Buyers of Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra can get substantial local-AI hardware today, but some of Windows’ own AI features are still missing. A launch-day review reports that the Copilot+ suite is not ready for the laptop’s new chip platform.
Windows Central senior editor Zac Bowden reported on October 16 that Microsoft expects those features in the coming months. His eight-day review found a capable workstation with an excellent keyboard and haptic trackpad, but limitations in its display and battery endurance.
The price depends heavily on configuration. Microsoft’s US store lists the entry model at $2,599.99 with 24GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD. The 128GB, 1TB configuration Bowden tested is listed at $5,899.99; that is not the starting price.
The Nvidia RTX Spark hardware pairs an Arm-based processor with Blackwell graphics. Microsoft offers 18-core and 20-core CPU options, with 5,120-core and 6,144-core GPUs respectively. Its unified memory is shared between the processor and graphics rather than serving as a separate pool exclusively for the GPU.
That distinction matters for the RTX Spark platform’s local-AI pitch. Memory capacity helps determine which models fit on the machine, but a large memory configuration does not itself establish that every Windows feature is enabled or that every workload will run faster.
Bowden reported blooming and a slight ghosting effect when moving bright windows over dark backgrounds on the Mini LED screen. He praised its brightness and sharpness, but did not find the panel best in class.
Battery results also depended on the task: Windows Central’s Procyon benchmark ran for about 14 hours, while Bowden reported roughly 10 hours in everyday use. He said GPU-heavy workloads could halve the latter figure. Those are his results, not tests conducted by The Eastern Herald.
Microsoft’s October 7 Windows announcement describes a wider hybrid-intelligence roadmap for Copilot+ PCs. Planned capabilities include using local files and activity as context, taking actions with permission and calling on models running on the PC alongside cloud intelligence.
The company says that rollout begins in the coming months, with timing varying by device, market and silicon platform. That broader roadmap does not provide a fixed delivery date for every missing feature on this particular laptop.
The hardware is already on sale. Whether its memory and graphics justify the premium is a different question from whether buyers should count promised Windows software as part of what they receive today.
