Microsoft announced AI-focused Copilot+ PCs and more.
Software giant Microsoft announced AI-focused Copilot+ PCs and more at an event held today.
GPT-4o Large Language Model
As part of the Build 2024 event held this evening, Microsoft announced the Copilot+ PC, a special brand for the company’s AI-focused new laptops, marking a new era for personal computers. According to the presentation, the Copilot+ PCs will feature special Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD processors with dedicated AI units (requiring at least 40 TOPs of NPU processing power, 16 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage) and other technical infrastructures, enabling many intelligent AI features to run natively without requiring a constant cloud connection.
A variety of Copilot+ PCs from Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, HP, Acer, and Asus are expected (several models were officially introduced this evening), and Microsoft itself is preparing Arm-based Copilot+ PCs offering 22 hours of local video playback and 18 hours of web browsing.
Microsoft claims these Copilot+ PCs are 58% faster than the M3-supported MacBook Air. One of the AI features highlighted in the presentation is “Recall,” described as a “photographic memory for everything you do on your computer.” This feature allows users to search through the content they have seen on their PC, even weeks back. In summary, Recall is a highly advanced search system that has already received very positive feedback.
Additionally, features such as a system that converts simple drawings into high-quality images and real-time translation subtitles will be offered. The new GPT-4o large language model will handle tasks faster, surpassing previous Copilot features.
Arm-Processor Copilot+ PCs
Microsoft states that it has redesigned the core components of Windows 11 to better support Arm-based hardware and AI systems. This includes a new kernel, compiler, and most importantly, an emulator or Arm translation layer called “Prism” for running legacy x86 and x64 applications. This is significant because, with Prism, applications not originally made for Arm processors can run seamlessly on Arm-based Copilot+ PCs. In the new era, there will also be software specifically designed for Arm-processor Copilot+ PCs. For example, Arm versions of Photoshop, Lightroom, Firefly, and Express are available as of today, with other software to be released later.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processors.
As part of the Build 2024 event, Microsoft introduced the first Arm-based Copilot+ PCs, which include the new Surface Laptop models with 13.8-inch and 15-inch displays powered by Snapdragon X Elite processors. Additionally, the Surface Pro 10, featuring an OLED display and Snapdragon X Plus processor, was officially unveiled. These new Surface Laptop models, capable of playing video for 22 hours on a single charge, and many other Copilot+ PCs, will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processors.
To compete with Apple’s highly efficient Arm-based M-Series processors (M1, M2, and M3), Qualcomm has introduced four different processors in the Snapdragon X series. The family includes three different “X Elite” processors and an entry-level “X Plus” processor. The X Plus currently has a single model with 10 cores, a 45 TOPS AI processing unit, and a maximum multi-threaded frequency of 3.4 GHz. It supports LPDDR5x RAM with speeds up to 8,448 MT/s and features a 3.8 TFLOP Adreno GPU.
The X Elite processors all have 12 cores and support LPDDR5x RAM speeds up to 8,448 MT/s. The top-tier model has a 4.6 TFLOP Adreno GPU, while the others have a 3.8 TFLOP GPU. All X Elite processors include a 45 TOPS AI processing unit. The top two models also support “Dual-Core Boost” with clock speeds of 4.2 GHz and 4.0 GHz, respectively. The maximum multi-threaded frequency is 3.8 GHz for the top model and 3.4 GHz for the others.
