Microsoft releases new Nvidia-chip AI PCs with revamped Windows 11

Microsoft used a San Francisco event during the city’s Tech Week to disclose specifications and pricing for two new Windows PCs built around Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip. The company launched the Surface Laptop Ultra in two base configurations — one beginning at $2,600 and another with a stronger chip starting at $3,700 — with configurable memory and storage that can raise the price to as much as $5,900. Microsoft said the highest-end configuration was already out of stock. Alongside the consumer-style laptop, Microsoft introduced the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a workstation tailored for developers that starts at $6,000. The Dev Box ships with Microsoft development tools including Visual Studio Code, the GitHub Copilot CLI, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), and PowerShell 7, positioning it as a turnkey environment for building and testing AI models and agents. Both machines are engineered to run AI models locally by leveraging CPU, GPU, unified memory, and enhanced cooling designed to handle on-device inference and agent workloads. Microsoft emphasized that running models on-device will be free and pointed to hardware and OS-level changes intended to support that use case. To support AI agent development and safer execution, the company also previewed a revamped Windows 11 that includes a feature called “Execution Containers,” which Microsoft says will make it easier to sandbox AI agents; CEO Satya Nadella confirmed the feature will be available to all Windows 11 users. Microsoft framed these additions as part of a broader effort to provide an orchestration layer that combines multiple models with context and memory to enable practical agent behavior. Microsoft is targeting developers with these devices and is offering trade-in incentives — up to $1,000 off for MacBook Pro trade-ins — noting that Macs have been widely used by developers and AI agent enthusiasts. Other PC makers revealed RTX Spark machines the same day: Dell unveiled the Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition, available for pre-order and priced at $3,800 with delivery expected later in October at Best Buy.