the device replaces the traditional proprietary Surface Connect port with built-in magnetic USB-C charging.
Also introduced was the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a mini PC designed for developers. The unit is available for preorder at $5,999 and is scheduled to ship in November.
Beyond hardware, Microsoft detailed upcoming enhancements to the Windows operating system, specifically introducing “Hybrid Intelligence” capabilities. This feature allows Copilot to access files directly on a user’s PC to perform actions, while a revamped search interface will enable quick commands from the search bar. Additional announcements included updates regarding the Muse project for Windows.
USB-C charging on a Surface is a nice change! Finally dropping that proprietary port will make traveling so much easier with just one cable.
$2,600 for a laptop is steep. I’ll wait for reviews to see if that RTX Spark chip actually justifies the premium price tag.