NVIDIA's RTX Spark is going directly after the MacBook Pro, with flagship N1x systems expected to start at $2,899

NVIDIA made a big splash at Computex 2026 with RTX Spark, its new platform that combines an ARM-based Grace CPU with a Blackwell RTX GPU on a single chip. While the hardware looks seriously impressive on paper, a new Morgan Stanley report suggests it won't come cheap.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley suggest that laptops powered by the flagship N1x chip will not be priced below around $2,899, while entry-level systems running the standard N1 platform are expected to start at roughly $1,799. Those figures are for base configurations, likely meaning 16GB to 32GB of RAM and 512GB to 1TB of storage. Fully loaded models with 128GB of unified memory and multi-terabyte SSDs will cost considerably more.

At those price points, RTX Spark is not competing with mainstream Windows laptops. It is going directly after Apple's MacBook Pro, which starts at around $2,100 for the M5 Pro configuration. NVIDIA's advantage lies in graphics performance and AI compute.

During Computex, the company showcased Forza Horizon 6 running at over 100 FPS at 1440p on an RTX Spark system, and partners consistently emphasized the platform's ability to deliver gaming-grade performance in a thin chassis. For heavy AI workloads and local model inference, the discrete Blackwell GPU gives it a clear edge over anything Apple currently offers.

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Where Apple still holds the advantage is in software compatibility, battery life, and the maturity of its ecosystem. Windows on ARM has improved significantly, but still carries compatibility caveats that macOS does not. Those are real considerations for buyers weighing a $2,900 laptop purchase.

Several manufacturers already have RTX Spark devices in the pipeline. The initial wave includes Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra, Dell's XPS 16 Creator Edition with a tandem OLED display, ASUS ProArt P16 and P14, HP's OmniBook X 14 and OmniBook Ultra 16, Lenovo's Yoga Pro 9n, and MSI's Prestige N16 Flip AI+. NVIDIA says the ecosystem could grow to about 30 laptop models and 10 desktop systems by fall, with Acer and GIGABYTE also expected to follow.