Intel will be joining the Copilot+ PC family before the end of the year

What you need to know

As Intel finally, fully reveals its next generation of Core Ultra laptop chips, we finally have some information on when the company will be offering Microsoft’s Copilot+.
The new chips and laptops are being revealed this week at IFA in Berlin.
According to Intel, Copilot+ will be supported on Lunar Lake machines beginning in November 2024, a little earlier than we were all anticipating.

As a tech enthusiast with years of experience under my belt, I must say that Intel’s recent announcement about Copilot+ on their next generation Core Ultra laptop chips has me quite excited! After waiting for what felt like an eternity, it seems we’re finally going to see some movement in the Copilot+ scene.

Intel will soon join the Copilot+ PC family, according to an official announcement, providing details on its expected launch date.

In relation to the exciting introduction of Lunar Lake, also recognized as the Intel Core Ultra 200V series, a particular remark about Copilot+ is worth mentioning.

Any systems incorporating Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors, and using the most recent Windows edition, become qualified to acquire the Copilot+ PC features for free, beginning in November.

It was widely believed that Qualcomm had an exclusive deal with Microsoft regarding Copilot+, and the prospect of waiting until 2025 for it to appear on other devices seemed plausible. However, Intel’s recent announcement marks the first clear indication that Copilot+ may no longer be confined to Snapdragon-powered laptops.

Starting from November, Intel-branded laptops will gain access to AI-enhanced features within Windows 11, such as Cocreator, Live Captions, and (eventually) Windows Recall. However, first generation Core Ultra laptops are not eligible for this enhancement, as the NPU on these processors does not meet the minimum performance threshold needed for Copilot+.

Absolutely, AI encompasses much more than just the Copilot+ capabilities, and it’s worth noting that Core Ultra 200V series laptops are designed to leverage features from a variety of third-party software applications, including Adobe, DaVinci Resolve, Capcut, and many others.

What about AMD and NVIDIA?

Intel will be joining the Copilot+ PC family before the end of the year

With Intel introducing Copilot+ now, it paves the way for both AMD and NVIDIA to potentially join in on this development as well. Earlier this year at Computex, NVIDIA initially unveiled that laptops incorporating their 40 series GPUs would be receiving Copilot+, though they didn’t specify a timeframe or list many devices. The update will reportedly be free, just like Intel’s. When it comes to AI performance, NVIDIA’s GPUs outshine Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD’s NPUs dramatically, and they are the most popular in the current market.

Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that AMD is prepared for the Copilot+ feature. Their latest laptop processors are equipped with a 50 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS) Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which is more than sufficient for Copilot+ and even slightly surpasses Intel’s most recent offering in terms of power, though no official announcements have been made yet.

This Intel announcement hints at the possibility that AMD and NVIDIA might enter the Copilot+ market by the end of 2024. Given that Microsoft initially had exclusive rights with Qualcomm, it seems unlikely they’d exclude AMD or NVIDIA when expanding to other platforms. Since Intel is starting in November, it’s reasonable to expect that AMD and NVIDIA could follow suit in the final two months of the year.

I’ve written previously that the biggest problem with Copilot+ is that Microsoft launched it and ignored millions of existing users. Forcing people to buy new hardware to get new features might fly on smartphones, but when there’s already hardware out there more than capable, it does feel like a slap in the face. Fortunately, the full Windows 11 24H2 roll out is set to start soon, and not long after, the Copilot+ family will start to grow.

2024-09-03 19:12

What you need to know

What about AMD and NVIDIA?

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