Microsoft announces AI-powered Copilot Plus PCs to rival Apple Mac: Details

Alongside, Microsoft announced new AI features for Windows platform and Qualcomm Snapdragon X- series powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop

Microsoft at a special event on May 20 went all out on artificial intelligence with announcements covering new Surface laptops, Windows update, but most importantly the debut of new category called Copilot+ PCs. In fact, its 2024 Surface Pro and Surface Laptop are the first Windows PCs to debut under Copilot+ PCs platform. Currently, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series is the exclusive platform to power the Copilot+ PCs, but more chipmakers, such as Intel, are set to join soon.

With the new AI computers with specialised artificial intelligence chips and faster performance, Microsoft is set to revive the long-running rivalry between Windows PCs and Apple Mac. Not the chips alone, the US-based software giant is betting equally on the Windows platform by preparing it as an AI platform, powered by Arm chips. Below are the details:

Microsoft Copilot+ PCs

Microsoft is calling the new range of Copilot+ PCs the fastest and most intelligent Windows PCs. Based on Arm architecture-based chips from Qualcomm, Microsoft said that Copilot+ PCs outperform Apple’s MacBook Air 15-inch with M3 by up to 58 per cent in sustained multithreaded performance.

As for the on-device AI processing capabilities, Microsoft said the Qualcomm chips powering the first wave of Copilot+ PCs have dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) capable of over 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). These NPUs will be responsible for powering AI tools and features natively on the new range of Windows PCs. Microsoft said that the Copilot+ PC experience will also come to Intel and AMD powered devices with their upcoming Lunar Lake and Strix chips, respectively.

Apart from Microsoft's Surface line, other OEMs such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung will also be bringing Copilot+ PCs based on the new Qualcomm X-series chips, starting June 18.

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft is preparing Windows as an AI platform, powered by ARM chips. Microsoft said the Windows platform will leverage the new 45 TOPS NPU to bring more AI-powered tools and features to the Copilot+ PCs. These include a new “Recall” feature, which essentially works like a photographic memory for Windows PCs to help you track and find things easily by bringing up anything that has been on the PC’s display. Microsoft said that this feature will run entirely on-device ensuring privacy of users. Other notable changes for Windows platform include integration of AI-powered Image Creator features into Windows native apps such as Paint and Photos.

Microsoft said that it has collaborated with developers to bring optimal app support to the new Arm-based Copilot+ PCs. The new range of PCs will support select apps from Adobe such as Photoshop, Lightroom and Express, while Illustrator, Premiere Pro and more will come to the platform later. Other software that will be supported out-of-the-box includes DaVinci Resolve Studio, CapCut, Cephable, LiquidText, djay Pro, and more.

Microsoft Surface Pro and Surface Laptop

Microsoft debuted the Copilot+ PCs with the launch of Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series chips, both these laptops are among the first to offer Copilot+ Windows experiences out of the box.

The Surface Pro will come with options for both Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors. Featuring a 13-inch display with an option for OLED panel, the new Surface Pro will support up to three external 4K resolution displays.

Similar to the Surface Pro, the new Surface Laptop will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus chips. The laptop features a new PixelSense touchscreen display with smaller bezels. The surface laptop will be available in two screen sizes – 14-inch and 15-inch options. It can also power up to three external 4K displays and comes with a longer battery life of up to 22 hours, as claimed by the company.

Microsoft Copilot

At the event, Microsoft announced that the company’s AI powered chatbot will soon get support for the new GPT-4o model from OpenAI, which was launched earlier this month. The GPT-4o model is OpenAI’s first multimodal AI model, capable of processing a combination of image, text and audio.