Meet the New Copilot Plus PCs from Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo and More

One of the biggest shifts in mainstream PCs kicks off on June 18, 2024, with the launch of the first wave of Copilot Plus PCs. These laptops are powered by new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, which are optimized for on-board AI and promise superior battery life, and performance on par with comparable Intel or AMD laptops. 

Headlining the new Copilot Plus (or as Microsoft spells it, Copilot+) systems is a new generation of Microsoft's Surface PCs, including 13-inch and 15-inch Surface Laptops and a new Surface Pro 2-in-1. Also debuting are Snapdragon-powered Copilot Plus PCs from brands such as Dell, Asus, Lenovo, HP, and Acer. These new Copilot Plus PCs will feature a minimum of 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and a built-in neural processing unit (NPU).

Built on a 4nm process, the Snapdragon X chips include either 10 or 12 high-performance cores and a dedicated NPU capable of performing 45 TOPS (tera/trillion operations per second), the fastest NPU rating among current laptop chips.

Having an onboard NPU is part of the evolution of AI PCs, allowing intensive AI tasks to be processed directly on the system. This can result in faster performance and better data security compared to relying on cloud-based AI. Common AI tasks include creating images, translating text and audio into different languages in real-time, or even generating AI music and video from text prompts.

Photo: Dan Ackerman

These Copilot Plus PCs will come with an updated version of Windows 11 that introduces new features built around on-board AI capabilities. For example, Live Captions will provide automated on-screen captions, including translations to or from 44 different languages. Cocreator is the built-in generative AI tool for text and images, transforming rough sketches into screen-ready art. Auto Super Resolution can simulate higher screen resolutions and refresh rates in games, even without a high-end dedicated GPU. Windows Studio Effects, already available on many Windows systems, is getting new AI filters and improvements to lighting and noise reduction for video calls.

The most anticipated Copilot Plus feature is Recall, a tool that lets users find anything on their PC by describing it, even if they don't remember the filename or exact details. It includes an explorable timeline for scrolling back through time to access older apps, documents, or messages.

While the other new features will be available from the June 18 launch of Copilot Plus PCs, Recall has been pushed back to allow for changes to make it more secure, and Microsoft now says: "Recall will now shift from a preview experience broadly available for Copilot+ PCs on June 18, 2024, to a preview available first in the Windows Insider Program (WIP) in the coming weeks...[W]e plan to make Recall (preview) available for all Copilot+ PCs coming soon."

This is the starting lineup of Copilot Plus PCs available at Micro Center, starting June 18. 

Microsoft's premium laptop, with a slim design and either a 13.8-inch or 15-inch HDR display. These feature WiFi 7, 20-plus hours of battery life and full HD webcams. 

This premium 2-in-1 PC consists of a slate-style touchscreen tablet and a (sold separately) keyboard cover. Put them together and you've got a clamshell laptop. Pop the keyboard off and you have a portable tablet that weighs less than two pounds. 

Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 6

This business laptop is one of the first commercial next-generation Copilot Plus PCs, with 32GB of RAM and 1TB storage. It has Wi-Fi 7 and optional 5G, plus Lenovo's own security and management software like ThinkShield for additional BIOS security. 

Dell Latitude 7455

This commercial Copilot Plus laptop has a 14-inch QHD+ touch display, quad speakers with AI noise reduction, Wi-Fi 7 and even optional 5G. It's also the thinnest Latitude laptop to date. 

Thinner than current Vivobook models, this professional laptop had a 15.6-inch OLED 2880 x 1620 display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Asus also has its own proprietary AI software called Storycube, which is an "intelligent file management tool [that] helps you keep all your files neatly cataloged and easier to navigate." 

Read more: AI Tools and Tips 

• What is TOPS? The AI Performance Metric Explained
• Copilot Plus PCs vs AI PCs: What's The Difference?
• Microsoft Launches a New Era of Copilot Plus PCs
• Hands-on with the Faster, Smarter ChatGPT-4o AI
• Why Coders are Learning to Love Copilot
• Roll Your Own GPT: Setting Up Your Computer for Local AI
• How to Get NVIDIA Chat with RTX: Local AI for Everyone
• How to Make Sure Your Next Computer Is AI Ready

Micro Center Editor-in-Chief Dan Ackerman is a veteran tech reporter and has served as Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo and Editorial Director at CNET. He's been testing and reviewing laptops and other consumer tech for almost 20 years and is the author of The Tetris Effect, a Cold War history of the world's most influential video game. Contact Dan at dackerman@microcenter.com.