Microsoft has announced a new wave of Copilot+ PCs, leaving existing AI PCs behind. These new PCs come with a bundle of extra AI features that use the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) hardware built into the PC’s hardware for superpowered AI experiences. These features, like Recall, are powered by the PC’s local hardware and can even work offline.
However, if you bought one of those AI laptops that PC manufacturers have been selling for the first half of 2024, you may be surprised to learn that no existing AI laptops will be getting these new features. That’s right, existing AI PCs with Intel, AMD, and Nvidia hardware aren’t getting Windows 11’s big AI features. Those NPUs just don’t meet Microsoft’s hardware requirements.
PC manufacturers have been selling AI PCs for months. There are a variety of different AI PCs you can buy right now. Laptops with Intel’s Meteor Lake-powered Core Ultra CPUs are being proudly branded AI PCs. Intel’s Meteor Lake platform includes an NPU. Many of these laptops have Microsoft’s Copilot keyboard key, too. AMD has its own Ryzen AI hardware in a variety of PCs, too. Gaming laptop manufacturers are advertising so-called AI gaming laptops with powerful Nvidia GPUs.
Microsoft seems to be pivoting away from the current AI PC branding. Instead, the company is pushing the Copilot+ PC certification. Only PCs with this certification will get the new AI features Microsoft is showing off for Windows 11. To be branded a Copilot+ PC, a PC will need to meet these minimum requirements: A neural process unit (NPU) with at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) to run the AI models. 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage to make room for the AI models.
The initial wave of Copilot+ PCs launching in June 2024 will be powered by Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors. These systems have NPUs that can deliver 45 TOPS. Neither Intel nor AMD has an NPU that meets Microsoft’s Copilot+ requirement today. And neither company will have an NPU that meets these requirements at launch in June, either — both companies are getting left in the dust by Qualcomm, although they have announced plans to deliver faster NPUs that meet the requirements in the future.
Read more: www.pcworld.com