Surface Laptop Ultra review: a different kind of MacBook Pro

After setting up Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra, I spent five minutes just staring at it. I wasn’t surprised by its MacBook Pro-like design or blown away by its bright display. I was trying to work out what I’d actually do with a $5,900 laptop.

This isn’t just any regular Windows laptop. Microsoft has teamed up with Nvidia to build a high-end laptop to showcase Nvidia’s new Arm-based RTX Spark chips. It’s a big moment for Windows on Arm, as these chips can run demanding AI models locally, alongside the latest AAA games and creative apps. The promise is compelling, but the reality of local AI is much messier.