Dell goes big on Qualcomm-powered ‘Copilot Plus’ AI PCs at Vegas event
Dell has launched Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors powered AI PCs. The new computers are called “Copilot Plus PCs” as they come with built-in AI hardware and support for AI features across the Windows operating system.
Dell launched two new PCs based on ARM based Qualcomm processors. (Image Credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
U.S. company Dell debuted a powerful line of computers on Monday using Qualcomm’s chips, promising performance gains as PC vendors look to push Windows on Arm much more aggressively in an attempt to better compete with Apple. While Qualcomm chips have powered laptops previously, this could be the first time PC companies like Dell have the option to use a powerful chip in computers not made by Intel or AMD. The new computers are called “Copilot Plus PCs” as they come with built-in AI hardware and support for AI features across the Windows operating system.
“We are using an advanced architecture with a CPU, a GPU, and an NPU to manage complex workloads sending the right task to the right engine. The speed and efficiency of these systems are unmatched with all-day battery life,” Michael Dell, Chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Technologies, told the audience at an event in Las Vegas.
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Dell is betting big on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors, which will come to a range of laptops “later this year.” The company is launching the XPS 13 with the more powerful X Elite processor, while the Inspiron 14 and 14 Plus will ship with the X Plus, Qualcomm’s entry-level laptop chip. Both new chips are based on the Oryon CPU, Adreno GPU, and Hexagon NPU architectures, with the X Plus sporting a 10-core CPU complex versus 12 cores in the higher-end chip.
The new computers are called “Copilot Plus PCs” as they come with built-in AI hardware and support for AI features across the Windows operating system. (Image Credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
The San Diego-based mobile chipset giant Qualcomm touts its new PC chips as true “AI” processors and promises a 45 TOPS NPU, which puts Qualcomm ahead of any current platform from AMD or Intel. The next-generation chips are all about the NPU, or neural processing unit, which is made specifically for machine learning and generative artificial intelligence tasks. It is fundamentally different from a CPU and GPU.
The Copilot Plus AI PCs come packed with AI features including “Recall”, which Microsoft describes as a photographic memory of your PC. The Recall AI feature , which relies on AI models and run offline on the device, let users able to search through a log of previous actions on PCs. Other features include Live Captions, CoCreator, background removal for both photo and video and more.
ARM-based laptops using the Windows operating system have struggled over the years, but the next wave of Snapdragon-powered Windows laptops could not only offer the desired CPU performance, long battery life and app performance but also excel in AI-accelerated tasks.
Experts, however, say the Windows on Arm platform is still in its early days, and a lot depends on how the ecosystem and app compatibility evolve over the next couple of months.
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Nvidia has emerged as the early winner in AI chips through its server versions that power data centers running large language models. But other chipmakers such as Intel, Apple, and Qualcomm are finding ways to bring AI from cloud services to local computing. The concept of AI PCs—personal computers powered by AI chips that can run AI models locally without relying on the cloud—may help both chipmakers and PC vendors differentiate AI-infused computers from regular PCs.
Copilot Plus AI PCs come packed with AI features including “Recall”. (Image Credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
“The Windows ecosystem has been eager to offer systems to compete with Apple Silicon, particularly around battery life, and Snapdragon X Elite has the potential to unlock that ability for Windows OEMs like Dell,” said Bryan Ma, VP of Devices Research at International Data Corporation. However, he added that running local AI models on PCs is still relatively new, so the use cases are a work in progress.
Ma said that while Qualcomm is eyeing the PC market with new Arm-powered Windows laptops, Intel still powered 72 per cent of the notebook market globally last year compared to Qualcomm at less than 1 percent share. “Qualcomm can gain with its new platform, especially with big efforts from Microsoft rallying by its side now. But inertia will still favour Intel for many years given how accustomed the industry is to working with Intel in everything from product design to marketing,” he added.
Dell is among the first wave of PC vendors launching “Copilot Plus AI PCs” on the market. Microsoft, too, is bringing a new wave of Surface Pro computers with Qualcomm chips and built-in Gen AI capabilities.
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The writer is attending the Dell Technologies World 2024 conference in Las Vegas at the invitation of Dell India.
Anuj Bhatia is a personal technology writer at indianexpress.com who has been covering smartphones, personal computers, gaming, apps, and lifestyle tech actively since 2011. He specialises in writing longer-form feature articles and explainers on trending tech topics. His unique interests encompass delving into vintage tech, retro gaming and composing in-depth narratives on the intersection of history, technology, and popular culture. He covers major international tech conferences and product launches from the world's biggest and most valuable tech brands including Apple, Google and others. At the same time, he also extensively covers indie, home-grown tech startups. Prior to joining The Indian Express in late 2016, he served as a senior tech writer at My Mobile magazine and previously held roles as a reviewer and tech writer at Gizbot. Anuj holds a postgraduate degree from Banaras Hindu University. You can find Anuj on Linkedin.
Email: anuj.bhatia@indianexpress.com ... Read More
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