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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 monumenta
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 Apple today released iOS 17.5.1 and iPadOS 17.5.1, minor updates to the iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 operating system updates that came out last September. The 17.5.1 updates come a week after the launch of iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5.
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We knew more computers were coming that would feature a native version of Microsoft's AI Copilot toolset, but we didn't quite know how many were set to be announced. It's practically an AI avalanche. Companies like Dell, Acer and HP have all just announced computers that have adopted Microsoft's AI software and NVIDIA's AI hardware. The age of the AI PC is upon us.
These Copilot PCs could really change how we interact with computers, bringing natural language nuance to a bevy of everyday tasks. The PCs all feature a dedicated key to bring up Copilot and are stuffed with Arm-based Snapdragon X CPUs, which include powerful onboard neural processing units (NPUs) for AI tasks. While similar in some ways, each of the following computers bring their own ideas to the AI table. Sorry Apple fans. These are all Windows 11 PCs. Let's get to it.
Surface Laptop
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Microsoft is also calling these the Surface Pro 11th Edition and the Surface Laptop 7th Edition.
Both the Surface Pro and the Surface Laptop are the consumer versions of the Surface Pro 10 for Business and the Surface Laptop 6 for Business, which debuted in March. Those chips included more conventional Core Ultra chips inside.
The two new Surfaces use the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, a chip licensed from Arm. Nine PC makers signed on to use the Snapdragon X Elite chip, including heavyweights like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft. The X Elite has already proven to be extremely fast and even the new Snapdragon X Plus derivative still outperforms a Core Ultra, Qualcomm claims. Battery life was always the Snapdragon's strong suit. Now Windows on Arm PCs have an opportunity to combine long battery life with competitive performance.
And what does this new Windows on Arm generation mean? For one thing, Arm executives are claiming that the days of laggy, incompatible Windows on Arm apps are basical
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 Apple has launched another round of steep discounts on iPhone 15 models in mainland China, in a bid to boost sales in its biggest smartphone market and counter a strong showing by Huawei.
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"The pursuit has always been about how to build computers that understand us, instead of having us having to understand computers, and I feel like we really are close to that breakthrough," said Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive, in a briefing with reporters on Microsoft's campus.
A Copilot PC combines local, on-device AI with cloud AI, according to Microsoft, to provide a range of services. Some of the new laptops shipping with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors will be classified as Copilot PCs, taking advantage of the NPU found within both chips. That NPU will power local AI functions, with over 45 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) driving the AI engine. Copilot PCs require 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an integrated NPU.
Windows 11 pro
Windows 11 Pro
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Our video team got some hands-on time with both of these laptops at a Lenovo presentation. Check out their initial impressions in the video below!
Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6
I'm gonna start with the ThinkPad, because I like ThinkPads and I'm writing this article, so there. The T series is a staple for businesses and anyone who likes good keyboards and the signature Trackpoint (the red mouse nub thing), so it's hardly surprising that this model can fit in with other Lenovo designs even while packing some big changes under the hood. With its standard clamshell design and unassuming branding, plus Lenovo's more common lid flair, it has looks best described as "familiar."
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And that's not all. The Dell Latitude 7455 uses the Snapdragon X Elite, and the slower, slightly less powerful Snapdragon X Plus will ship as part of the Latitude 7455, too, as well as the Latitude 5455, Inspiron 14 and Inspiron 14 Plus.
We knew that Dell had signed up to use the Snapdragon X Elite as early as last October, when nine PC makers committed to supporting Qualcomm's new X Elite processor. We didn't know as much about the Snapdragon X Plus, which uses a cut-down version of the Elite without the turbo boost options. But it seems that Dell is even more committed to the X Plus than the X Elite.
Presumably, these will be Copilot PCs, offering the AI benefits of features that Microsoft announced Monday Those include Recall, which will allow you to hunt down information on an explorable timeline; Live Captions with AI-generated captions of streamed audio; Auto Super Resolution; and Cocreator, the AI art generator within Microsoft Paint. All have Copilot keys.
Dell XPS 13 9345
The Dell XPS 13 9345 goes on sale today, but will ship "later this year," Dell says, for a starting price of $1,299.
On paper, Dell's Snapdragon-powered XPS 13 is very similar to the existing
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Intel executives, in what was clearly an effort to distract from the launch of a number of PCs powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, said that Lunar Lake is currently in production and is on track to ship in the third quarter. Intel's next desktop processor, "Arrow Lake," is on track to ship during the fourth quarter of 2024.
Microsoft launched its Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 with Snapdragon X Elite chips inside at a launch in Redmond, Wash., alongside several laptop vendors using Qualcomm's chip running on Windows on Arm, including Lenovo, Dell, and Acer.
In response, Intel executives added to what we already know about Lunar Lake on Monday. What's new? Lunar Lake will include new "Lion Cove" performance cores ("P-cores") as well as new "Skymont" efficiency ("E-cores,") both with "significant IPC [instr
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Microsoft's Windows on 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 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.
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's around 20 percent faster than its previous emulator, and it also worked to impr
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The Fire TV Stick 4K delivers advanced 4K streaming, significantly improving performance and picture quality over previous models.
Whether you're watching the latest blockbuster on Max or binge-watching your favorite Netflix series, you'll enjoy vibrant 4K Ultra HD visuals with support for Dolby Vision, HDR10 , and immersive Dolby Atmos audio.
With its Wi-Fi 6 support, the Fire TV Stick 4K ensures smooth and reliable streaming, even when multiple devices are connected to your router. This is especially beneficial for households with high internet traffic, as it allows for uninterrupted streaming.
Your entertainment options are virtually limitless. You can dive into Netflix, Prime Video, Disney , Max, and whatever other streaming platform you favor, including live TV content. Plus, there are over 300,000 movies and shows you can watch for free on ad-supported apps. Oh and if you want even more content, your Fire TV Stick 4K comes with a free six month subscription to MGM .
Of course, this is an Amazon device, so it comes with the Alexa Voice Remote. This allows you to look for content us
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 Samsung is hosting new "Discover Samsung" sale this week, which includes discounts on multiple product lines sitewide. The popular ViewFinity S9 5K Smart Monitor and Smart Monitor M8 are both discounted during this sale, but you'll also find sales on storage, audio, TVs, smartphones, and home appliances.
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 Apple is poised to unveil an auto-summarization feature for notifications as part of a series of new artificial intelligence features in iOS 18, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
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 The iMessage service that Apple users to send messages to one another appears to be down for some users, and messages are failing to go out or are taking an extra long time to send.
: Apple's status page says iMessage service has been restored, with the outage lasting approximately 45 minutes from 2:49 p.m. to 3:35 p.m. Pacific Time. Apple says FaceTime, HomeKit, and Apple Messages for Business were also affected.
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