Key takeaways:
- Microsoft unveiled a laptop that boasts a new system architecture to more efficiently process AI workloads on device, enabling computing at the edge.
- Microsoft also revealed a new Surface Pro and a Surface Pro with OLED display. The 11th edition will come with a fully functioning detachable keyboard.
- AI-enabled features in Windows 11 will be rolled out in the PCs of OEM partners including Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung.
Microsoft today unveiled a laptop that boasts a new system architecture to more efficiently process AI workloads and enable computing at the edge.
The laptop runs on CPUs, GPUs, and NPUs that deliver more than 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second). Microsoft said it is 100x more efficient in running AI workloads – meaning less lag, more data staying on the device, and potentially cheaper to run AI.
The Microsoft laptop features an AI-enabled Windows 11 that has generative AI capabilities added to native apps such as Paint where users can create and edit their own images using AI. The company calls this category of computers ‘Copilot + PCs.’ Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant offered in its 365 products such as Word, Excel, Teams and PowerPoint.
Microsoft said AI features also will be rolling out in computers from its OEM partners: Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Asus and Samsung. Prices start at $999, which it said was $200 cheaper than computers with similar specifications.
“We have completely reimagined the entirety of the PC – from silicon to the operating system, the application layer to the cloud – with AI at the center, marking the most significant change to the Windows platform in decades,” according to a Microsoft blog post.
In January, Microsoft added a new AI key to its keyboard called ‘Copilot’ – its most significant change for the keyboard in nearly 30 years. Pressing it calls up the user’s personal AI agent. The AI key sits to the right of the ‘Alt’ key and was debuted at this year’s CES by PC vendors.
OpenAI’s most advanced LLM, GPT-4o, is headed to Copilot in coming weeks.
Targeting MacBook Air
Microsoft claims its laptop can outperform the 15-inch MacBook Air by up to 58%. For example, it can play up to 22 hours of video on a single battery charge, which is 20% longer than the Apple laptop. Microsoft also said Chrome, Spotify, Zoom, WhatsApp, Blender and others now run natively on Arm for faster performance, with Slack coming later this year.
For global business, the ‘Live Captions’ feature could be the most useful. It enables live translations of more than 40 languages into English subtitles on your screen across your apps, in real time.
Microsoft also unveiled Recall and Cocreator. With Recall, AI helps organize the information on the PC for easier recall by users. For instance, users can look through a timeline to find a specific piece of content whether in applications, websites, documents or somewhere else. Recall taps the user’s ‘personal semantic index’ that is built and stored on the device.
The laptop brings Cocreator image generation to apps such as Paint and Photos. With compute done on device, Microsoft said it can more quickly draw images compared to other popular image generation models such as Stable Diffusion. Restyle Image combines image generation and photo editing in Photos to edit styles (Cyberpunk or Claymation) at will.
The laptop comes in 13.8-inch and 15-inch touchscreen, 1080p displays and offered in four colors: sapphire, black, dune, and platinum. Memory options are 16GB, 32GB and 64GB with storage of 256GB, 512GB and 1TB. The laptop is 0.7 inch thick and 3 pounds for the 13.8-inch version and 0.72 inch thick and 3.7 pounds for the 15-inch edition.
Microsoft also refreshed its Surface Pro line. The 11th edition adds Surface Pro with OLED display. What’s also new is a Flex keyboard that detaches as a separate, functioning keyboard – a sigh of relief for Surface owners used to a useless keyboard detached from the display. The keyboard also has a slot for the pen.
The 11th edition Pro line comes in 16GB or 32GB RAM and storage of 256GB, 512GB or 1TB. They are available in sapphire, black, platinum and dune. Prices start at $999.
Microsoft is taking pre-orders for both the laptop and new Surface Pro with official availability starting on June 18.
