During an event in San Francisco, Microsoft revealed more details about its plans for Windows and new Surface devices. The focus was strongly on artificial intelligence, including new options for AI agents that can run locally on a PC. The company also unveiled the Surface Laptop Ultra (pictured), its most powerful Surface laptop to date.
Microsoft wants to make Windows suitable for so-called agentic AI. With the user’s permission, Copilot will soon be able to use local files and carry out certain actions independently. In doing so, the assistant can use AI models on the PC and fall back on cloud computers for more demanding tasks.
Users will also be able to have apps and widgets created with AI. In addition, Microsoft is introducing a new way to use AI agents in Windows via a so‑called Get Started function. This includes, among other things, Portable Computer and a Windows version of the AI agent Muse.
Windows Search is also getting new capabilities. From this autumn, users will be able to perform thousands of quick actions directly from the search function on the taskbar. For example, the feature will be able to switch on dark mode, take a screenshot, adjust the volume, answer questions and send text messages. As a result, Windows Search is increasingly turning into a central interface for actions and AI features.
Microsoft says Windows is being specifically set up as a secure platform for AI agents. To that end, new options are being added to limit agents’ access to files and other parts of the system, and to provide transparency about which agent has performed a particular action.
The new Surface Laptop Ultra is aimed at developers, creators and other users who need a lot of local computing power. The laptop features a 15″ mini‑LED display with a brightness of up to 2,000 nits and an aspect ratio of 3:2. The trackpad is roughly 30% larger than that of the seventh‑generation Surface Laptop.
The device weighs less than 2 kilograms and is under 18 millimetres thick. According to Microsoft, the laptop has a significantly higher thermal capacity than the previous‑generation 15″ Surface Laptop, while the battery is meant to last a full working day.
The Surface Laptop Ultra is equipped with USB‑A, USB‑C, HDMI, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a full‑size SD card reader. There is also a magnetic connector for charging that uses USB‑C.
The RTX Spark system‑on‑a‑chip is based on Arm and, according to Microsoft, offers graphics performance comparable to that of a GeForce RTX 5070. The laptop supports, among other things, ray tracing, DLSS and Nvidia Reflex. During the event, Microsoft showed Gears of War: E‑Day running on the laptop and announced that Call of Duty will be available later this year.
The chip also has 20 CPU cores and can be combined with up to 128GB of unified memory. The system is designed to run large AI models locally and, according to Nvidia, consumes a maximum of 80 watts. With this, Microsoft is explicitly positioning the laptop as an alternative to the MacBook Pro for developers and other professional users.
The Surface Laptop Ultra starts at $2,599. Pre‑orders have already begun and the first units will be delivered from 16 October.
Alongside the laptop, Microsoft also unveiled the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box. This is a compact desktop computer specifically intended for developers and AI engineers who want to work locally with heavy AI models. The device will start at $5,999 and can also be ordered.
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