Apple’s popular MacBook range is getting some big competition from Microsoft and its new Copilot+ PCs.
Apple’s MacBook range might be some of the most powerful laptops on the planet but these devices are getting some big competition. Microsoft has just held a major launch event at its Redmond campus in Seattle and it’s boasting that its new range of portable PCs will be 58% faster than Apple’s MacBook M3.
That’s a big claim but it will certainly be welcomed by millions of Windows users who may have felt they were being left behind.
The boost is down to some new technology tucked under the shell of these latest laptops which includes a new ARM processor made by Qualcomm. With the Snapdragon X Elite chip inside, users will see 40 trillion operations per second being made – that should make daily digital tasks feel silky smooth and stutter-free.
Despite all that power, things are super efficient. Treat the machines kindly and you could see 22 hours of life before they need to go near a plug.
“Copilot+ PCs are the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built,” Microsoft proudly exclaimed.
Although power is clearly important, the next breed of Windows 11 devices will also be way smarter. Full integration with Microsoft’s smart AI Copilot will speed up tasks, make searching the web more fluid and improve the way you find things on the PC. There’s even a dedicated button included on the keyboard which launches Copilot with just one touch.
Something else that’s new is Recall. This pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin. Think of it a bit like a more interactive way of searching your PC. With Recall launched you can scroll through a timeline of things you’ve done on your PC or search for specific things. Say you were looking at holidays earlier in the month and can’t remember the hotel you spotted, give Recall some basic data and it will try and track it down.
“We set out to solve one of the most frustrating problems we encounter daily – finding something we know we have seen before on our PC,” Microsoft explained. “Today, we must remember what file folder it was stored in, what website it was on, or scroll through hundreds of emails trying to find it. Now with Recall, you can access virtually what you have seen or done on your PC in a way that feels like having photographic memory.”
So what PCs are getting these upgrades? Devices from the likes of Samsung, Dell and Lenovo are all coming soon along with big updates to Microsoft’s Surface range.
The powerful new Surface Laptop gets thin bezels, a touchscreen display, premium audio, and now features a haptic touchpad.
It will be available in 13.8” and 15” sizes along with four colours. Microsoft reckons it will last for 22 hours and get those all-new AI experiences.
Then there’s the Surface Pro with this 2-in-1 laptop getting a speed boost which makes it over 80 percent faster than before. There’s also an optional OLED screen and ultrawide field of view camera. Finally, there’s a better Flex Keyboard which has been designed to be used both attached or detached. These laptops are available to pre-order now.
