Microsoft’s most powerful Surface laptop has been on sale since October 16, and the reviews are now in. It runs on Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip, and Microsoft is aiming it at the MacBook Pro.
The basics
- Price. From $2,599.99. PCWorld notes that the top configuration costs $5,899.99, and its own review unit was $3,699.99 with 32 GB of memory.
- Chip. Nvidia RTX Spark, which combines the processor and graphics, with up to 128 GB of shared memory.
- Screen. A 15-inch mini-LED touchscreen.
- Ports. Three USB-C, one USB-A, HDMI, an SD card reader and a headphone jack, according to Tom’s Guide.
- Trade-in. Microsoft is offering money back for a traded-in device on purchases made through November 23.
What reviewers found
PCWorld calls it a new kind of device, part productivity laptop and part AI workstation, and says the price is hard to justify this year. Its reviewer also found that the display, while very good, did not reach its rated figures.
Battery life is the open question. TechRepublic’s summary of the reviews says WIRED recorded 12 hours of local video playback against Microsoft’s claim of up to 15 hours, and that the MacBook Pro lasted substantially longer. The same summary says Ars Technica found that Recall, Click to Do and the improved Windows Search were not available on the laptop at launch.
Our take
For most buyers this is too much laptop. It makes sense if you run AI models locally or need a lot of graphics memory in a Windows machine. If you want a premium Windows laptop for everyday work, the Dell XPS 14 (2026) and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 cost less and last longer on a charge. The battery life calculator shows how capacity and power draw turn into hours.