Microsoft has often taken a step back in the direction of the PC industry. But that time is over.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a front-row seat to Microsoft’s power in the PC industry. Sure, developing the core operating system used on millions (billions?) of devices gives you a lot of leverage, but the introduction of Copilot+ and subsequent hardware announcements show what can happen when Microsoft makes proof of strength.
Even though AMD and Intel have gotten a head start in this new era of AI PCs, Computex has proven that they are behind. AMD and Intel are rushing to meet Microsoft’s demand for Copilot+, and in doing so, they are breaking the release cadences and traditions they have maintained for several generations.
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Breaking release cycles
The strongest evidence of Microsoft’s impact is AMD. For the first time ever, AMD is leading with its Strix Point laptop processors instead of its new Ryzen 9000 desktop processors. It’s no secret that Intel holds a dominant position in laptops compared to to AMD, which usually pushes Team Red to release a new architecture on desktops first. This is not the case this time.
Zen 5 will appear on laptops alongside desktops in July, and that’s very telling. Copilot+ PCs now exclusively use Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, but Microsoft says the models will eventually use AMD and Intel chips as well. By releasing Strix Point first, AMD is showing how eager it is to jump into this new era of PCs.
It comes down to Microsoft’s requirements for the Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Although we’ve seen NPUs from AMD and Intel, Microsoft requires an NPU with at least 40 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS) power. Strix Point meets these criteria, as do Intel’s upcoming Lunar Lake chips. Previous Intel and AMD chips, although equipped with an NPU, do not meet the power requirements.
Although AMD’s decision to launch its laptop chips first is the most telling, Intel is not absent from this conversation. It is launching its Lunar Lake chips ahead of schedule. Last year we saw the launch of Meteor Lake processors at the very end of the year, but Intel will launch Lunar Lake in the third quarter of 2024. By the end of this year, we will likely have dozens of computers Lunar Lake and Strix Point laptops. — we’ve already seen a bunch at Computex.
It’s clear that Intel is also jumping the gun a bit. While we have all the juicy details on Lunar Lake as an architecture, Intel hasn’t shared any specific models. It also doesn’t have detailed performance details, other than claiming the chips will be “competitive” with the Snapdragon X Elite.
In the context of Copilot+, it’s hard to see these changes as anything other than AMD and Intel jumping in on the hype. Copilot+ PCs represent more than a new class of laptop for Microsoft. This represents a shift in the way we think about laptops, and AMD and Intel don’t want to be absent from this conversation.
Hurt feelings
There is also a more personal drive, specifically for Intel. Intel has been Microsoft’s linebacker for decades, its dominance in laptops leading to a never-ending stream of co-marketing and promotional campaigns. And it’s clear that Intel isn’t happy with the way Microsoft launched Copilot+.
I’m here on the ground in Taipei. During a Q&A session after Intel’s keynote, a reporter asked Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Intel’s executive vice president of customer computing, about the Snapdragon X Elite. You could feel a dark cloud in the room. A beat passed. Holthaus took the microphone with a sigh.
It’s no secret that Microsoft has wanted to make Windows run on ARM for years, and now that it can do it with the technology buzzword, it’s seized the opportunity. Intel, at the very least, seemed blindsided, and I imagine AMD is in the same boat. After all, AMD and Intel were the first to offer AI processors for Windows, and now they are no longer relevant.
For Intel, it’s waiting for some sort of update for Copilot+, where machines packing its hardware can receive all the features available for the Snapdragon X Elite. Laptop makers aren’t slowing down, either. They all contain the dedicated Copilot key and the latest AI processors from AMD and Intel. In response to the question, Holthaus said, “I believe that when we are in the market, we will ship more than our competitors combined. » This sounds like a company that is frustrated and ready to fight.
I haven’t heard AMD talk about this publicly, but all of its Computex slides announcing its new Ryzen AI chips include “Copilot+” somewhere. I have to imagine it stirs up similar feelings.
New eras
To meet the new push for Copilot+ PCs, AMD and Intel have renamed their mobile processors. The naming scheme is simplified, shorter and clearly focused on AI. After all, can you really expect a normal buyer to know that the Core i9-13980HX is supposed to be better than the Snapdragon X Elite?
Changing nomenclature may not seem significant at first glance, but it’s a massive change for companies like AMD and Intel. These types of brand changes only happen once every ten years, and even that is rare. There may be slightly different conventions – like what we saw with the introduction of Ryzen 8040 processors – but a complete overhaul doesn’t happen often.
It’s a realignment of AMD and Intel, trying to show customers who don’t follow endless product chains that their chips can take advantage of the AI features available in Copilot+. This allows much more information to be conveyed to many more users than just quoting how many TOPS the NPU is capable of.
Flatten the curve
Microsoft is putting pressure on it, and AMD and Intel are trying to catch up. Eventually everything will balance out. Microsoft has already said that AMD and Intel will eventually be part of the Copilot+ ecosystem, so come to Computex next year, any distortion inflicted by Microsoft will likely be invisible.
Still, it’s an impressively clear demonstration of just how powerful Microsoft really is. It took two companies that typically plan their product cycles years in advance and put them into panic mode. Hopefully we won’t see a repeat once Microsoft sees fit to introduce Copilot+ to desktops.
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