Item: Qualcomm Gets Head Start With Microsoft’s New Copilot+ PC Category
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Author: Low Boon Shen

Qualcomm Gets Head Start With Microsoft’s New Copilot+ PC Category

Last updated: May 21, 2024 3:52 pm

By Low Boon Shen

2 Min Read

Qualcomm Gets Head Start With Microsoft’s New Copilot+ PC Category

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series chips are finally here, but it’s not just the silicon that’s new. In line with the launch, Microsoft has announced a new class of laptops which is given the “Copilot+ PC” designation. Over 20 new laptops from major laptop OEMs have been announced today, which are now available for pre-order as the laptops will begin entering the market starting June 18.

We all know how hard Microsoft is pushing its Copilot AI, and the efforts so far has seen all laptops getting a mandatory Copilot key (RIP Right Ctrl key), a dedicated spot in the lower-right corner of the screen, and it even caused the company to backtrack its closure of active feature support for Windows 10 just to add Copilot in it.

So how would these Copilot+ PCs differ from a regular PC? For starters, AI is a must – courtesy of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X series SoCs with a rather beefy NPU that cranks out 45 TOPS of compute power. It’ll also pack a minimum of 16GB RAM plus 256GB of SSD storage, and the biggest selling point is “multiple days of battery life” as claimed by the chipmaker. ASUS claims 18 hours for its new Vivobook S 15 laptop, while HP’s new OmniBook X and EliteBook Ultra is claimed to last a staggering 26 hours in a single charge.

That being said, Copilot+ PCs will not be a Snapdragon exclusive – at least when Intel and AMD both releases new laptop processors with enough NPU power to qualify for the Copilot+ designation. We should know more as Computex 2024 kicks off next month, as all major PC chipmakers will be hosting keynotes throughout the event.

Pokdepinion: I’m more interested to see how the performance stacks up against AMD and Intel chips, or even Apple M-series SoCs.