Microsoft will hold its first dedicated laptop event in two years on Wednesday in San Francisco, presenting the latest from Windows and Surface devices. The company has described the gathering as a conversation on how local AI will shape the next chapter of the PC. CEO Satya Nadella and Pavan Davuluri, who heads Windows and Devices, are scheduled to speak. Windows 12 is not expected to appear.

Microsoft has placed heavy emphasis on artificial intelligence, putting Copilot into its products and working with chip makers such as Qualcomm to give its hardware enough computing power for generative and agentic AI tasks. The event's stated focus on local AI fits that strategy. The company has not yet detailed specific product announcements.

One possible unveiling is the Surface Laptop Ultra, a 15-inch high-end model that was first announced this spring at Computex. The machine runs on Nvidia's new RTX Spark chip, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is slated to appear at the event, another signal pointing toward the Ultra. Microsoft has not confirmed that the device will debut there.

The event follows two new Surface laptops that Microsoft already introduced this month at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. Those are upgraded Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface 13-inch laptops running on Snapdragon Elite X2 chips, along with a new Surface mouse. According to CNET's David Lumb, the new laptops have improved cameras and embody the PC-phone marriage Qualcomm promised years ago.

A central question for buyers will be pricing. Computer hardware companies including Apple, Asus and Acer have raised prices over the last year to offset rising manufacturing costs, and AI is at least partly responsible, since advanced chips are in high demand for data centers as well as laptops and phones. Higher costs for Windows licenses during manufacturing may also be contributing to larger price tags. The resulting situation, sometimes called RAMageddon, means new devices cost more.

For US consumers, the event matters because Surface hardware and Windows licenses are sold domestically, and the pricing pressure described by the industry affects what buyers pay at retail. Microsoft's push to run AI locally rather than in the cloud could also shape which machines US shoppers consider capable enough for the next generation of software. The company has not said whether any new devices will ship with changed pricing.

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