// WIRED US/UK — INTELLIGENZA ARTIFICIALE
Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra Review: The First Real AI PC
A new fleet of Windows laptops has arrived, and the Surface Laptop Ultra is its flagship vessel. Ever since it was announced, it's been one of my anticipated laptops of the year. It not only promises to be a beefed-up evolution of the Surface Laptop (a laptop I already really liked), but also debuts a brand-new piece of silicon: the Nvidia RTX Spark N1X "superchip."
The goal is a single laptop that can handle on-device AI, gaming, content creation, and nearly anything else you might throw at it. If that sounds a bit like a MacBook Pro, you're on the right track. But unlike previous attempts to dethrone Apple, the Surface Laptop Ultra is trading blows with the very best. I just wish it had the battery life to truly keep up with the MacBook Pro.
This isn't Microsoft's first foray into a more powerful laptop. The company first tried that in 2021 with the Surface Laptop Studio. At the time, it was the company's answer to the MacBook Pro: a laptop-tablet hybrid oriented toward the growing class of content creators and media professionals. It even came with a discrete graphics card (though not a particularly good one).
The Surface Laptop Ultra rejects the Studio's form-factor experimentation and opts for a more straightforward but polished approach. It's a powerful clamshell laptop that's designed for people who need the extra performance—whether for gaming, content creation, or on-device AI workflows. The ideal demographic, I suppose, is someone who does some of all of that.
At 4.4 pounds, the Surface Laptop Ultra is lighter than the 16-inch MacBook Pro but slightly thicker. It's actually the thickest of all the new N1X laptops, with HP's OmniBook Ultra being the thinnest. The Surface Laptop Ultra appears thinner than it actually is, though, thanks to the inventive way it hides its side vents—so discreet that it's hard to photograph them. The design has just enough small touches like that to make it stand out. There's also a soft dip into the keyboard well, with a unique look that matches the curved lip of the underside vents. I appreciate the modern vibe of the rounded screen corners, though some apps don't account for them well and nearly cut off elements of the Title Bar. One other minor annoyance is that there's no lip for your finger when the device is closed. You can slide your fingernail in between, but in most cases, you'll need two hands to open it.
But once opened, the Surface Laptop Ultra gets mostly compliments from me. The keyboard is fantastic, as is the extra-large touchpad with haptic feedback. I still dislike the power button placement (why not put it in the top right like every other laptop, as an obvious button, instead of between keys?), and the keycaps could be a bit larger. But overall, I was very happy and comfortable typing and swiping on the laptop.
I was also very pleased with the audio. The aforementioned underside vents also hide the four speakers, which sound fabulous. I was really impressed by how loud, rich, and full these sound, perhaps only second to the 16-inch MacBook Pro (and 15-inch MacBook Air). There's even a hint of bass!
Next to those speakers are lots of useful ports. You have the usual for a laptop of this type, including HDMI, USB-A, a headphone jack, an SD card slot, and three USB4 Type-C ports. The system can support up to three 4K external monitors or a single 5K display. Regardless of the resolution, you're maxed out at a 120 Hz refresh rate. This is slightly behind the latest MacBook Pro, which can support two 5K displays at a 120 Hz refresh rate. But overall, I'm really happy with this mix of connectivity—in fact, it just might be the most well-rounded offering I can imagine.
The Surface Laptop Ultra has a trick up its sleeve involving magnets. The Surface Laptop has long used the Surface Connect, a proprietary magnetic power port that can also plug into Microsoft's Surface Dock. The Surface Laptop Ultra now uses USB-C, and how Microsoft engineered it to make it magnetic is