Microsoft has recently launched its new Surface Ultra laptop which promises to be the brand’s most powerful Surface device ever.
Built for demanding creative, technical and AI workloads, how does the Microsoft Surface Ultra compare to Apple’s 2026 MacBook Pro M5 series? Is one laptop a more powerful option than the other?
To help you decide between the two, we’ve compared the specs of the Microsoft Surface Ultra to the MacBook Pro M5 and noted the most noteworthy differences between the two below.
Once you’re finished here, make sure you visit our round-up of the best laptops to find your next investment.
Price and Availability
At the time of writing, the Microsoft Surface Ultra is available for pre-order and will launch officially from October 16th. The laptop has a starting price of a pretty hefty £2,599/$2,599, however Microsoft is currently offering an incentive to tempt MacBook Pro users.
Up until November 23rd, customers in the US can trade in an eligible MacBook Pro and get up to $1000 cashback in return. Unsurprisingly, the exact amount of compensation will vary depending on the model and condition of your MacBook Pro.
Otherwise the MacBook Pro M5 has a starting price of £1,999/$1,999 for its 14-inch and standard M5 chip iteration. You can choose to upgrade the chip to M5 Pro or M5 Max which will bump the starting price up to £2,999/$2,999 and £4,399/$4,399 respectively.
Nvidia RTX Spark vs M5 chip series
One of the biggest and most notable differences between the Surface Ultra and MacBook Pro is with their respective processors. While the MacBook Pro naturally runs on Apple silicon, the M5 series of chips to be exact, the Microsoft Surface Ultra is designed around Nvidia RTX Spark.
Nvidia RTX Spark is a superchip that’s made up of an Nvidia Blackwell RTX GPU with up to 6,144 cores, an up to 20 core Nvidia Grace CPU and up to 128GB of unified memory. Microsoft also explains that, thanks to RTX Spark, the Surface Ultra can run AI models exceeding 120B parameters locally, with up to one petaflop of AI performance too. With all of this in mind, the Surface Ultra is designed to support AI tasks, intensive creative work and gaming with less reliance on the cloud.
So where does that leave Apple’s M5 series? The line-up consists of the entry-level M5, M5 Pro and M5 Max, with the latter being the priciest and most powerful of the lot.
The MacBook Pro with either M5 Pro or M5 Max at its helm features what Apple claims is the world’s fastest CPU core alongside a next-generation GPU and a higher unified memory bandwidth. This, according to Apple, will allow everyone from developers and researchers to creatives to run AI-enabled workflows locally, without needing the cloud.
For a closer look at the differences, visit our Nvidia RTX Spark vs M5 Pro comparison.
MacBook Pro has two display options, but Microsoft promises the Surface Ultra is brighter
There are quite a few differences between the two laptops’ respective displays, but we’ll start with the most obvious: the Microsoft Surface Ultra only comes as a 15-inch model, whereas the MacBook Pro has the choice between a 14- or 16-inch iteration.
That’s not the only decision to choose from with the MacBook Pro. For an additional £150/$150, you can opt for a nano-texture display that reduces glare and reflections. Its matte finish, found within the MacBook Pro M4 series and iPad Pro, results in more comfortable viewing at longer periods and feels more like paper than a screen. If you’re prone to pulling all nighters at your desk then the nano-texture option is a worthy upgrade.
In addition, the Surface Ultra’s display is a touchscreen whereas the MacBook Pro isn’t. Whether this is a dealbreaker or not really depends on your personal preference and if you’ll use the touchscreen in your day-to-day life. Personally, whenever I’ve used a touchscreen laptop, I’ve never actually found the need to interact with it – but that’s just me.
That’s not where the differences end. Microsoft promises the Surface Ultra has the “brightest, sharpest and most vivid” display of any Surface laptop, and boasts the brightest peak HDR of any laptop ever. In fact, Microsoft claims its peak HDR is 25% higher than the MacBook Pro M5 series too.
Microsoft Surface Ultra has removable storage options
Storage can be tricky when choosing a laptop, especially with a MacBook where you can’t simply add more storage – unless of course you opt for external SSDs or SD cards. That means you have to consider how much storage you really need, and anticipate whether you’ll need more in the future.
Even so, the MacBook Pro M5 series can see up to a whopping 4TB of storage, though you will need to splurge for this.
In comparison, the Surface Ultra has user-removable storage that allows you to upgrade the amount of space. User-removable is especially noteworthy, as it means it should be easy to upgrade your storage yourself. However, Microsoft does disclaim that device damage caused by doing so may not be covered by its warranty, so keep that in mind.
The Surface Ultra has Microsoft’s “most complete” port selection
Both the MacBook Pro and Surface Ultra are equipped with a healthy amount of ports, but Microsoft hails its laptop having its “most complete port selection yet”. Alongside the newly introduced Magnetic Connect, a built-in magnetic USB-C port, the Surface Ultra includes two additional USB-Cs, a HDMI, USB-A, SD card reader and a headphone jack too. This line-up enables you to connect to up to three 4K displays.
In comparison, the MacBook Pro is fitted with three Thunderbolt USB-Cs, a HDMI, SDXC card slot, headphone jack and a magnetic charger too.
Early Verdict
Choosing between the Microsoft Surface Ultra and MacBook Pro M5 series will come down to how you’re looking to use your next laptop. Both are designed with creative professionals and developers in mind, and promise serious power, AI smarts and even intense gaming in a lightweight device.
However, the Surface Ultra does promise to be Microsoft’s most powerful and complete Surface laptop to date, thanks to Nvidia RTX Spark and its incredibly bright touchscreen panel. On the other hand, the MacBook Pro sports Apple’s excellent M5 series of chips, has a brilliant nano-texture display and will work seamlessly with an iPhone too.
We’ll update this versus once we review both.
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