It’s been quite a busy month for tech. Following major announcements from Apple and Google a couple of weeks back, Microsoft took centre stage as it unveiled a new breed of portable computing devices, which it markets as “Copilot+ PCs.” According to Microsoft, they differ from more “traditional” computers thanks to the inclusion of built-in AI via Microsoft Copilot+ and new dedicated hardware.
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More specifically, this dedicated hardware comes in the form of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Elite series processors, which, unlike its other SoCs, are developed specifically for Windows devices. The chips were announced way back, but it’s only now that we’ve seen a more formal announcement of sorts from Qualcomm and Microsoft. That said, both companies seem very confident of the Snapdragon X series chips, which pack enough power on paper to take on Apple’s M3 processor.
Microsoft adds that Copilot+ PCs are “the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built,” attributing this claim to 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second) performance, all-day battery life, and access to AI features. For example, users can remember what they have seen on their computer with Recall. They can generate and refine AI-produced images in near real-time via Cocreator, which performs all operations on-device. There are also live captions that can translate audio from 40+ languages into English.
That said, several big names in the industry have also released their first-ever Copilot+ laptops with Snapdragon inside, including ASUS, Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung. Interested buyers can pre-order today, although we’d recommend waiting for some reviews to come out first for a more well-rounded look at the overall performance of the new Snapdragon X chips.
Of course, Microsoft is not one to fall behind in the PC race – it does sell its line of first-party computers, after all. The company also unveiled two new devices, the Surface Laptop 7 and the Surface Pro 11. The Surface Laptop 7 comes with a thin-bezel design with a 13.8-inch or 15-inch display and is, of course, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X series, available in Plus and Elite chip variants. It also comes with memory options of 16GB or 32GB and storage options of 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB SSD, and is available in Platinum, Blue, Black, and Dune starting at $999.
There’s also the new Surface Pro 11, which is available in different display configurations, including a 13-inch LCD or OLED display, and can likewise be purchased with either the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus or Elite chip inside. While it lacks a keyboard, it includes two USB-C ports and a Surface Connect port, and its battery supposedly lasts all day. It’s available in Black, Platinum, Blue, and Dune at $999.
With all that being said, it’s certainly interesting to see where Microsoft’s massive push for AI-centric computing and Arm-focused hardware will lead, especially since it looks to win back market share from Apple.
