Microsoft unveiled pricing and specifications for its Surface Laptop Ultra on Wednesday, starting at $2,600, and introduced a $6,000 Surface RTX Spark Dev Box workstation.. The laptop comes in two base models, with the version using a more powerful chip starting at $3,700. Additional memory and storage options take the price to $5,900.
Microsoft said the highest-end configuration was already out of stock.. The Surface RTX Spark Dev Box uses Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip and includes Microsoft development tools VS Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, WSL and PowerShell 7.. Microsoft presented both devices as capable of running AI models locally on-device for free.
Their hardware includes CPUs, GPUs, unified memory and modifications such as improved cooling to support those workloads.. Both devices run a revamped version of Windows 11 with a feature called “Execution Containers,” which Microsoft said makes it easier to sandbox AI agents.
Chief Executive Satya Nadella said the feature would be available to all Windows 11 users.. Microsoft announced the details at an event during San Francisco’s Tech Week. The devices are primarily aimed at developers..
Nadella said Microsoft had learned over the past three to four years that an AI model alone was insufficient and required orchestration and memory outside the model.. “You need to have this harnessed layer that is able to take multiple models plus context, plus memory, and the action space,” he said..
Microsoft was enabling that capability “not just for our apps but apps for anyone’s agent,” Nadella said. “That’s what the Windows platform is all about going forward.”. Microsoft is offering discounts of up to $1,000 to customers who trade in a MacBook Pro.
Macs have become a popular choice among developers and AI-agent enthusiasts, particularly in Silicon Valley.. The company said the Surface devices’ graphics capabilities also make them suitable for content creation, video processing and gaming.. Nvidia announced in June that it had secured agreements with Microsoft and other PC makers to develop AI- and agent-ready Windows PCs based on its RTX Spark chip.
Few details about the machines were available at the time.. Dell also announced specifications on Wednesday for its previously revealed Nvidia RTX Spark-based AI Windows PC, the Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition. The computer is available for preorder at Best Buy for $3,800, with delivery expected later in October..
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