Surface Laptop Ultra with RTX Spark, still unpriced in Switzerland

What was announced

The Surface Laptop Ultra is a 15-inch Arm-based notebook built around the Nvidia RTX Spark N1X SoC. The Grace CPU comes with 18 or 20 cores, alongside a Blackwell GPU with CUDA support and an NPU. Unified memory ranges from 24 to 128 GB, SSDs from 512 GB to 2 TB. According to digitec, the SSD is user-replaceable. The mini-LED display runs at 3,270 by 2,180 pixels in 3:2 and refreshes at up to 120 Hz.

Connectivity consists of three USB-C ports with USB4 and DisplayPort 2.1, plus USB-A, HDMI 2.1b, an SD card reader and a headphone jack. One of the USB-C ports holds the charging cable magnetically and releases it if the cable is yanked. Microsoft calls this Magnetic Connect. The magnetic function only works with the supplied Microsoft cable, and with an ordinary USB-C cable the port behaves like the other two. Charging runs at up to 140 watts.

The chassis measures under 18 millimetres in height and weighs around two kilograms. Microsoft quotes battery life of up to 15 hours of local video playback. Independent measurements, particularly under load, do not exist yet.

The entry configuration costs USD 2,599.99 or EUR 2,899 and covers 24 GB of memory, a 512 GB SSD and 18 cores. Further up the list sit EUR 4,239 for 32 GB and 1 TB, EUR 4,599 for 48 GB and EUR 6,879 for 128 GB. Pre-orders opened on 7 October, shipping starts on 16 October. Asked by itmagazine.ch on 8 October, Microsoft could not quote a Swiss price, and the device could not be ordered either. On the same day digitec wrote that it was working to add the device to its range as soon as possible. Any budget figure in francs is therefore an estimate.

Microsoft claims AI image generation 4.3 times faster and video generation 6.2 times faster than a MacBook Pro with M5 Pro. Nvidia states that local AI models start responding up to 2.1 times faster than on a MacBook Pro M5. These are vendor numbers without a published methodology, and no independent tests exist before 16 October. Price comparisons differ as well. digitec puts the US base model around USD 400 below a comparable 16-inch MacBook Pro, while Notebookcheck sets it against a MacBook Pro with M5 Pro at a street price of roughly EUR 2,450.

• SoC: Nvidia RTX Spark N1X, Arm, 18 or 20 CPU cores

• Memory: 24, 32, 48, 64 or 128 GB unified memory

• Entry price: USD 2,599.99 / EUR 2,899, shipping from 16.10.2026

• Switzerland: no CHF price, no pre-order, digitec included (as of 8.10.2026)

Arm plus CUDA in agency work

For a Mac fleet, this machine is a specialist tool. The one concrete advantage is CUDA. Anyone working locally with Nvidia toolchains, larger models or GPU rendering gets something Apple Silicon cannot provide architecturally. For layout, web development, office work and everyday video editing there is no reason to switch.

There is a second layer to consider. The device runs Windows on Arm. Office applications run natively as Arm64 according to Microsoft, while x86 software goes through the Prism emulation layer. Prism does not emulate drivers. VPN clients, MDM agents, backup software, proofing tools, font management, plug-ins and printer drivers all need to be checked individually. For the RTX Spark platform underneath, no field experience exists yet.

Other devices with RTX Spark

The chip is not exclusive to Surface. Asus, Lenovo, HP and Dell are also bringing RTX Spark notebooks, available to pre-order since 7 October and shipping from 16 October. The Asus ProArt P14 starts at USD 2,599, the same as the Surface.

At the same event Microsoft also showed a Surface RTX Spark Dev Box and announced agentic Copilot features that can access local files once permitted.

What this means for you

We would not buy the Surface Laptop Ultra in the first wave. Independent measurements, battery figures under load and a Swiss price are all missing. If you are keeping an eye on it anyway, name the specific CUDA use case first and test your toolchain on a loan unit before one enters the fleet.

For budgeting in Swiss francs, it is worth waiting for the official Swiss price. The euro price lists are only a rough guide.

We can help you test your software on Windows on Arm and assess whether a CUDA device makes sense alongside your Mac fleet.

• Name the specific CUDA use case before buying a device

• Check VPN, MDM, backup, printer drivers and plug-ins on Windows on Arm

• Wait for independent tests after 16 October

• Treat the vendor benchmarks against the MacBook Pro as unverified

• Wait for the CHF price and use euro lists only as a guide