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Ahead of the kickoff of Microsoft's Build developers conference, the software giant debuted the next generation of AI PCs powered by Qualcomm chips.
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 Microsoft is going all in on AI, today introducing a series of Copilot PCs that have AI-focused hardware. The new Surface Pro is one of the first Copilot PCs, equipped with Qualcomm's Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite processor.
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The Surface Laptop has always been a bit of an anti-revolutionary device. After Microsoft struggled to make a splash with its original Surface tablets, it was created as a more mainstream option for less courageous consumers. It simply a Windows laptop, albeit a well-designed one.
The same is true for the new Copilot Surface Laptop: It doesn't look very unique at first, but spend a bit of time with it and you'll notice the attention to detail around its case and keyboard, or the way its thin new bezels highlight its brighter screen. And together with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, it's also far more powerful than before.
Developing...
Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/surface-laptop-copilot-hands-on-quietly-powerful-215015871.html?src=rss
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In a back-and-forth that resembles a certain pair of pop vocalists with beef, Intel scheduled an announcement that its new Lunar Lake series of chips will beat Snapdragon X in several metrics, including the new NPU hotness, at exactly the same time as the new Arm-based laptops were announced. Gordon goes into deep detail on the differences, the similarities, and what all these new chips actually mean for you, the consumer.
Once you're done with that, you can catch up on all of today's news on the new Snapdragon machines from the likes of Surface, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and HP.
Microsoft's new Surface laptops are bursting with AI power
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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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There's a new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, plus a host of AI-powered tricks for Windows.
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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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 Noland Arbaugh was in a swimming accident in 2016 that left him a quadriplegic. In January of this year, he became the first person to receive Elon Musk's Neuralink brain implant called the Link that would eventually allow him to have telekinetic powers.
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Elon Musk,
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