When you think of a powerful and efficient computer, the first thing you probably think of is a MacBook. However, think about computers used with artificial intelligence tools, and Apple's machines may come last. (Assuming you can name a computer designed for artificial intelligence in the first place.)
As a result, Apple's rivals have an opportunity to not only solidify that their laptops are more powerful and efficient than MacBooks for most tasks, but also differentiate themselves by having the technology needed to support the latest artificial intelligence capabilities. That's what Microsoft is trying to achieve with its just-announced Copilot+ line of PCs.
Copilot+ PC, powered by Qualcomm
"Copilot+ PCs" is Microsoft's name for a new wave of artificially intelligent machines from the likes of Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung, not to mention Microsoft's own Surface line. (More on that below.) Many of these machines, including the new Surface, are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus, Arm-based chips that Microsoft and other OEMs hope will convince users Give up Apple. The Plus has a 10-core CPU, while the Elite has a 12-core CPU. Depending on the model, your Snapdragon X might come with a 3.8 TFLOP GPU or a 4.6 TFLOP GPU.
One of the big benefits of adding the Snapdragon X, at least in Microsoft's view, is the chip's NPU (neural processing unit), which is responsible for the artificial intelligence computing process. Whether you go with Plus or Elite, you get a 45 TOPS NPU (the TOPS standard for trillions of operations per second), which Qualcomm says can run more than 13 billion parameters on the device.
What's being pushed here is not just the chipset, but Windows 11 itself. Microsoft says it has restructured its operating system around maximizing CPU, GPU and now NPU. Now that these chips are Arm-based, they can run an increasing number of Arm64-based applications. Microsoft naturally emphasizes apps across its Microsoft 365 offering, including Teams, PowerPoint, Word and Excel, as well as apps like Chrome, Spotify, Zoom and WhatsApp. Microsoft also partners with companies like Adobe (Photoshop, Lightroom, and Express) and applications like DaVinci Resolve Studio and djay Pro.
They're clearly targeting Apple: Microsoft says its Copilot+ PC outperforms the 15-inch MacBook Air in sustained multi-threaded performance by 58 percent. They also conducted a live demonstration showing how the new Surface Laptop can handle Photoshop projects faster than the M3 MacBook Air:
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GPT-4o and co-pilot
Microsoft also announced that Copilot will soon have access to OpenAI’s latest and greatest LL.M., GPT-4o. Since Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI, this isn't surprising: even before OpenAI thought it would be cool to offer its latest models to users for free, the company added GPT-4 Turbo as a free feature to Copilot.
Microsoft shows how to use this feature. For example, with GPT-4o you can get artificial intelligence help while playing video games. Here's a demo from the event, in which Copilot (powered by GPT-4o) talks to presenters through a round of Minecraft :
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Better on-device search with Recall
Recall is a new Windows 11 feature for Copilot+ PCs designed to improve the search experience on your computer. When you use Recall to search for something, instead of a list of files, folders, and applications, you see a screenshot of related material in your timeline. It's as if Microsoft has logged all the activity you do on your computer and uses artificial intelligence to pull still images from apps that match the keywords in your query.
Recall can be used to find emails, photos, websites, and anything else you might have done or created on your computer. Microsoft says all snapshots are stored locally on your PC, so none of your activity is shared to the cloud or outside your computer.
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Oh, and Microsoft is selling a new Surface laptop too
While many OEMs are about to launch new Copilot+ PC laptops, Microsoft has announced two new Surface laptops as part of the rollout of the technology: Surface Laptop and Surface Pro. Both machines run Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips and therefore come equipped with all the Copilot+ PC features, but they differ in their final design and execution.
Surface Laptop features a new design with thinner bezels, a tactile touchpad, and a 13.8-inch display or a 15-inch display, both with a 120Hz refresh rate. Microsoft says this machine can achieve up to 20 hours of local video playback (note, not streaming) on the 13.8-inch model and 22 hours on the 15.8-inch model, and supports Wi-Fi 7. As the name suggests, this is a laptop, so while it has a touchscreen, it's not removable. The product is available for pre-order now, with prices starting at $999.99 (13.8-inch) and $1,299.99 (15-inch). If you want the 13.8-inch Snapdragon X Elite, the price increases to $1,399.99, which is $100 more than the 15-inch Elite.
If you're looking for a machine with a detachable tablet, look no further than the Surface Pro. The latest 2-in-1 Surface comes in an optional 13-inch OLED configuration with an ultrawide camera, two USB-4 ports, Wi-Fi 7, and support for output to up to three external 4K displays. It's worth noting that you can actually replace many parts of the Surface Pro, including the motherboard, battery, and camera. (What year is it?) Finally, the new Surface Flex Keyboard actually works when detached, so you don't need to physically connect it to a monitor to type.
Pre-order your new Surface device here:
Surface Laptop: Starting at $999.99
Surface Pro: Starting at $999.99
Gunshots in front of WWDC
It's a fascinating time for the personal computing market. While Microsoft has always brought different OEMs together under the same PC umbrella, they now talk about these different machines as if they were all one family, just like Apple has always done. Microsoft isn't saying that the new Surface performs better than the MacBook; it does say that the new Surface performs better than the MacBook. Instead, they say the Copilot+ computer as a whole is like this. Currently, they are standardizing the hardware and software to make their machines the best on the market in terms of power, efficiency and artificial intelligence.
Of course, like every new technology release, we won't really know how well these machines perform until reviewers start testing them in an unbiased environment. Plus, we should see a slew of new AI announcements from Apple at WWDC next month, so things will change soon. Buckle up, people.
