Microsoft has just unveiled what it's calling the "most powerful Surface devices ever." Both powered by Nvidia's RTX Spark SOC, the Surface Laptop Ultra and Surface RTX Spark Dev Box are both available to pre-order now. Both Surface devices are slated for an October 16 release, the same day as a suite of other RTX Spark laptops.
Like the rest of the fleet, these will cost a pretty penny too, with the Surface Laptop Ultra starting at $2,599 and the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box going for $5,999. However, the Surface Laptop Ultra comes with something the rest doesn't: 'Magnetic Connect,' a new magnetic USB Type-C charger.
The Corporate Vice President of Surface, Brett Ostrum, wrote, "The included charging cable attaches magnetically to the right-side USB-C port and releases easily. The port remains fully functional for video, data, and other USB-C devices."
According to Microsoft, the Magnetic Connect is a world first. However, in principle, it's very similar to Apple's MagSafe connectors. My snarkiness aside, it's worth mentioning that MagSafe uses a proprietary cable, whereas the Magnetic Connect does not, and that fits it a bit more cleanly into the 'world first' claim.
Interesting to note, too, is that the design of the Magnetic Connect may have been influenced by recent changes to EU regulations. New rules seek to stem the tide of charging cable-related e-waste by requiring "all new devices sold in the EU must now support USB-C charging." This regulation was introduced in 2024, and originally only applied to portable devices. But as of April this year, the EU common charger rules have been rolled out to laptops as well.
Still, it's a weird thing to highlight in the announcement for a very powerful, very expensive laptop—excuse me if I struggle to muster up a sufficient level of excitement for a charger that magnetically snaps to the side of my Surface device.
Obviously, as a PC gamer, I'm most interested in the apparently RTX 5070-like gaming performance of an RTX Spark machine. But gaming isn't the sole focus of this machine; for that money, it really needs to be all singing, all dancing, so Microsoft also highlights that the Surface Laptop Ultra can "run AI models exceeding 120B parameters locally, with up to 1 petaflop of AI performance."
At $2,599, it's a pricey bit of kit for sure and touting "the world’s first built-in magnetic USB-C charging on a laptop" does little to dull the sting of that price tag. Worse still, with 128 GB of unified memory inside this bad boy, there's no ignoring that the AI industry and the resulting memory crisis are perhaps one reason this Surface is as expensive as it is.
1. Best overall:
Razer Blade 16 (2025)
2. Best budget:
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 10
3. Best 14-inch:
Razer Blade 14 (2025)
4. Best mid-range:
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5. Best high-performance:
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6. Best 18-inch:
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