Copilot+ PCs are one of the biggest bets in consumer computing in the last twenty years: everything changes, from the chips to the operating system
In what will probably become one of the most important days in the history of Microsoft , the Redmond giant has made official the news that has been in the air for months: the new Copilot+ PCs are arriving , i.e. laptops specialized in running intelligence algorithms artificial .
The news within the news is that the marriage between Windows and x86 architecture (i.e. with chips from Intel and AMD) now becomes to all intents and purposes a ” couple open ” to new experiences and new technologies.
The third wheel is Qualcomm , with its new Snapdragon
The new Qualcomm chips have a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) , i.e. a section specialized in the calculations of AI algorithms, which is decidedly more powerful than any competing chip. Both those produced by Intel and AMD, and those of the M series produced by Apple.
What are Copilot+ PCs
To put it very simply: Copilot+ PCs are laptops that can calculate at least part of the AI algorithms that make Microsoft Copilot work directly on the chip, without going through the company’s servers .
This allows Microsoft to offer users new features within Windows that will potentially change the way we use PCs entirely.
At the moment the only processors capable of performing these tasks are the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus . Several manufacturers have just announced new Copilot+ PC models and they are all based on one of these two chips.
In addition to the power of the NPU, three other requirements for Copilot+ PCs are a RAM of at least 16 GB , an SSD disk and the presence of the Copilot button on the keyboard (with the icon present in the opening image of this article).
Samsung , Lenovo , Dell , Acer , Asus , HP and Microsoft itself have already announced models . All these models have the Windows on ARM operating system, which has the same interface as traditional Windows 11 but is technically very different.
To obtain the Copilot+ PC certification and brand, it is not mandatory to use Qualcomm chips and the Windows on ARM operating system, but it is necessary for the chip to have an NPU capable of developing a power of at least 40 TOPS ( trillion operations per second ) .
At the moment only Qualcomm’s two chips have this power and competitors from Intel and AMD (which will run classic Windows 11) with sufficiently powerful NPUs should arrive at the end of the year.
What a Copilot+ PC can do
According to Microsoft, Copilot+ PCs are, first of all, very powerful computers in managing AI algorithms and not only those: up to 58% more power, compared to a MacBook Air with M3 chip, using the Cinebench 2024 benchmark.
All this power is made available to the operating system and applications . In Windows, for example, the Copilot assistant becomes much more powerful , which can now execute locally (i.e. without connection to the servers) the GPT-4o language model recently presented by OpenAI.
This means that, on a Copilot+ PC , the user will be able to use voice and images to ask Copilot questions and get answers, without having to open any specific app.
Furthermore, the ” Recall ” function arrives which is a sort of photographic memory , a recording of what the user has done with the PC in the last few hours or even in the last few days. The user can scroll a real time bar and go back, to find a file or a web page, or an app previously used or viewed.
With the ” Cocreator ” tool , however, the user can use generative AI to transform a text or a sketch into a professional quality drawing, even if he does not have even the slightest artistic streak: as he scribbles on the paper, in fact, the AI proposes new elements of the image consistent with what has already been drawn.
Again thanks to AI, Copilot+ PCs offer the user subtitles translated in real time of what they are watching and listening to: from a video on the Internet to a live video call, through music streaming and other applications in foreign. Initially it will only work with English.
There will also be new AI-based functions within third-party apps . Like Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Express, DaVinci Resolve Studio, CapCut, Cephable, LiquidText, djay Pro, all software dedicated above all to digital creatives who, at the moment, definitely prefer MacBooks to Windows PCs but who, thanks to these innovations, could also change your mind .