Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra is taking direct aim at Apple's 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro, using Nvidia graphics to position itself as a productivity favorite. The Surface line has long competed with Apple's Mac and iPad lineup, and while the main Surface range targets the iPad Pro, the Surface Laptop targets the MacBook Pro.
Microsoft's late 2026 challenge relies on the Nvidia RTX Spark N1X as its performance play. The company presents the device as a portable AI powerhouse capable of handling demanding modern computing. Its marketing makes the rivalry clear, including a trade-in offer of up to $1,000 for an "eligible" MacBook Pro.
To see how the two stack up, this comparison pits the base $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra against a similarly priced M5 Pro version of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which starts at $2,499. The MacBook Pro offers a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, a 15-core CPU, 16-core GPU, and Touch ID, while the Surface offers a larger 15-inch touchscreen, an Nvidia Blackwell RTX GPU, Windows Hello, and a bigger maximum memory configuration of up to 128GB.
Physically, both laptops share a similar aluminum rectangular design tailored to each brand. The Surface is larger and heavier, weighing 4.4 pounds against the MacBook Pro's 3.5 pounds, so the comparison is not a perfect match in size. Battery capacity also differs, with the Surface offering 92Wh compared with 72.4Wh on the MacBook Pro.
Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing