# Surface Laptop Ultra: powerful hardware, software still catching up > Microsoft's new ARM-based laptop runs AI models and games impressively, but key features won't arrive until late 2026 or early 2027. - Title: Surface Laptop Ultra: powerful hardware, software still… - Summary: Microsoft's new ARM-based laptop runs AI models and games impressively, but key features won't arrive until late 2026 or early 2027. The Surface Laptop Ultra… - Keywords: surface laptop ultra, microsoft, nvidia rtx spark, arm processor, ai performance, gaming laptop, copilot+, hardware review, technology, science, Surface, Laptop - Source: Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/reviews/2026/10/the-surface-laptop-ultra-delivers-on-most-of-microsofts-promises - Published: 2026-10-16T12:00:05+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: surface laptop ultra, microsoft, nvidia rtx spark, arm processor, ai performance, gaming laptop, copilot+, hardware review, technology, science ## Microsoft's all-in-one bet The Surface Laptop Ultra runs AI models and AAA games at speeds Microsoft says prove one computer can handle both work and play. ## Timing and market context PC shipments dropped twenty percent year over year in the third quarter of twenty twenty-six. The industry faces inflated RAM prices and a focus on enterprise sales, leaving few exciting new consumer machines until now. ## The competition Dell's XPS sixteen Creator Edition and Asus's ProArt series also use the Nvidia RTX Spark chipset.The real question is whether ARM systems can finally match x eighty-six performance and MacBook Pro capabilities for power users. ## Price and configuration The Surface Laptop Ultra starts at two thousand five hundred ninety-nine dollars and reaches five thousand eight hundred ninety-nine dollars depending on processor and memory. ## Base model concerns The twenty-four gigabyte entry model ships with Windows eleven Home while higher tiers get Windows eleven Pro. > useful for smaller models locally ## Display quality The fifteen-inch mini-LED screen displays three thousand two hundred seventy by two thousand one hundred eighty pixels at up to one hundred twenty hertz. ## Keyboard and trackpad The keyboard offers shallow but satisfying key press and comfortable spacing.The trackpad measures five point five inches long by three point five inches tall with excellent tracking accuracy and haptic feedback, though no groundbreaking features. ## Magnetic charging innovation Microsoft calls its magnetic USB-C charging the world's first built-in magnetic USB-C charging experience. Apple's MagSafe debuted on the original MacBook Pro in two thousand six, but Microsoft's version is technically the first USB-C magnetic… ## Magnetic charging benefits The magnetic connection guides itself together in the dark without fumbling.The cable breaks away if yanked, protecting the laptop from falling off counters if a pet or child catches the cord. ## RTX Spark architecture The Nvidia RTX Spark N one X fuses a Grace CPU to a Blackwell GPU. ## AI testing challenges Geekbench AI could not run NPU-accelerated benchmarks because the software lacks a compatible NPU backend for this architecture. ## AI Dev Gallery limitations Microsoft's AI Dev Gallery app is in public preview but feels half-baked.Available conversational Phi and Mistral models run CPU-only with no GPU or NPU pathways despite the Blackwell sitting idle. ## Phi Silica access barrier Phi Silica, Microsoft's flagship on-device LLM and major piece of the Copilot+ stack, requires developer registration with an associated app identity. ## Large model performance The Llama three point three seventy billion parameter model, a forty-three gigabyte download, ran at six point two six tokens per second via GPU. ## Gaming performance Microsoft claims eighty-five percent of its Game Pass library is playable on ARM.Gears of War E-Day runs with ray tracing and DLSS enabled. ## Anti-cheat complications Gears of War E-Day showed a warning when exiting to Windows, with Easy Anti-Cheat flagging the dot NET cache as modified. ## Video encoding gap HandBrake encoded a ten-minute two thousand one hundred sixty pixel sixty frames per second video in two minutes twenty-seven seconds using x two hundred sixty-four CPU encoding. ## Copilot+ delayed The Surface Laptop Ultra will be certified as a Copilot+ device, but full software support will not arrive until late twenty twenty-six or early twenty twenty-seven. > full software support won't arrive until late 2026 or early 2027 ## Battery life under load After three hours of mixed use including AI testing, the Surface retained sixty-six percent battery life. ## The verdict The Surface Laptop Ultra delivers impressive hardware but ships with incomplete software.CUDA developers needing portable AI testing have genuinely exciting hardware. > PCs are being rushed to market with the new RTX Spark chipset so that manufacturers at least have something new to offer for the 2026 holiday season, with software left to play catch-up later ## Key takeaway The Surface Laptop Ultra delivers impressive gaming and AI performance on ARM hardware, but ships without full Copilot+ support and incomplete software, making it best suited to CUDA developers willing to wait for maturity.