Microsoft Reveals Nvidia RTX Spark Surface PCs and Revamped Windows 11

New Surface hardware runs RTX Spark

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled the Surface Laptop Ultra and the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a new workstation, at an event in San Francisco during the city's Tech Week. Both machines are built around Nvidia's RTX Spark chip, following agreements Nvidia announced in June with Microsoft and other PC makers to develop AI and agent ready Windows PCs.

The Surface Laptop Ultra comes in two base models, with entry pricing at $2,600 and $3,700 for a version with a more powerful chip. Configurations with more memory and storage raise the price to $5,900, and Microsoft says the highest end device is already out of stock. The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box starts at $6,000 and ships with development tools including VS Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, WSL, and PowerShell 7.

Local AI models and sandboxed agents

Microsoft says both devices are designed to run AI models on device locally and for free, combining the CPU, GPU, and unified memory with hardware changes such as improved cooling. They run a revamped version of Windows 11 that adds Execution Containers, a feature Microsoft says makes it easier to sandbox AI agents. CEO Satya Nadella said Execution Containers will be available to all Windows 11 users.

Nadella said that over the last three to four years Microsoft learned that a model alone is not enough, describing the need for a harnessed layer that combines multiple models, context, memory, and action space. He said Microsoft is enabling that capability not just for its own apps but for anyone's agent, framing it as the future of the Windows platform.

Developer trade in and a competing Dell PC

The devices are aimed at developers, and Microsoft is offering up to $1,000 off with a MacBook Pro trade in, reflecting the popularity of Macs among developers and AI agent enthusiasts, particularly in Silicon Valley. Microsoft also says the Surface PCs are capable of content creation, video processing, and gaming.

Microsoft was not the only PC maker to share specifications on Wednesday. Dell announced details for its previously announced Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition, which is available for preorder now for later October delivery at Best Buy at a price of $3,800.

Sources: Techcrunch