Microsoft's $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra is pitched at MacBook Pro owners
Microsoft opened pre-orders October 7 for its RTX Spark laptop, shipping October 16, with a MacBook Pro trade-in.
Industry · Macfolio · 8 October 2026
Microsoft opened pre-orders on October 7 for Surface Laptop Ultra, starting at $2,599, with availability beginning October 16. It is built around Nvidia's RTX Spark Superchip, with up to a 20-core Grace CPU, a Blackwell RTX GPU with up to 6,144 cores, and up to 128GB of unified memory. Microsoft says it can run AI models exceeding 120 billion parameters locally. It has a 15-inch touchscreen without pen support, user-removable storage, and magnetic USB-C charging.
Microsoft is also offering up to $1,000 cash back for trading in an eligible MacBook Pro, through its online store in the US and Canada until November 23.
This does not mean independent testing has confirmed Microsoft's comparisons with MacBook Pro.
Weigh your workflow before the spec sheet
Our take: the case for switching rests on software, not peak numbers. Teams that depend on CUDA tools may find it compelling. Anyone built around Mac-only apps, Apple device management, or iPhone continuity gives up more than a laptop.
The comparisons are Microsoft's own, including a peak HDR brightness claim against MacBook Pro published specs. Wait for reviews of shipping units, and confirm your apps run well on Windows on Arm.