Nvidia has unveiled its first laptop CPU for the mainstream, the RTX Spark.It's built to power AI agents, content creation, and gaming, and it's already finding its way into Windows laptops from major brands — including in a MacBook Pro rival from Microsoft.The just-introduced "superchip" combines Nvidia's 20-core, ARM-based Grace CPU with a Blackwell RTX GPU that includes 6,144 CUDA cores (the same as an RTX 5070), fifth-generation Tensor Cores, and a unified memory system that shares between 16GB to 128GB of RAM.
Nvidia claims this delivers up to 1 petaflop of computing power that will help with newly enabled agentic AI support in Windows, including new "primitives" to help securely run agents as well as an OpenShell to help define an agent's capabilities.RTX Spark reportedly has enough power to not only run 120 billion parameter AI models locally (with over 1 million tokens context), but ender very large (over 90GB) 3D scenes, edit movie-grade 12K 4:2:2 video, and play high-end games at 1440p while maintaining over 100 frames per second.Adobe says it's optimizing Photoshop and Premiere to potentially double AI and graphics performance, although it didn't provide a reference point for that figure.
Nvidia touts "all-day" battery life, in part thanks to power consumption that can vary from single-digit watts up to 80W.Laptops and compact desktops using RTX Spark will be available this fall from Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and MSI.Acer and Gigabyte have promised their own systems later.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra: The first RTX Spark PC A premium challenger to Apple Microsoft is the first to share details of an RTX Spark laptop, the Surface Laptop Ultra, and it's not-so-subtly positioned as a competitor to top-spec MacBook Pro models and other premium creator PCs.It will support the chip's maximum 128GB of memory and will supposedly have long battery life even during intensive work.Apple has touted real-world longevity as a selling point, so it's no secret who the audience will be.
The Ultra will also have specs that reflect its creative focus, including a 15-inch mini-LED touchscreen with 2,000-nit HDR brightness, the "largest" ever haptic trackpad on a Surface, and a varied port selection that includes USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, and an SD card reader.Microsoft hasn't shared a price and release date for the Surface Laptop Ultra beyond a launch sometime "later this year." However, it's likely to be expensive given that even the more modestly equipped Surface Laptop.8 and Surface Pro 12 start at $1,950.The Ultra is aimed at creatives and gamers who want the best "official" Windows laptop, and are willing to pay for the privilege.
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