Microsoft Copilot Plus PCs - New Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, XPS 13 + more! - TechLinked May 20, 2024

[RILEYISMYNAME]

 

NEWS SOURCES:

 

IT’S ARM DAY, NERDS

Hardware:

Copilot Plus PCs (AI PCs) https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/05/20/introducing-copilot-pcs/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JmkWJNng2I 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1irwZNKhH0 

• Snapdragon X Elite and Plus devices
• Later, Intel and AMD - interesting
• Requirements (?): https://lmg.gg/upoHo 
• NPU capable of minimum 40 TOPS - 
• access to the most advanced AI models
• “all day” battery life - even “multi-day”? https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/snapdragon-elite-x-windows-ai-pcs-get-official-starting-at-dollar1099-acer-dell-hp-and-lenovo-are-all-onboard-with-some-models-promising-multi-day-battery-life  

“Surface Pro” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg1ZxdBFEYg

(don’t confuse with Surface Pro 10 for Business) - although this is their REAL NAMES https://x.com/zacbowden/status/1792626311782887725?t=iv7phR9VcRQMl3X4yfbtng 

• first with an OLED display (13-inch)
• up to 90% faster than previous Surface Pro 
• new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard, works detached
• starts at $999

“Surface Laptop” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5VbcLnhBQ 

(don’t confuse with Surface Laptop 6 for Business)

• refreshed design; thinner bezels, haptic touchpad
• around 80% faster than Surface Pro 5
• did live batch photo editing almost twice as fast as M3 Macbook Air https://x.com/richontech/status/1792611913966432422?t=OogRtpYGPvk-JHMlYS4ZMw 
• just really dumping on M3 Macbook Air https://x.com/SuperSaf/status/1792608976200413494?t=XjOgexUzEbUcKrj2dPNrjw 
• massive battery life improvements, beating Intel PCs and M3 Macbook Air, 17-20ish hours 
• 13.8” and 15” versions, also starts at $999

HP simplifies entire lineup; https://press.hp.com/us/en/blogs/2024/branding-update.html 

• Omnibook (consumer) https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/laptops/hp-omnibook-x-14-snapdragon-x-announced
• EliteBook https://www.pcworld.com/article/2338347/hp-debuts-two-omnibook-and-elitebook-snapdragon-laptops.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m9b2BZ01DU
• Probook https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/laptops/hp-shocks-with-omni-and-elite-pc-rebranding

Dell

• XPS 13 (9345) https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/20/24160859/dell-qualcomm-snapdragon-x-elite-plus-xps-laptops
• Inspiron 14, 14 Plus https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-Inspiron-14-and-Inspiron-14-Plus-7441-launched-with-Snapdragon-X1-Plus-SoCs.839703.0.html
• Latitude 7455 https://www.techradar.com/pro/dell-bets-big-on-qualcomm-processors-with-new-stunning-flagship-business-laptop-latitude-7455-is-dell-s-thinnest-latitude-to-date-but-will-businesses-warm-up-to-windows-on-arm
• Latitude 5455https://www.laptopmag.com/laptops/windows-laptops/dell-joins-the-snapdragon-x-platform-with-several-new-laptops-including-the-inspiron-14-plus

Lenovo 

• Yoga Slim 7x 14 Gen 9 https://www.engadget.com/the-yoga-slim-7x-is-lenovos-attempt-at-a-macbook-air-180056684.html
• ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/lenovo-supercharges-next-gen-ai-pcs-with-latest-yoga-slim-7x-and-thinkpad-t14s-gen-6/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ5v_17cL18

ASUS:

• Vivobook S 15 https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/vivobook/asus-vivobook-s-15-s5507/ 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShmsKSAmtMY 

Acer: 

• Swift 14 AI https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/laptops/acer-announces-first-ai-laptop-with-snapdragon-x-elite-chip
• https://www.xda-developers.com/acer-swift-14-ai-first-copilot-plus-laptop/

Samsung 

• Galaxy Book4 Edge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fd6mSCBFVU 
• preorder and get a 50 inch TV https://lmg.gg/mIYgv 

 

Windows Features

enhancements to existing features - LIve Captions real-time translation, Paint Cocreator is now Cocreator, Windows Studio Effects https://lmg.gg/E2FzE 

Recall (AI Explorer)

• how it works, what it captures and doesn’t capture https://lmg.gg/2UWv6 

Super Resolution

• limited to specific games https://lmg.gg/5pCtP 

Copilot powered by GPT-4o (soon) - so, natively multimodal

• “suggest” Settings
• edit files in File Explorer?
• Minecraft demo https://x.com/mustafasuleyman/status/1792623877744623806 
• BUT also will use “multiple state-of-the-art AI models” in Copilot, with over 40 models integrated directly into WoA https://lmg.gg/jN9z2 

BUT HEY remember this is an Arm chip

• new kernel and compiler
• New emulator called “Prism” (no source for this)
• “87% of the total app minutes people spend in apps today have native Arm versions” https://lmg.gg/zwsmz 

 

Other optimized software https://lmg.gg/GxULL 

Adobe

• native Arm64 versions of Ps, Lr, Firefly, Express
• Premiere and Illustrator coming summer

DaVinci Resolve can use NPU for AI color corrections

CapCut

Cephable

LIquidText

Djay Pro

 

What now, Intel?

40 TOPS is far above what Intel/AMD can muster currently https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/microsofts-copilot-ai-pc-requirements-are-embarrassing-for-intel-and-amd/ 

teases ‘Lunar Lake’ reveal in a week, should hit 45 TOPS from NPU, 60+ TOPS from CPU+GPU+NPU 

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/intels-lunar-lake-is-here-to-remind-you-x86-still-has-a-place-in-laptops-youve-never-seen-x86-power-characteristics-quite-like-this/ 

 

QUICK BITS

 

IT’S NOT YOU, IT’S HER

OpenAI pulls the Scarlett Johansson-like “Sky” voice from ChatGPT Voice

https://openai.com/index/how-the-voices-for-chatgpt-were-chosen/ 

https://deadline.com/2024/05/scarlett-johansson-chatgpt-voice-open-ai-artificial-intelligence-1235924159/ 

https://venturebeat.com/ai/not-an-imitation-openai-pauses-chatgpt-voice-that-sounded-like-scarlett-johansson/

 

STOP NUDE-LIN’ AROUND

iOS and iPadOS 17.5.1 drop with fixes for nudes bug

https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/20/apple-releases-ios-17-5-1-photos-bug/

https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2024/05/20/apple-fixes-deleted-photos-reappearing-ios-17-5-1/

https://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-releases-iOS-17.5.1-to-fix-database-corruption-issue-that-extracts-deleted-photos_id158494

 

AD-DROID

Android “Engage” feature offers devs a “surface” from which to hook users back into their apps IT’S ADS

https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/20/google-launches-a-new-android-feature-to-drive-users-back-into-their-installed-apps/ 

https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/engage/preview 

https://developer.android.com/static/images/guide/playcore/engage/food-entities.png 

https://lmg.gg/O2zME 

 

BRAIN BROTHERS

Neuralink gets FDA go-ahead to implant chip in 2nd human

https://www.wsj.com/tech/neuralink-gets-fda-green-light-for-second-patient-as-first-describes-his-emotional-journey-a2707584?st=03pf8lbwrq9rc3c&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

https://cybernews.com/tech/neuralink-permited-second-brain-implant/

https://qz.com/elon-musk-neuralink-second-patient-1851487989 

just hope they don’t pull Steam support like they did on the Cybertruck https://www.eurogamer.net/tesla-pulls-steam-from-new-vehicles-as-its-new-gaming-computer-is-no-longer-capable-of-playing-steam-games 

 

[Issac Zachary]

These Snapdragon X chips have me exited and scared at the same time... 

 

Will they be good? 

Will my x86 programs work ok, and if not, will they be ported over to ARM and when? 

Will the price point come down to something I can afford? 

 

But a power sipping Windows tablet that appears to be good...  I'm tempted, even at the $999 price point.