Microsoft's Surface event today, October 7, revealed a lot more about the Surface Laptop Ultra with an NVIDIA RTX Spark chip inside.
For those who can't fathom missing out on the first wave of new laptops, I have good news. The Surface Laptop Ultra is now available to preorder starting at $2,599, with shipments expected to begin going out on October 16.
Surface Laptop Ultra — What configurations are available, and which one is best for me?
The Surface Laptop Ultra is set up so that configurations really only affect the performance hardware inside. Each model comes with a 15-inch mini-LED display, the same port selection, and the same killer design.
The baseline $2,599 model includes the RTX Spark platform with NVIDIA's 18-core N1X CPU and 5120-core RTX Blackwell GPU, 24GB of unified RAM, and 512GB of storage.
This is a decent option for those who need to balance price and performance, or for those who simply want to get their hands on this new hardware without overspending.
There's also a model with a 20-core CPU and 6144-core GPU for those who need utmost power. Configuring with 32GB of unified RAM (the lowest option) and a 1TB SSD (also the lowest option), you're looking at $3,699.99. This model is where I'd recommend most advanced users start.
Moving up from there, you can essentially trick out your PC with as much RAM and storage as you want. This is where things begin to get very expensive for pro users. The top-of-the-line model with the more powerful Spark, 128GB of unified RAM, and a 1TB SSD runs up to $5,899.99, reserving it for a select few.
Both models are available in Nightfall or Platinum colors.
Is the Surface Laptop Ultra's price too high?
I wasn't expecting the laptop Microsoft calls "Not Standard Issue" to be reasonably priced for most users.
It's a flagship PC with monster internals, and Microsoft clearly states that it's intended for creators, AI builders, scientists, engineers, and other power users who need an ultimate device to handle everything.
Those users are generally used to paying more for high-end hardware, but that doesn't make the price sting any less.
Take this high-end approach and tack on the macroeconomics of the ongoing RAM and storage crisis, and you get set prices much higher than I'm sure Microsoft ever intended.
Starting at $2,599 for a "baseline" model, you'll want to be sure this is the PC for you before you buy it.
As for the gaming angle, I've covered it in more detail in a separate post. Bottom line? You shouldn't buy the Surface Laptop Ultra as a dedicated gaming machine, but its NVIDIA Blackwell GPU will indeed power many games with ray tracing, path tracing, and DLSS in tow.
Are you preordering the new Surface Laptop Ultra today? If so, which configuration did you get? If not, what made you skip it? Let me know in the comments section below!
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