Microsoft and Nvidia opened preorders for the first laptops built on RTX Spark, an Arm-based superchip that shares its silicon with DGX Spark. Led by the $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra, the systems pair high performance, CUDA support, and a premium design, aimed head-to-head at x86 premium, enthusiast, and gaming laptops. Software support and workstation readiness are the questions to watch.

Microsoft opened preorders on October 7 for the first laptops built on RTX Spark, Nvidia’s Arm-based superchip for Windows PCs. The announcement came at a Windows event in San Francisco. The lineup is led by the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra, whose pricing starts at $2,599, with partner systems from Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and MSI. The OEM launch is October 16.

These laptops are positioned head-to-head with x86 premium, enthusiast, and even gaming laptops. They carry features that, until now, were seen only in high-performance laptops: a healthy CPU core count, a high-end GPU, full support for the Nvidia software ecosystem including CUDA, and premium platform touches such as bright HDR displays and, in the Surface case, a magnetic power connector. Agentic AI workflows are the main use that Nvidia and Microsoft pitched for a system like this, including the interception of AI with gaming and creation.

Learn about hat RTX Spark is, a look at the Surface Laptop Ultra, what the machines are for (hint: local AI), the software question, what we still don’t know, the DGX Station, and more in the full story on jonpeddie.com.