On October 7, Microsoft opened Surface Laptop Ultra preorders, announcing a starting MSRP of $2,599 and availability beginning October 16. That dollar figure is the announcement’s reference price, not a confirmed local price for every country. This is a move toward sales, rather than the laptop’s first unveiling.
What hardware Microsoft is offering
The product page lists an NVIDIA RTX Spark Superchip combining a Grace CPU, Blackwell RTX graphics and up to 128 GB of unified memory. Other specifications include a 15-inch touchscreen, three USB-C ports, USB-A, HDMI, an SD card reader and a headphone jack.
The maximum memory depends on configuration and is shared between CPU and GPU. It does not mean the GPU can always address the full amount. Nor should a touchscreen imply pen compatibility: Microsoft explicitly says pen input is unsupported.
Where this could be useful
Our reading of the specifications is that this laptop deserves consideration when you have an identifiable workload: a local language model, a graphics project or development work. For browsing, documents and cloud chat, a large memory figure alone does not explain the benefit of a more expensive configuration.
Before ordering, list your applications, plugins and peripherals. For Windows on Arm, check required versions and drivers with their vendors. If the goal is to run a local model, identify its format, memory requirements and compatible runtime. Our guide to local AI on a PC explains the starting points.
Which measurements would help a buying decision
Useful comparisons would run the same task and measure model response time, project processing speed, noise and battery operation. Compare those results with the computer you already own and the actual price of the configuration you need. These are criteria for a future review, not our Surface test results.
A purchase is easier to justify through a specific reduction in working time than through the general idea of owning an “AI laptop.”
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