Today, Microsoft officially confirmed that it will hold a major Windows and Surface themed launch event in San Francisco at 10:00 AM local time on October 7.
This is Microsoft's first major Windows-centric event since May 2024. At that time, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang will share the stage to jointly unveil a new chapter for "Local AI Personal Computers."
The star product of this launch event is the long-rumored Surface Laptop Ultra. Regarded as Microsoft's flagship response to the MacBook Pro, this model continues the minimalist design language but significantly enhances the cooling system and provides more expansion ports.
According to insiders, its performance will break records for the Surface family and is expected to completely resolve the previous throttling issues of ultra-thin laptops under high loads.
The core computing power of this model comes from the RTX Spark processor, deeply customized by Microsoft and NVIDIA. Developed based on the Arm architecture, this chip integrates 20 high-performance CPU cores and directly features an NVIDIA Blackwell architecture GPU.
To meet the computational demands of generative AI, the platform supports up to 128GB of unified memory and features full CUDA instruction set support, claiming to smoothly run local AI large models with up to 120 billion parameters.
On the software side, Microsoft has spent months optimizing the Windows 11 system for this hardware. The new system introduces a core component called the "Load Profile Scheduling System," which can precisely allocate task priorities across the 20 CPU cores.
Meanwhile, the Prism emulation layer for Arm architecture has been restructured, aiming to significantly improve the performance and compatibility of traditional x86 applications on NVIDIA chips.
In addition to laptops, Microsoft will also showcase the Surface RTX Spark developer machine designed for developers. This compact desktop computer uses the same core chip as the Ultra laptop, with a design resembling a "BBQ grill." OEM manufacturers such as Dell, Lenovo, and ASUS have also confirmed they will release terminal products based on this chip.
It is worth noting that although this conference is branded under Windows, Microsoft has clearly stated that it will not release Windows 12. The current strategic focus remains on building upon Windows 11.
The final starting price of the Surface Laptop Ultra is currently unclear, but considering the cost of the top-tier Blackwell graphics card and massive unified memory, its pricing is likely to exceed the conventional range of the consumer market.