I tested the Surface Laptop Ultra at Computex, and it’s clear: Microsoft means business

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a favorite resource on Google.

Highlights taken by ZDNET

• The Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra is an RTX Spark laptop unveiled at Computex.
• It features an RTX Spark SoC: a 20-core CPU, equivalent to a GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, and up to 128GB of memory.
• Despite the great specs and premium build, unanswered questions remain.

At Computex 2026, Nvidia announced its new RTX Spark processor, an ARM-based chip with some impressive specs for all new devices: up to 1 petaflop of AI performance, a 20-core CPU, and up to 128GB of memory to enable creative tasks with the same power as the RTX0 of RTX0.

At the head of the pack is Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Ultra — i The RTX Spark laptop and powerhouse doubles down on its premium writing and badass, aggressive name that speaks to developers, pro creators, and AI power users.

Also: I saw the first Nvidia RTX Spark laptop – these 4 models will lead the new ultrabook boom.

I went hands-on with the new Surface Ultra in Taipei, and I have to say: it’s a beast, with smooth gaming capabilities and impressive video editing performance. Of course, I tested it on a controlled demo showfloor, and no benchmarking or real-world testing has been done yet. Here’s what stood out.

Flagship construction

Microsoft has gone all in with the Ultra’s specs and premium build. In fact, at Computex, none of the new RTX Spark laptops were even allowed to be brought up. Only the Surface Ultra was active, powering all demos in all categories.

The physical structure is completely solid, though similar to previous Surface laptops (externally). The 15-inch display is a PixelSense Ultra mini-LED touchscreen with 262ppi, a 3:2 aspect ratio, and up to 2000 nits maximum HDR brightness. It’s incredibly bright for a laptop, resulting in a truly stunning display.

Physically, it also takes inspiration from the MacBook (but what doesn’t, these days?) with black chiclet-style keys, a solid aluminum body, and an edge-to-edge glass panel. The haptic touchpad felt very responsive and accurate during operation, and it’s the right size. It comes with a full set of ports for creators: two USB-C, one USB-A, HDMI, an SD card reader, and a headphone jack.

RTX Spark is the star of the show — “a new class of GPU for AI”, Microsoft says, with up to 128GB of integrated memory, expressly designed to run large models and access datasets locally.

Also: The 7 coolest gadgets I saw at Computex 2026 (and where you can buy each one)

All that computing is meant to be used by creators across a range of AI-powered tasks like video upscaling and intelligent masking, with billions of AI model parameters in place — pushing the Surface Laptop Ultra to a whole new level of computing power over the previous generation.

Improved thermals

As expected, Microsoft has redesigned the cooling infrastructure to deal with all the heat that this type of hardware will generate. To start, the laptop is slightly raised from the desk to allow airflow underneath. Inside, you have a dual-fan, a dual heat pipe that injects cool air on the sides and outside, moving as much air as possible through the device.

Microsoft had several games powering the Surface Ultra units during the demo: “Pragmata” and “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” — both clearly demanding titles — and having been running for several hours, the laptops were quite warm to the touch.

Also: Acer Swift Air 14 vs. MacBook Neo: I compared both budget laptops – this model wins

Microsoft was so confident in the power of its new heating system that it had a smoke machine demo lined up, but unfortunately the machine malfunctioned when you turned it on. It’s surprising, but at least I can say that the super power fans have been surprisingly quiet.

I was also surprised to see some attention paid to the repair of the device. The backplate is removable, providing easy access to both the SSD and battery, and the internal components are marked with QR codes for individual replacement.

The questions are still there

Clearly, Microsoft and its partners wanted to create a cohesive narrative, here. Computex was all about flashing impressive hardware and promising next-level performance, but there are still many unknowns.

The biggest question in my mind has to do with positioning and pricing. Sure, the RTX Spark can support up to 128GB of integrated memory, but what kind of minimum RAM configuration will be available? I doubt we’ll see a Surface Ultra with 16GB of RAM, for example, as that would defeat the purpose of such a powerful processor and isn’t enough to support these kinds of AI workflows.

Also: Dell’s new XPS 13 is a competitor to the $599 MacBook Neo and retains premium features.

I’d estimate the minimum memory configuration to be 32GB, but 64GB seems more likely, which would drop this laptop into the $2,500-plus price range at the low end. High-end loading can exceed $4,000 or more.

Apart from the rating and performance metrics being a big question mark, battery efficiency is another open question. Each person I spoke to expressed confidence in the Surface Ultra’s battery life, but the bottom line is that the 3,000-nit mini-LED display will require a certain amount of power, regardless of how the SoC performs.

The discovery, the surprise, the unknown. We’ll learn more about the Surface Laptop Ultra in the coming months, as pre-orders (hopefully?) open in late summer/early fall and ship after that.