Nvidia's game-changing RTX Spark laptops are coming in October - but price information is still MIA

Date:
Thu, 03 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Description:
At IFA 2026, Nvidia announced that laptops from Microsoft, HP, Lenovo, and more powered by its new RTX Spark chip will ship in October... but other details remain thin on the ground.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter At IFA 2026 , the huge tech
show in Berlin, Germany, Nvidia announced that laptops running on its ARM -based RTX Spark chip will be available to buy from October.

The biggest names in the laptop industry, including Microsoft , Lenovo , HP , and Dell , will all have RTX Spark devices, and I got to spend a bit more
time with some of them at Nvidias launch event. Having already seen a lot of RTX Spark laptops at Computex 2026 earlier this year, quite a bit of what Nvidia showed at IFA was familiar. There was, again, a big emphasis on local AI performance, which is undoubtedly impressive, but a bit niche for consumers, and I can see how Nvidia tech such as DLSS upscaling and Multi Frame Gen (MFG), which RTX Spark devices can make use of, can help content creators working on complex 3D art speed up their workflows (those technologies have in the past mainly been aimed at improving the performance of PC games). Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

I also got to play a range of games on RTX Spark laptops, including DOOM The Dark Ages , and 007 First Light , and it remains impressive that these thin and light laptops are able to run such demanding titles with such impressive results. This is especially true when you consider that the games aren't running natively on ARM, instead they are being run via Microsoft's Prism emulation layer, which means games developed for traditional Intel or AMD (x86) hardware can run without devs having to make dedicated ARM versions. According to the Nvidia spokesperson I chatted to, the performance hit of running a game via emulation is negligible, at least with GPU-bound titles.

The spokesperson admitted, however, that CPU-intensive games (such as RTS games) could see bigger dips compared to running the game natively. You may like How Nvidia RTX Spark will change laptops forever... for better and worse Dell's new XPS RTX Spark mini PC could prove a problem for the Mac Studio Intel CPU with integrated Nvidia RTX GPU rumored to arrive early in 2028

What is new at IFA is the announcement that RTX Spark laptops will go on sale in October. But, apart from that, details remain scarce - and that means it's hard to get excited about these laptops just yet. Keeping their cards close
to their chest (Image credit: Future) Despite being about a month out from going on sale, Nvidia was tightlipped about a lot of things regarding RTX Spark laptops. The biggest question mark, of course, concerns pricing. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

These are powerful laptops aimed at creative professionals, and will come
with up to 128GB of unified memory, so I can't imagine they are going to be anything other than very, very, expensive. The continued silence about prices doesn't bode well for anyone hoping for vaguely affordable laptops.

One spokesperson I talked to did suggest there will be multiple yet to be announced configurations that will appeal to different consumers and price points, though they looked slightly doubtful when I asked if there would be
an RTX Spark laptop that students could afford.

We still don't know more about performance, either, as while there were live demos, raw performance numbers were not available, and I was not allowed to run benchmarks or change settings. What to read next Acers new RTX Spark mini PCs are giving me M6 Mac mini vibes: great-looking, but who is it for? Lenovo just put NVIDIA's Arm superchip in two Yoga laptops, but professionals might be more enthused by their AI-centric memory configurations Ive reviewed hundreds of laptops these are the best ones from 2026 so far (Image credit: Future) What I can say is that complex AI tools and generative AI features, all run locally on the laptops, and appear fast and smooth. Games also ran well. I was also assured by Nvidia that performance would be roughly the same if the RTX Spark laptop is plugged into a charger, or running on battery.

So, no power-conserving throttling it seems, something that Apple has long boasted about with its M-series chips.

A number of laptops from Nvidia's partners were on display, but were turned off, and journalists were asked not to even pick them up, again an odd
request considering these devices are supposed to go on sale next month.

I'm certainly impressed with what I've seen, and the potential of RTX Spark
is huge. I'm also glad that Windows laptops look like they could finally give Apple's modern MacBook Pros a run for their money.

But, on the topic of money, I really won't be able to ascertain just how excited we should all be with RTX Spark laptops until we know more about the price - and with an October launch, time is running out. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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