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日本Here Are the Minimum Requirements for an ‘AI’ PC: 16GB RAM, NPUs…
Microsoft’s new Copilot+ laptops have been revealed, for now being solely powered by the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus CPUs. The Copilot+ laptops are trying to offer an alternative to Apple’s M-series chips that power all of its Mac devices, be it MacBooks, iMacs, or Mac Pros. The minimal requirement for a laptop to be put under the Copilot+ umbrella is to have a CPU or an SoC on Microsoft’s approved list.
This is any processor or an SoC that has a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with at least 40 Trillion Operations per Second (TOPS) of performance. Another is to have at least 16GB of DDR5 or LPDDR5 memory and more than 256GB of either SSD or UFS storage.
We expect AMD and Intel to get in on the NPU game too. Team Red already has its XDNA architecture, however, it offers only 16 TOPS of performance. However, AMD’s XDNA 2 architecture is coming this year, and AMD’s very own Lisa Su stated that it can have up to 3 times the performance of the previous architecture. Some quick maths, and we can expect up to 48 TOPS of power from this new NPU, which puts it well above the 40 TOPS threshold.
Intel is launching new NPUs inside their Lunar Lake processors later this year, stating that 40 TOPS is the new minimum for an NPU, way before Microsoft gave the same number for their Copilot+ PC requirements.
With the additional RAM and these NPUs onboard Copilot+ laptops, we can have local LLMs running. These won’t just mimic what Chat GPT or Gemini are doing, albeit on a smaller scale, but rather integrate with the OS itself, allowing you to interact with your PC in a whole new way. Developers can also use this new integration to create new apps with localized AI support.
Microsoft revealed its own Copilot+ laptops with the Surface Laptop and the Surface Pro devices. The Surface Pro has a removable keyboard, kind of like a 2-in-1, while the Surface Laptop is a fully-fledged workhorse. Both have the option of either the Snapdragon X Plus or X Elite, giving you plenty of power, as we’ve shown in our comparisons against the Apple M4.
| Surface Laptop (13.8 inches) | Surface Laptop (15 inches) | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Snapdragon X Plus, Snapdragon X Elite | Snapdragon X Elite |
| NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon with 45 TOPS | Qualcomm Hexagon with 45 TOPS |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno GPU | Qualcomm Adreno GPU |
| RAM | 16, 32, 64GB LPDDR5x | 16, 32, 64GB LPDDR5x |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB PCIe 4 SSD | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB PCIe 4 SSD |
| Screen | 13.8-inch, 2304 x 1536 (120 Hz) | 15-inch, 2496 x 1664 (120 Hz) |
| Networking | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Battery | 54 Whr | 66 Whr |
| Size | 11.85 x 8.67 x 0.69 inches | 12.96 x 9.41 x 0.72 inches |
| Weight | 2.96 pounds (1.34 kg) | 3.67 pounds (1.66 kg) |
| Surface Pro (11th Edition) | Surface Pro with OLED (11th Edition) | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Snapdragon X Plus | Snapdragon X Elite |
| NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon with 45 TOPS | Qualcomm Hexagon with 45 TOPS |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno GPU | Qualcomm Adreno GPU |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR5x | 16, 32GB LPDDR5x |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB PCIe 4 SSD | 512GB, 1TB PCIe 4 SSD |
| Screen | 13-inch, 2880 x 1920 (120 Hz) | 13-inch, 2880 x 1920 (120 Hz) |
| Networking | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Battery | 47 Whr | 53 Whr |
| Size | 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches | 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches |
| Weight | 1.97 pounds | 1.97 pounds |
You can check out the whole range of Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus-powered laptops down below.
