What if you could run an entire Windows PC on a mobile Arm-based chip, bringing the power efficiency and thinner designs from smartphones and tablets to laptops? If you've been paying attention to Microsoft's PC strategy over the past two decades, this song probably sounds familiar. From the original Surface in 2012 (running Windows RT for Arm devices) to the recent Surface Pro 9 5G, Microsoft has chipped away at this dream, only to fail miserably every time. Now with its new Copilot+ PC initiative, which includes major upgrades in Windows for Arm systems and AI, Microsoft may finally have the answer to its mobile computing dreams.
Microsoft's portable PC ambitions didn't start with the Surface line: You can trace it back to Windows CE and Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs. Then there was the short-lived era of netbooks: tiny, cheap and under-powered laptops meant mainly for browsing the web. I'll admit, I loved many a netbook, but they couldn't compete with the rise of the iPhone, Android and tablets.
Timing has never been Microsoft's strongest point. While Apple can just re-orient its platforms around its own homegrown hardware and software to pull off a monumental feat, like the move towards its Arm-based M-series chips, Microsoft has to wait on its many partners. In the case of Copilot+, the program wouldn't have been possible before Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite chips, or before developers were ready to build apps to take advantage of neural processing units (NPUs) for AI work.
"We engineered this update of Windows with the focus on AI and specifically AI inference on those devices, and [with] making sure we were taking full advantage of the Arm 64 instruction set," according to Microsoft’s head of Windows and Surface Pavan Davuluri in a briefing with media earlier this month. "[In] this updated Windows, we built a new compiler in Windows for this exercise. We have a new kernel in the operating system that is built on top of this compiler. We have new schedulers in Windows that are built for taking advantage of these workloads."
Davuluri also noted that there's a new driver compute model that better integrates neural engines into Windows, just like CPUs and GPUs. Those core Windows updates will be a major boon for AI hardware, undoubtedly, but they will also make the OS function far better on Arm chips than we've seen before. Microsoft says that more native Arm apps will be coming to Windows, including Spotify and over 400 apps from other developers. But the key upgrade, a new emulator that's 20 percent faster than its previous solution, and is said to be faster than Apple's Rosetta 2 emulator for M-series Macs.
"We made gains on the breadth and the reach of the emulator," Davuluri said, referring to the amount of apps that Prism works on. "When you combine the new prism emulator with simply the raw performance and improvement in [the Snapdragon X Elite] CPUs themselves, we're in a place where we have great native apps and we're also in a place where the breadth of the app catalog also has tremendous performance, comparable to the rest of the Windows estate today."
While I haven't been able to benchmark Copilot+ PCs yet, I've seen a few compelling demos that point to raw performance and battery life that’s similar to Apple's M3 chip. I'm just hoping the company can finally deliver a Windows on Arm experience that doesn't stink. After reviewing the Surface Pro 9 5G, which was slow and incompatible with many apps, I had given up on the idea of a decent Arm-based Windows PC entirely. But with revamped Surface devices, as well as partners like Dell, ASUS and HP jumping on the Copilot+ bandwagon, maybe Microsoft has finally crafted a decent mobile PC platform.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-isnt-the-star-of-microsofts-copilot-pc-push--improved-arm-support-is-190039699.html?src=rss
It's the dawn of a new era in Microsoft's eyes as the first wave of Copilot+ PCs are now available as of June 18. This "new class of Windows PCs," as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella describes them, contains hardware designed to run as many generative AI processes locally as possible, rather than having to rely on data centers.
These laptops all have an Arm-basedSnapdragon chipset from Qualcomm that includes a neural processing unit (NPU) to handle such tasks. Microsoft has stipulated that Copilot+ PCs need to have at least 40 TOPs (tera operations per second) of NPU performance, and 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage at minimum. The systems each have a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard and they're all slated to have strong battery life.
These Copilot+ PCs could really change how we interact with computers, bringing natural language nuance to a bevy of everyday tasks. A new Windows 11 layer includes dozens of deeply integrated AI models. These can handle all manner of processes including automated photo restoration, real-time captioning and translations for live and pre-recorded video, graphics upscaling for games, image generation, text summaries and much, much more.
One highly touted feature will be missing from most Copilot+ PCs at the outset, however. Microsoft has decided to postpone the broad rollout of Recall. The idea behind this feature is to help you find anything you've ever accessed on your computer, such as a web page, document, email, chat or image. To make this work, Windows needs to take snapshots of your activity every few seconds and add these to a Recall timeline.
It didn't take long for privacy advocates to criticize the feature. Microsoft backtracked to a certain degree by making Recall opt-in and adding extra layers of encryption. Just a few days before the public debut of Copilot+ PCs though, Microsoft took a further step back by announcing that recall would only be available in the Windows Insider Program at first. The company hopes to receive feedback from more testers before rolling out Recall to all eligible Copilot+ PCs.
That said, many Copilot+ PCs are now available and Microsoft plans to roll out the announced features gradually in the coming months. Dell, Acer and HP are among the first third-party manufacturers to build Copilot+ PCs, though Microsoft has some of its own. Let's take a look at the first laptops to carry the new label.
Surface Laptop
Engadget
The new Surface Laptop was the first Copilot+ PC detailed at a Microsoft event held in May. The updated PC has all of the AI bells and whistles you would expect, as it’s a first-party device. The Surface Laptop’s touch display can hit 600 nits of brightness, with availability in 13.8- and 15-inch options, and there's a full HD camera integrated into the bezel. Microsoft says the laptop is 80 percent faster than the previous generation, with a battery that can get up to 22 hours per charge. There’s the Copilot key, of course, as well as a haptic touchpad. The Surface Laptop starts at just $1,000.
Surface Pro
Engadget
Microsoft has dropped its old numerical naming convention for Surface hybrid devices. Based on previous models, the latest version should be called the Surface Pro 10, but it’s called just the Surface Pro. Microsoft says the new Surface Pro is a whopping 90 percent faster than the Surface 9, which was already fairly quick. There’s also an OLED version that boasts a “near-infinite” contrast ratio between deep blacks and brighter colors.
The company also brags that the front-facing camera is the best it has ever created, with fantastic low-light performance. The rear-facing camera can capture 4K video. The new Flex keyboard design works whether or not it's physically attached to the 2-in-1, so you can position things however you want. Other features include a customizable haptic touchpad, Wi-Fi 7 and increased multi-monitor support. The new Surface Pro starts at $1,000.
Acer Swift 14 AI
Acer
This is Acer's Copilot+ PC spin on its line of Swift-branded laptops. This laptop features a 14.5-inch, 2.5K touch display, Wi-Fi 7, up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of solid-state storage. All of this is stuffed into a quite fetching metal chassis that weighs 1.36 kg (3 lbs). Acer is also promising a battery life of up to 26 hours. The Acer Swift 14 AI will be available in July, with a starting price of $1,100.
HP Omnibook X
HP
HP has revived its once-iconic Omnibook line of laptops and updated it for the age of AI. The Omnibook X ships with the Snapdragon X Elite CPU, with up to 12 cores and a top speed of 3.4 GHz. The Qualcomm Hexagon NPU powers all of those AI bells and whistles and the Adreno GPU handles the visual side of things. You can spec out this laptop with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of solid-stage storage.
The Omnibook X has a multitouch-enabled 14-inch, 2.2K display, dual speakers with HP Audio Boost technology and up to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The system is available now for a starting price of $1,150. You can easily spot HP AI PCs thanks to a new helix-shaped logo.
HP EliteBook Ultra G1q
HP
The Omnibook X isn't the only Copilot+ PC that HP has announced. The company also unveiled the business-focused EliteBook Ultra G1q. This laptop also uses the Snapdragon X Elite CPU, along with an NPU capable of more than 40 TOPs. That means it should whiz through AI tasks at a rapid clip. The new EliteBook Ultra can do all of the typical chatbot/digital assistant stuff, but the Poly Camera Pro software now runs on the NPU, so you won’t draw power from the CPU when using tools like background blur and virtual backgrounds during video calls.
This PC also includes premium endpoint security to defend against phishing attempts and malware attacks at the firmware level. There’s a 14-inch, 2.2K touch display and a battery that charges to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. You’ll be stuck with 16GB of soldered-on RAM, however, and the storage maxes out at 1TB. The EliteBook Ultra G1q is available now and it starts at $1,700.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x
Engadget/Sam Rutherford
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x features the Snapdragon X Elite chip, and a 14-inch screen that covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and delivers up to 500 nits of brightness. The bezels are thin, there’s a quad-mic setup and it has a starting weight of 2.82 lbs. Lenovo even managed to fit in cooling fans. There’s also a 70Wh battery that should easily last a full work day (unless you're playing games or editing a lot of video). The Yoga Slim 7x starts at $1,300.
The company has another AI PC coming, the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. This also features a beefy NPU processor for AI tasks.
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge Series
Samsung
The Galaxy Book series is getting an AI-centric refresh. The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge series comes in a few varieties, with screen sizes ranging from 14 inches to 16 inches. They all feature AMOLED display panels with 3K resolution, with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The systems run on Snapdragon X Elite processors. Each version also includes a HDMI 2.1 output, two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. In addition, the 16-inch model boasts a USB-A port, a microSD card reader and a number pad.
There’s a pro version available with the most powerful, 3.8GHz Snapdragon X Elite variant and 1TB of storage (rather than 512GB), though only if you opt for the 16-inch format. These laptops start at $1,350.
ASUS Vivobook S 15
ASUS
This ultrathin 15.6-inch laptop is powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor and includes a collection of AI-centric apps developed by ASUS. The AiSense camera feature detects when someone is in front of the display and dims the screen when they look away to preserve juice. This is also used to automatically lock and unlock the computer. This Vivobook is also the first ASUS laptop to feature StoryCube, which is a proprietary AI assistant that helps to “manage all digital assets.”
As for standard specs, it has a 15.6-inch OLED display, with a 3K resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate. There's a Harman Kardon-certified audio system with multi-dimensional Dolby Atmos sound, a solid array of ports and a 70Wh battery with the promise of over 18 hours of use on a single charge. You can outfit these laptops with up to 1TB of internal storage and up to 32GB of RAM. It’s surprising the company didn’t have a Zenbook ready to go here, given last year’s model went pretty hard for AI.
A Whole Bunch of Dell PCs
Dell
Dell is diving in head-first here, as it has already lined up at least five Copilot+ PCs. First of all, there’s an AI-centric refresh of the XPS 13 with a Snapdragon X Elite chip. This laptop includes a sleek, minimalist design with a machined aluminum exterior. There’s a touch function row that toggles between media controls and function keys, and an option for a 3K touch display. You can stuff up to 2TB of SSD storage and 64GB of memory into this model. The latest XPS 13 starts at $1,300 and it's available now.
The company has also refreshed its Inspiron line of laptops. The Inspiron 14 and Inspiron 14 Plus both feature Snapdragon X Plus processors. The Inspiron 14 Plus looks to be a bit more powerful on the CPU side of things, with 10 cores and speeds up to 3.4GHz. The latest Inspiron 14 Plus starts at $1,100. Dell will release pricing and availability information for the standard Inspiron 14 Copilot+ PC in the coming months.
For enterprise customers, Dell will have the Latitude 5455 and the Latitude 7455, which are offshoots of the current Latitude 5450 and 7450 notebooks. The big change here is that both new models will be powered by Snapdragon X Plus chips, with the 7455 offering an option for the flagship Snapdragon X Elite. The 7450 features a 360-degree 2-in-1 design and is being touted as the “thinnest Latitude laptop ever." We'll get pricing and availability informaton on these later this year.
What about other PC companies?
These are all of the big hardware announcements from May's Microsoft Surface and Copilot event, but they're only the first batch of Copilot+ PCs. More are certain to be on the way. This is, after all, the decade of AI… so they say.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/here-are-all-of-the-copilot-pcs-with-snapdragon-x-chips-that-were-released-today-104404765.html?src=rss
Microsoft just couldn't wait until its Build developer conference properly starts tomorrow to drop some knowledge bombs. The company held a pre-Build event on Monday that wasn't livestreamed for the public, but it made some major announcements on the AI and Surface fronts.
Its vision for so-called AI PCs is taking shape with Copilot+ PCs, which are designed to run many generative AI processes locally instead of in the cloud. Along with its own Surface systems that will adopt this format, several other manufacturers are making Copilot+ PCs too. Microsoft also detailed some of the upcoming AI features for Windows 11.
To qualify as a Copilot+ PC, a system will need to have neural processing unit (NPU) performance of at least 40 TOPs (trillions of operations per second) and have 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage at minimum. This is so the PC can run generative AI processes locally rather than via the cloud. That's a strategy we've seen in some recent flagship smartphones, such as Google Pixel devices.
Microsoft says it has completely reimagined the Windows PC to run on a new infrastructure that combines the CPU, GPU and NPU. It's working with several partners to make this happen, including chipmakers AMD, Intel and Qualcomm as well as laptop manufacturers.
The company claims Copilot+ PCs are 58 percent faster than the M3-powered MacBook Air. The systems will be able to run dozens of multi-modal small language models locally, which will power features like a new standalone Copilot app.
New Surface models
Microsoft unveiled new business-focused Surface devices a couple of months ago and now the latest consumer models are just about here. Of course, these are among the first Copilot+ PCs.
The new Surface Laptop has thinner bezels and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chipset. It comes in 13.8-inch and 15-inch sizes. Microsoft says it's over 86 percent faster than the last-gen Surface Laptop 5 and comes with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage.
The switch to Arm architecture should help make the laptop more power efficient. Microsoft claims the 15-inch model will run for up to 22 hours on a single charge while playing videos locally and up to 15 hours while actively browsing the web. The Surface Laptop starts at $999 and will ship on June 18.
Meanwhile, the Surface Pro will have a snazzy OLED display option for the first time. It's said to be 90 percent faster than the previous generation and you seemingly get up to 14 hours of local video playback on a single charge. Sadly, the only ports you'll get are two USB-C ones.
A version with an LCD screen starts at $1,000 and it comes with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. If you want the OLED display, pricing starts at $1,500. Bear in mind that if you want a physical keyboard, you'll need to buy that separately. The new Flex Keyboard costs $350, or $450 if you want to bundle in a Surface Pen.
HP has a couple too in the form of the Omnibook X and the Elitebook Ultra, and we've already had the chance to go hands-on with the former. The company is also taking the opportunity to rebrand its systems under a single label called Omni, so say goodbye to Spectre, Pavilion and Envy.
While some of the snazzy new Windows 11 features (which we'll get to in a moment) weren't available to check out in our initial time with it, we felt like HP had taken a small step backward in terms of design aesthetics. Although it has a headphone jack, the dual USB-C and single USB-A port setup may not be enough for your needs. Meanwhile, the Omnibook X runs on a Snapdragon X Elite and HP claims it can run for up to 26 hours on a single charge while playing local video.
The Omnibook X starts at $1,200 for a model with 1TB of storage. The Elitebook Ultra will run you at least $1,700. Both will ship on June 18.
Windows 11 redesigned for Arm
Since Qualcomm's chips use the Arm architecture, that of course means Microsoft is doubling down on Arm-based Windows 11. The advantages of Qualcomm's chips are clear — they by and large offer improvements in terms of efficiency, cost and battery life.
But Microsoft's previous attempts at getting Arm-based Windows to thrive haven't panned out. We had major concerns about the Arm-powered Surface Pro 9 back in 2022, so much so that we couldn't in good conscience recommend it. Microsoft has had a couple of years since then, so maybe it has finally figured out how to make the most of Arm.
To that end, Microsoft has redesigned Windows 11 with AI and Arm in mind. AI APIs are now built directly into the operating system. Windows 11 is getting a new kernel and compiler, as well as an emulator called Prism to run x86 and x64 apps. Prism is said to be 20 percent faster than Microsoft's previous emulator.
As for apps that'll run natively on Arm-based Windows 11 after Copilot+ PCs start shipping next month, of course all of Microsoft's core software is included. Third-party apps including Chrome, Spotify, Zoom, WhatsApp, Blender, Affinity Suite, DaVinci Resolve and many of Adobe's will run natively on Arm too.
Copilot+ features
Microsoft
So, with all that said, what exactly can you do with these fancy new machines?
A tentpole feature of Copilot+ PCs is called Recall, which is a bit like a supercharged version of Timeline from Windows 10. The idea is to help you find something you've engaged with on your PC at some point in the past using natural language prompts. So, if you can't remember many details about a nifty patterned sweater you saw on the web months ago and now wonder if you might want to buy it, you can describe the item using text inputs or your voice and Recall can hunt for it.
The tool can also tap into your emails, documents and chat threads to find the information you're looking for. Microsoft says the data Recall looks at will stay on your device and not be used to train its AI models.
Microsoft is jazzing up Copilot too with a redesigned app that you can leave as a sidebar, turn into a standalone window or view fullscreen. You'll be able to drag items into it from elsewhere in Windows, so if you want to ask it about something you read in a Word doc, you can simply plop that in.
Cocreator has been around for a while in a limited capacity, but now Microsoft is infusing that feature into Microsoft Paint for everyone. The image generation tool is getting some new options too, including a grimace-inducing creativity slider, because we all know that's how the creative process works. Sigh. Anyway, this will let you determine just how much you want AI to adjust your original work.
Elsewhere, it's claimed that Live Captions will be able to translate dozens of languages into English in real-time, no matter whether the video is live or pre-recorded. Restoring old images in Windows Photos may be a cinch thanks to an option called Super Resolution.
Lastly for now, (because there will surely be more Copilot+ features on the way), Microsoft has revealed its own upscaling tech for games. As with similar solutions like NVIDIA's DLSS, Auto Super Resolution taps into AI and aims to upscaled graphics and boost refresh rates without diminishing performance.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-surface-and-copilot-event-everything-announced-including-new-surface-laptops-copilot-pc-and-more-180709060.html?src=rss
As part of Microsoft’s big push into AI, Lenovo is releasing two new Windows 11 laptops featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chip. First up is the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, which is essentially Lenovo’s most popular enterprise notebook with an Arm-based chip with a beefy NPU instead of an x86 processor from Intel or AMD. But the more interesting of the two is the Yoga Slim 7x, which features an all-new chassis that’s designed to take better advantage of the X Elite’s blend of performance and power efficiency. And while Lenovo won’t say it outright, the latter is basically the company’s attempt at making a MacBook Air rival for Windows.
Before we get too deep into the specifics, it’s important to note that I tried out a pre-production version of the Slim 7x that didn’t have any of Microsoft’s new Copilot+ features, so this is strictly an early look at the laptop’s hardware. But from what I saw, there’s a lot to like.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The laptop’s highlight features are its 14-inch 3K 90Hz OLED display and its sleek aluminum chassis. The screen features a color gamut that covers 100 percent of DCI-P3 while delivering up to 500 nits of brightness. Above the display, there’s Lenovo’s signature communication tab, which allows the Slim 7x to support an FHD webcam plus IR sensors for Windows Hello along with quad mics, but without needing to have super thick bezels.
At just 2.84 pounds, the Slim 7x is only a tenth of a pound heavier than a 13-inch MacBook Air and half a pound lighter than a 15-inch MBA. Though at around 0.51 inches thick, it’s not quite as sleek as either of Apple’s rivals. And despite the Snapdragon X Elite chip’s emphasis on power efficiency, unlike a MacBook Air, the Slim 7x still has dedicated fans for cooling.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Elsewhere, the system features three USB-C 4 ports, Wi-Fi 7 and a surprisingly punchy quad speaker setup. I was also quite surprised with the Slim 7x’s keyboard, which sports 1.5mm of key travel, which is a lot longer than you typically get on a system this thin. Finally, powering everything is a 70Wh battery, which is significantly larger than the 58Wh cell on the ThinkPad T14s.
Unfortunately, without knowing more about the Snapdragon X Elite’s performance in Windows 11 (not to mention stuff like app compatibility) or how impactful Microsoft’s Copilot+ features will be, this is a somewhat incomplete peek at the Yoga Slim 7x’s capabilities. But even so, for all the people who want to see slimmer notebooks that offer good performance and battery life, it’s encouraging to see what companies like Lenovo are doing with a new generation of Arm-based processors for Windows.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The Yoga Slim 7x is expected to go on sale sometime in June starting at $1,199 and will be available exclusively from Best Buy.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-yoga-slim-7x-is-lenovos-attempt-at-a-macbook-air-180056684.html?src=rss
Acer just announced a new laptop that takes full advantage of Microsoft’s Copilot AI technology, the Swift 14 AI. This is one of the first PCs with Copilot built directly into the system, so you can expect some serious AI bells and whistles.
To that end, there are plenty of new system-wide tools that could radically change how we interact with personal computers. The Recall tool is an amplified search function that lets users find missing files via natural conversation. It’s sort of like an AI Sherlock Holmes, only for misplaced Word documents and the like. You describe any clues you remember about the file and Recall starts sleuthing. That certainly beats typing in the first letter and hoping autocorrect does the rest.
That isn’t the only new way to find stuff. The Swift 14 AI features an explorable timeline, allowing users to scroll through time to get back to apps, documents and messages they previously used. The computer’s built-in AI also allows for real-time translations and speech captions of any live or pre-recorded video. As for the translations, it can turn 44 languages into English.
Being an AI computer, the Acer Swift 14 AI features a built-in way to generate images and text via written prompt. This Cocreator service should be much faster than current methods, as the query won’t have to go to the cloud and back.
All of that stuff is well and good, but built-in AI really shines when it comes to optimization. This computer includes a feature called Auto Super Resolution that automatically upscales graphics resolution and frame refresh rates of games all “without taking a hit on performance.” The Windows Studio Effects toolset uses AI to improve lighting conditions and cancel out unwanted noise during video calls. Finally, there’s a dedicated Copilot key for accessing a myriad of other AI-adjacent features.
Acer
Of course, this isn’t just a larger version of Humane’s beleaguered AI pin. It’s an actual laptop with the specs to prove it. The Acer Swift 14 AI ships in a light metal chassis and boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor, an integrated NPU that promises up to 45 trillion operations per second and a 14.5-inch WQXGA touch display. Acer also promises all-day battery life, despite the added power.
The laptop will be available in July, with a starting price of $1,100. You can spec it out with up to 32GB of RAM and and up to 1TB of solid-state storage. It joins a bevy of other Acer laptop models announced or released this year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acer-joins-microsoft-dell-and-others-in-announcing-a-copilot-pc-180031939.html?src=rss
To kick off Microsoft Build 2024, the company announced new Surface devices at its hardware and AI event today. Among the fresh gear is the new Surface Laptop: a redesigned PC with thinner bezels in 13.8- and 15-inch sizes and Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip. Of course, AI plays a key role on the new device as this is one of the newly-named Copilot+ PCs that run over 40 models locally thanks to updates to Windows 11 and Qualcomm's Hexagon NPU.
To go along with the thinner bezels, an upgraded PixelSense touchscreen display offers HDR and Dolby Vision IQ. Microsoft says this is the brightest display it has ever shipped at 600 nits, and it offers a wide color range supporting the P3 gamut. What's more, the new Studio Camera is now in the bezel, so there's no visible notch. As expected, there's now a dedicated Copilot key and the touchpad is equipped with haptics, plus there are two new colors: Sapphire and Dune. The company's onstage graphic mentioned "more ports," but it didn't mention those during the presentation. We'll be looking for more info on those during our hands-on and review. Microsoft has also decided to drop the numbers in device names as it's referring to this new machine simply as Surface Laptop.
Microsoft says the new Surface Laptop is over 86 percent faster than the Surface Laptop 5. In an onstage demo, this new model was batch processing photos almost twice as fast as a MacBook Air. Adobe's flagship apps — Photoshop, Lightroom and Photoshop Express — are coming to Copilot+ PCs today, so they'll also work with existing Arm Windows machines. The company says the 15-inch Surface Laptop lasted "far longer" than the Surface Laptop 5 and MacBook Air, with over 22 hours of local video playback. You can expect up to 15 hours of active web use on the 15-inch version, according to Microsoft.
The new Surface Laptop will be available with either 16GB or 32GB of RAM and removable SSD options in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities.
This is actually the second "Surface Laptop 6." Microsoft revealed the first one back in March, but that model is basically a Laptop 5 with updated internals for business use. Intel's Core Ultra CPUs deliver AI smarts though, and the 13.5- and 15-inch models are available with with up to 64GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. There's also a dedicated Copilot key like we've seen on machines from other companies, aiming to get you to use Microsoft's AI more easily and more often at work. Since these are meant for enterprise customers, they aren't available in stores, leaving everyone waiting for the proper Laptop 6 the company unveiled today.
The Surface Laptop is up for preorder today starting at $1,000 and it ship on June 18.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-redesigned-surface-laptop-is-a-copilot-pc-with-over-22-hours-of-battery-life-174031723.html?src=rss
Windows' Arm woes may finally be over. As part of the company's new Copilot+ AI PC initiative, which includes new Surfaces and partner systems running Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips, Microsoft says it has rebuilt core components of Windows 11 to better support Arm-based hardware and AI. That includes a new kernel, compiler, and most importantly, an emulator named "Prism" for running older x86 and x64 apps.
You'd be forgiven for being skeptical, though. Since the launch of the Windows RT-powered Surface in 2012, Microsoft has proven it can't be trusted to deliver a decent OS experience on Arm. That device couldn't run legacy x86 apps (who would want to do that in Windows, right?), and it was far slower than PCs with Intel and AMD CPUs. Windows on Arm slowly improved over the years, to the point where it had serviceable emulation on the Surface Pro 9 5G. But that slate still couldn't keep up with its Intel-equipped sibling, especially when it struggled to emulate popular apps like Chrome.
Microsoft says it reworked Windows 11 schedulers to take advantage of Arm capabilities and AI workloads. There's also a new driver compute model that recognizes neural engines more like how Windows sees CPUs and GPUs, as well as AI APIs built directly into the OS. Basically, Arm hardware should no longer feel like an afterthought and developers should be able to tap into AI capabilities more easily.
"So, effectively, we're building binaries and windows that are optimized with certain workloads," Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's head of Windows and Devices, said in a briefing with reporters earlier this month. "The benefit for us for that is there are certain things that we know customers with Copilot+ PCs are going to do on an ongoing basis, and we can really focus on optimizing for those scenarios and making sure the machine responsiveness is a meaningful improvement."
Thanks to a powerful new Neural Processing Unit (NPU) in the Snapdragon X Elite chips, Copilot+ PCs can run more than 40 trillion operations per second, a measure of a chip’s AI performance, more than four times the performance offered by today’s AI PCs. Microsoft claims that this is twice the performance offered by Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
While Microsoft is pushing the availability of more native Arm apps for Windows 11, it's hard to deny the importance of supporting older software. That's where the Prism emulator comes in. Microsoft claims it improved the number of apps it supports, and that it's around 20 percent faster than its previous emulator. Any x86 and x64 apps that run under emulation with the Snapdragon X Elite Arm processors are more than twice as fast as previous generations of Windows that ran on Arm, Microsoft said in a blog post.
"When you combine the new Prism emulator with simply the raw performance and improvement in CPUs themselves, we're in a place where we have great native apps and we're also in a place where the breadth of the app catalog also has tremendous performance comparable to the rest of the Windows estate today," Davuluri said.
The NPU also lets Microsoft add AI-powered software features to Windows such as Recall, a new feature that uses AI to retrieve nearly anything you’ve seen on your PC, something that Microsoft compares to giving your computer a photographic memory. Another feature called Live Captions offers instant and real-time translations from 44 languages into English across any video or audio playing on your PC.
Microsoft is calling its version Copilot+ PCs, which CEO Satya Nadella described as a "new class of Windows PCs." These contain hardware designed to handle more generative AI Copilot processes locally, rather than relying on the cloud. Doing so requires a chipset with a neural processing unit (NPU), and manufacturers such as Qualcomm have been laying the groundwork with chips like the Snapdragon X Elite.
Microsoft is taking a partner-first approach to making Copilot+ PCs. Along with chipmakers like AMD, Intel and Qualcomm, major OEMs including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo are on board. The first Copilot+ laptops are available to preorder today and they'll ship on June 18. Prices start at $999.
Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft EVP and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, said during the event that the company has completely reimagined what a Windows PC is. He claimed that Copilot+ PCs are the most powerful PCs ever (we'll need to see if that assertion holds up in real-world testing). Despite that, Mehdi said, the first generation of laptops are "unbelievably thin, light and beautiful."
Other AI PCs on the market deliver 10 TOPs (tera operations per second). To be dubbed a Copilot+ PC, a system will need to deliver at least 40 TOPs of NPU performance and have at least 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Qualcomm claims the Snapdragon X Elite delivers up to 75 TOPs overall. But the pure specs matter less than what Microsoft is able to actually do with the hardware.
Mehdi also suggested Copilot+ PCs are 58 percent faster than M3-powered MacBook Airs (though it's worth noting Apple has more powerful M3 chips in its laptops already and M4 chips on the way very soon). The company suggested that Copilot+ laptops will offer up to 22 hours of battery life while playing videos locally and up to 15 hours while browsing the web.
To help make all of this happen, the Windows Copilot Runtime has more than 40 AI models that are part of a new Windows 11 layer. They're said to be deeply integrated into Windows to help them more efficiently access hardware and to power more robust privacy and security options. The models can work across any app, Microsoft says.
As far as the Windows features go, one aspect of Copilot+ PCs is something that's been rumored for a while. It’s called Recall, and you can think of it as a more advanced version of the Timeline feature from Windows 10. You'll be able to use natural language prompts to get your PC to resurface information based on what you remember about it. You'll be able to scroll through apps, documents and messages on an explorable timeline.
According to Mehdi, Microsoft built Recall with responsible AI standards in mind. Data from it will stay on your PC and it won't be used to train Microsoft's AI models.
Additionally, you'll be able to restore old snaps in Windows Photos using a tool called Super Resolution. In addition, the app will offer an option to tell a story based on your photos with the help of an AI narrator. Live Captions, meanwhile, will offer real-time captioning and translations into English from more than 40 languages (with more to come) from both live and pre-recorded video.
Microsoft now has its own upscaling tech (akin to NVIDIA's DLSS) for games too. It's called Auto Super Resolution and it's said to use AI to upscale the resolution of graphics and improve refresh rates in real-time without impacting performance.
There’s also a new Copilot app that you can use as a standalone window, sidebar or in full screen. You’ll be able to drag and drop elements into Copilot from elsewhere in Windows. Thanks to the new Copilot key on keyboards, you’ll be able to fire up the app with the touch of a physical button. Copilot will eventually be able to let you adjust Windows settings too.
Given that Qualcomm uses Arm architecture, it's perhaps little surprise that Microsoft has rebuilt Windows 11 for Arm-based chips. Microsoft has been trying to make Arm-based Windows PCs a thing for some time, with mixed results. We had major reservations about the Arm-powered Surface Pro 9 a couple of years ago. But perhaps the company has finally cracked that nut this time around.
To help with that, Microsoft has developed an emulator called Prism that is said to be as efficient as Apple's Rosetta 2. The aim is to help users run legacy x86/x64 apps without a hitch. Major apps such as Zoom, Chrome, Spotify and Photoshop will run natively on Arm-based Windows.
The Copilot+ PC is the natural progression of something we've seen in flagship Android phones over the last couple of years. The most recent Google Pixel devices, for instance, handle many generative AI processes on-device by tapping into the power of the company's Tensor chips.
Meanwhile, Apple is largely expected to move into the generative AI space in a major way at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month. The M4 chip that recently debuted in the new iPad Pro is said to be capable of powering GAI experiences and that chipset should be coming to Macs later this year. Apple's also said to be working on a deal with OpenAI, perhaps to bring its generative AI tech to Siri.
Catch up on all the news from the Microsoft Surface and AI event right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-unveils-copilot-pcs-with-generative-ai-capabilities-baked-in-170445370.html?src=rss
If you can't tell by now, just about every tech company is eager to pray at the altar of AI, for better or worse. Google's recent I/O developer conference was dominated by AI features, like its seemingly life-like Project Astra assistant. Just before that, OpenAI debuted GPT 4o, a free and conversational AI model that's disturbingly flirty. Next up is Microsoft Build 2024, the company's developer conference that's kicking off next week in Seattle.
Normally, Build is a fairly straightforward celebration of Microsoft's devotion to productivity, with a dash of on-stage coding to excite the developer crowd. But this year, the company is gearing up to make some more huge AI moves, following its debut of the ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat in early 2023. Take that together with rumors around new Surface hardware, and Build 2024 could potentially be one of the most important events Microsoft has ever held.
But prior to Build, Microsoft is hosting a showcase for new Surfaces and AI in Windows 11 on May 20. Build kicks off a day later on May 21. For the average Joe, the Surface event is shaping up to be the more impactful of the two, as rumors suggest we will see some of the first systems featuring Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip alongside new features coming in the next major Windows 11 update.
That's not to say it's all rosy for the Windows maker. Build 2024 is the point where we'll see if AI will make or break Microsoft. Will the billions in funding towards OpenAI and Copilot projects actually pay off with useful tools for consumers? Or is the push for AI, and the fabled idea of "artificial general intelligence," inherently foolhardy as it makes computers more opaque and potentially untrustworthy? (How, exactly, do generative AI models come up with their answers? It's not always clear.)
Here are a few things we expect to see at Build 2024:
New Surface hardware
While Microsoft did push out updates to the Surface family earlier this spring, those machines were more meant for enterprise customers, so they aren’t available for purchase in regular retail stores. A Microsoft spokesperson told us at the time that it "absolutely remain[s] committed to consumer devices," and that the commercial focused announcement was "only the first part of this effort."
Instead, the company's upcoming refresh for its consumer PCs is expected to consist of new 13 and 15-inch Surface Laptop 6 models with thinner bezels, larger trackpads, improved port selection and the aforementioned X Elite chip. There’s a good chance that at the May 20th showcase, we’ll also see an Arm-based version of the Surface Pro 10, which will sport a similar design to the business model that came out in March, but with revamped accessories including a Type Cover with a dedicated Copilot key.
According to The Verge, Microsoft is confident that these new systems could outmatch Apple's M3-powered MacBook Air in raw speed and AI performance.
The company has also reportedly revamped emulation for x86 software in its Arm-based version of Windows 11. That's a good thing, since poor emulation was one of the main reasons we hated the Surface Pro 9 5G, a confounding system powered by Microsoft's SQ3 Arm chip. That mobile processor was based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, which was unproven in laptops at the time. Using the Surface Pro 9 5G was so frustrating we felt genuinely offended that Microsoft was selling it as a "Pro" device. So you can be sure we're skeptical about any amazing performance gains from another batch of Qualcomm Arm chips.
It'll also be interesting to see if Microsoft's new consumer devices look any different than their enterprise counterparts, which were basically just chip swaps inside of the cases from the Surface Pro 9 and Laptop 5. If Microsoft is actually betting on mobile chips for its consumer Surfaces, there's room for a complete rethinking of its designs, just like how Apple refashioned its entire laptop lineup around its M-series chips.
AI Explorer
Aside from updated hardware, one of the biggest upgrades on these new Surfaces should be vastly improved on-device AI and machine learning performance thanks to the Snapdragon X Elite chip, which can deliver up to 45 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) from its neural processing unit (NPU). This is key because Microsoft has previously said PCs will need at least 40 TOPs in order to run Windows AI features locally. This leads us to some of the additions coming in the next major build of Microsoft’s OS, including something the company is calling its AI Explorer, expanded Studio effects and more.
According to Windows Central, AI Explorer is going to be Microsoft’s catch-all term covering a range of machine learning-based features. This is expected to include a revamped search tool that lets users look up everything from websites to files using natural language input. There may also be a new timeline that will allow people to scroll back through anything they've done recently on their computer and the addition of contextual suggestions that appear based on whatever they're currently looking at. And building off of some of the Copilot features we’ve seen previously, it seems Microsoft is planning to add support for tools like live captions, expanded Studio effects (including real-time filters) and local generative AI tools that can help create photos and more on the spot.
Smarter and more local Copilots
Microsoft wants an AI Copilot in everything. The company first launched Github Copilot in 2021 as a way to let programmers use AI to deal with mundane coding tasks. At this point, all of the company's other AI tools have also been rebranded as "Microsoft Copilot" (that includes Bing Chat, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for productivity apps). With Copilot Pro, a $20 monthly offering launched earlier this year, the company provides access to the latest GPT models from OpenAI, along with other premium features.
But there's still one downside to all of Microsoft's Copilot tools: They require an internet connection. Very little work is actually happening locally, on your device. That could change soon, though, as Intel confirmed that Microsoft is already working on ways to make Copilot local. That means it may be able to answer simpler questions, like basic math or queries about files on your system, more quickly without hitting the internet at all. As impressive as Microsoft's AI assistant can be, it still typically takes a few seconds to deal with your questions.
More from Microsoft at Build 2024
After all the new hardware and software are announced, Build is positioned to help developers lay even more groundwork to better support those new AI and expanded Copilot features. Microsoft has already teased things like Copilot on Edge and Copilot Plugins for 365 apps, so we’re expecting to hear more on how those will work. And by taking a look at some of the sessions already scheduled for Build, we can see there’s a massive focus on everything AI-related, with breakouts for Customizing Microsoft Copilot, Copilot in Teams, Copilot Extensions and more.
What else to look out for?
While Microsoft will surely draw a lot of attention, it’s important to mention that it won’t be the only manufacturer coming out with new AI PCs. That’s because alongside revamped Surfaces, we’re expecting to see a whole host of other laptops featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite Chip (or possibly the X Plus) from other major vendors like Dell, Lenovo and more.
Admittedly, following the intense focus Google put on AI at I/O 2024, the last thing people may want to hear about is yet more AI. But at this point, like most of its rivals, Microsoft is betting big on machine learning to grow and expand the capabilities of Windows PCs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-to-expect-from-microsoft-build-2024-the-surface-event-windows-11-and-ai-182010326.html?src=rss
If you can't tell by now, just about every tech company is eager to pray at the altar of AI, for better or worse. Google's recent I/O developer conference was dominated by AI features, like its seemingly life-like Project Astra assistant. Just before that, OpenAI debuted GPT 4o, a free and conversational AI model that's disturbingly flirty. Next up is Microsoft Build 2024, the company's developer conference that's kicking off next week in Seattle.
Normally, Build is a fairly straightforward celebration of Microsoft's devotion to productivity, with a dash of on-stage coding to excite the developer crowd. But this year, the company is gearing up to make some more huge AI moves, following its debut of the ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat in early 2023. Take that together with rumors around new Surface hardware, and Build 2024 could potentially be one of the most important events Microsoft has ever held.
That's not to say it's all rosy for the Windows maker. Build 2024 is the point where we'll see if AI will make or break Microsoft. Will the billions in funding towards OpenAI and Copilot projects actually pay off with useful tools for consumers? Or is the push for AI, and the fabled idea of "artificial general intelligence," inherently foolhardy as it makes computers more opaque and potentially untrustworthy? (How, exactly, do generative AI models come up with their answers? It's not always clear.)
Here are a few things we expect to see at Build 2024:
New Surface hardware
While Microsoft did push out updates to the Surface family earlier this spring, those machines were more meant for enterprise customers, so they aren’t available for purchase in regular retail stores. A Microsoft spokesperson told us at the time that it "absolutely remain[s] committed to consumer devices," and that the commercial focused announcement was "only the first part of this effort."
Instead, the company's upcoming refresh for its consumer PCs is expected to consist of new 13 and 15-inch Surface Laptop 6 models with thinner bezels, larger trackpads, improved port selection and the aforementioned X Elite chip. There’s a good chance that at the May 20th showcase, we’ll also see an Arm-based version of the Surface Pro 10, which will sport a similar design to the business model that came out in March, but with revamped accessories including a Type Cover with a dedicated Copilot key.
According to The Verge, Microsoft is confident that these new systems could outmatch Apple's M3-powered MacBook Air in raw speed and AI performance.
The company has also reportedly revamped emulation for x86 software in its Arm-based version of Windows 11. That's a good thing, since poor emulation was one of the main reasons we hated the Surface Pro 9 5G, a confounding system powered by Microsoft's SQ3 Arm chip. That mobile processor was based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, which was unproven in laptops at the time. Using the Surface Pro 9 5G was so frustrating we felt genuinely offended that Microsoft was selling it as a "Pro" device. So you can be sure we're skeptical about any amazing performance gains from another batch of Qualcomm Arm chips.
It'll also be interesting to see if Microsoft's new consumer devices look any different than their enterprise counterparts, which were basically just chip swaps inside of the cases from the Surface Pro 9 and Laptop 5. If Microsoft is actually betting on mobile chips for its consumer Surfaces, there's room for a complete rethinking of its designs, just like how Apple refashioned its entire laptop lineup around its M-series chips.
AI Explorer
Aside from updated hardware, one of the biggest upgrades on these new Surfaces should be vastly improved on-device AI and machine learning performance thanks to the Snapdragon X Elite chip, which can deliver up to 45 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) from its neural processing unit (NPU). This is key because Microsoft has previously said PCs will need at least 40 TOPs in order to run Windows AI features locally. This leads us to some of the additions coming in the next major build of Microsoft’s OS, including something the company is calling its AI Explorer, expanded Studio effects and more.
According to Windows Central, AI Explorer is going to be Microsoft’s catch-all term covering a range of machine learning-based features. This is expected to include a revamped search tool that lets users look up everything from websites to files using natural language input. There may also be a new timeline that will allow people to scroll back through anything they've done recently on their computer and the addition of contextual suggestions that appear based on whatever they're currently looking at. And building off of some of the Copilot features we’ve seen previously, it seems Microsoft is planning to add support for tools like live captions, expanded Studio effects (including real-time filters) and local generative AI tools that can help create photos and more on the spot.
Smarter and more local Copilots
Microsoft wants an AI Copilot in everything. The company first launched Github Copilot in 2021 as a way to let programmers use AI to deal with mundane coding tasks. At this point, all of the company's other AI tools have also been rebranded as "Microsoft Copilot" (that includes Bing Chat, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for productivity apps). With Copilot Pro, a $20 monthly offering launched earlier this year, the company provides access to the latest GPT models from OpenAI, along with other premium features.
But there's still one downside to all of Microsoft's Copilot tools: They require an internet connection. Very little work is actually happening locally, on your device. That could change soon, though, as Intel confirmed that Microsoft is already working on ways to make Copilot local. That means it may be able to answer simpler questions, like basic math or queries about files on your system, more quickly without hitting the internet at all. As impressive as Microsoft's AI assistant can be, it still typically takes a few seconds to deal with your questions.
More from Microsoft at Build 2024
After all the new hardware and software are announced, Build is positioned to help developers lay even more groundwork to better support those new AI and expanded Copilot features. Microsoft has already teased things like Copilot on Edge and Copilot Plugins for 365 apps, so we’re expecting to hear more on how those will work. And by taking a look at some of the sessions already scheduled for Build, we can see there’s a massive focus on everything AI-related, with breakouts for Customizing Microsoft Copilot, Copilot in Teams, Copilot Extensions and more.
What else to look out for?
While Microsoft will surely draw a lot of attention, it’s important to mention that it won’t be the only manufacturer coming out with new AI PCs. That’s because alongside revamped Surfaces, we’re expecting to see a whole host of other laptops featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite Chip (or possibly the X Plus) from other major vendors like Dell, Lenovo and more.
Admittedly, following the intense focus Google put on AI at I/O 2024, the last thing people may want to hear about is yet more AI. But at this point, like most of its rivals, Microsoft is betting big on machine learning to grow and expand the capabilities of Windows PCs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-to-expect-from-microsoft-build-2024-the-surface-event-windows-11-and-ai-182010326.html?src=rss