Nothing is more cutting-edge in 2025 than the best AI PCs from Qualcomm, Intel, AMD, and Apple. Picking a new laptop is already tough, let alone when you want the latest and greatest technology, so I'm here to help you navigate these stormy seas.

I'll be your AI laptop deep-dive instructor as we find the best AI PC for you. As Laptop Mag's resident hardware enthusiast, I've lived and breathed AI PCs for over a year. I've spent hours going over AI PC performance and efficiency benchmarks, and I've reviewed over 30 AI PCs personally, while the Laptop team has reviewed over 100 laptops in this emergent category in our never-ending quest to find the best laptops.

We've seen all of this generation's AI processors from Qualcomm, Intel, AMD, and Apple, so this list presents the best of the best when it comes to AI-powered laptops with options to suit any need. Even if AI isn't part of your daily life today, it would be a mistake to ignore it as you buy a new laptop in 2025 as AI is more prevalent than ever.

If you want to jump straight to our top choices, our pick for the best AI PC overall is the Asus Zenbook S 14 UX5406, which pairs a stunning OLED display with outstanding performance and efficiency thanks to the Intel Core Ultra Series 200V chipset inside. If battery life is your priority, the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 is your pick, with over 21 hours on our test. And for Apple enthusiasts, the MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025) is the way to go for the best combination of value, performance, and longevity.

That's just entering into the shallows of our top picks; here's my promised deep dive into the best AI PCs in 2025.

The Quick List

Here's a quick rundown of our top picks for the best AI PC laptops. You can also follow the links to the full review to learn more about any of the computers on this list.

The best AI PCs in 2025

Best Overall

The Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) rocketed to the top to become our favorite AI PC laptop. This laptop is one of the first to feature an Intel Core Ultra 200V series processor and at just $1,499, you get a fantastic balance of performance, full-day battery life, a stunning 14-inch OLED display, plus enhanced storage and memory. So you can keep open your 57 'emotional support' Chrome tabs while still streaming music and running ChatGPT or Stable Diffusion.

In our review, Madeline Ricchiuto writes, "From its stunning design to its vivid OLED display panel, there’s plenty to appreciate about the Asus Zenbook S 14."

The Asus Zenbook S 14 lasted 13 hours and 51 minutes on our battery life test, so you should have no trouble leaving your charge cable at home while you head to work or to class. The Zenbook also features a scratch-resistant Ceraluminum ultralight chassis and Asus' quality customer support so you don't need to worry about any tech-related meltdowns.

The Zenbook S 14's 3K (2,880 x 1,800) OLED display is vividly colorful, capturing 82% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. at 342 nits of brightness, it can contend with most screen glare.

If you need to save money, Some of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Copilot+ PCs are a bit cheaper. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is one of our favorites of the Copilot+ lineup and starts at just $1,199, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition starts at just $999 and features the same Copilot+ AI features as the Yoga Slim 7x. If you prefer an AI PC with a larger screen, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra has a stunning 16-inch AMOLED display. The Galaxy Book 4 Ultra also offers excellent battery life and the powerhouse combo of an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU.

See our full Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) review.

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Best battery life

One of the most highly anticipated features of the Copilot+ AI PC platform was the extended battery life offered by AI optimization combined with Qualcomm's ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite chip, and the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 has more than delivered on that promise.

In our review, Stevie Bonifield writes, "Battery life is one area where the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 really shines. It lasted 21 hours and 3 minutes in our battery test, longer than any of its rivals — longer than any laptop we’ve ever tested."

The ThinkPad T14s lasted an astounding 21 hours and 3 minutes on our battery test, outperforming even the MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024), which lasted 20:46. It also stole the battery life crown from the Dell XPS 13 (9345), which had just claimed the title of laptop with the best battery life in July 2024.

But the ThinkPad T14s offers more than just incredible battery life, as it combines power efficiency with strong CPU performance thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (XIE-78-100) chipset and surprisingly light 2.72-pound chassis.

In fact, the ThinkPad T14s has more powerful multi-core performance than some of our favorite laptops, like the MacBook Air 13 M3 and Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M). On the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark, the ThinkPad scored an average of 14,486 compared to the MacBook Air's 12,807 or the Zenbook 14's 12,358. The T14s also has better battery life than both, making it the best choice for power and longevity.

So what are the downsides? The ThinkPad T14s suffers from a tired design, sub-par graphics rendering, and an inaccurately calibrated display, which hold it back from taking the top spot in this category. But if you don't plan to use your AI PC for a lot of photo or video work, the ThinkPad T14s more than makes up for its shortcomings in terms of battery life and performance. In fact, with this ThinkPad, you can even dare to leave your charger at home.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 review.

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Best budget

AI PCs offer good power efficiency, strong performance, and lightweight designs, even on budget-friendly systems. The Acer Aspire 14 AI benefits from an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor with powerful Intel Arc 130V graphics and a 40 TOPS Intel AI Boost NPU all integrated into the chipset. It also features 16GB of unified memory on-package, a 2TB SSD, and a 14-inch 1920 x 1200 display. Plus, it lasted over 14 hours on the Laptop Mag web surfing battery test and weighs just 3.2 pounds. And you get all that for just $699.

Claire Tabari writes in our review of the Acer Aspire 14 AI, "The Acer Aspire 14 AI shines as a budget laptop, hitting an affordable price point for solid Lunar Lake processing speeds, excellent battery life, a satisfying keyboard, and a sturdy chassis."

Our testing revealed that the Aspire 14 AI "delivered a Geekbench 6 score of 10,043, which is fantastic for a budget laptop." The Aspire 14 also features a swift 1TB SSD, with a transfer rate of 1,746 megabytes per second.

While the Acer Aspire 14 AI's 14 hour and 15 minute battery life average is far from the most impressive on this list, it easily competes with our top AI PC pick overall, the Asus Zenbook S 14 (13:51), however, it is almost an hour behind our top Apple pick, the MacBook Air 13 M3 (15:13).

The Acer Aspire 14 AI does have a powerful second-gen Intel AI Boost NPU which offers 40 TOPS of performance. This means it is part of Microsoft's Copilot+ program and gets access to advanced AI features like Live Captions and studio camera effects.

See our full Acer Aspire 14 AI review.

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Best for business

Not everyone wants a 2-in-1 laptop, but the convertible form of the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo makes it a handy, versatile tool. The Summit also features a Microsoft discrete trusted platform module (TPM) 2.0 and Microsoft Pluton security. So its versatile and secure.

Madeline Ricchiuto writes in our review of the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo, "There are plenty of reasons to recommend the Summit 13 AI+ Evo. It offers almost 17 hours of battery life, dependable performance, a bright display, a satisfying keyboard, sturdy hinges, and it comes with 2TB of storage space and a stylus for just $1,599."

MSI has also put the Summit's durability to the test through the MIL-STD-810H durability testing. The Summit 13 AI+ Evo can survive high altitudes, extreme temperatures, and exposure to dust and humidity. Making it the perfect companion for your pitch meeting in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

Like the other Copilot+ laptops, the MSI Summit 13 has full-day battery life, solid performance, and a bright, vibrant display. Even if security is not your top priority, you're still getting a solid laptop that lasted 16 hours and 52 minutes on our battery test. On our other lab benchmark tests, the Summit was competitive with the likes of the Asus ExpertBook P5 and HP EliteBook Ultra G1q, with a Geekbench 6 score of 10,895 compared to the ExperBook's 11,259 and the EliteBook's 12,717.

While you could use one of the other Copilot+ or AI PC laptops, like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x or Dell XPS 13 (9350), as a business laptop, MSI offers additional security and durability features alongside a stellar all-around laptop experience.

With a starting price of just $1,499, most other business laptops can't compete.

See our full MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo review.

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Best for AMD fans

This AI powerhouse isn't part of the Copilot+ PC program, but with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, it more than meets the requirements for NPU performance with 50 TOPS of AI processing power. So, if you want a top-of-the-line AI PC and Qualcomm's ARM chip won't work for you, the Asus Zenbook S16 is your best pick.

Rami Tabari writes in our review, "The Asus Zenbook S16 UM5606 has the makings of a great laptop, from its incredible performance and graphics to its long battery life and stellar design."

Of course, the Zenbook does have a few drawbacks, like an unsatisfying keyboard and slower SSD, but it makes up for those shortcomings by surviving an impressive 11 hours and 35 minutes on our battery test. And it starts at just $1,399.

The Zenbook S16 scored above most of its competition on Geekbench 6, with a multicore average of 13,282. That outpaces even the MacBook Air 15 M3's 12,052 average and the Intel Core Ultra-powered Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M), which scored an average of 12,717.

So, if you need a powerful AI PC that runs Windows 11 without needing software emulation, the Zenbook S16 is the most affordable, powerful option.

See our full Asus Zenbook S16 review.

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Best for Apple enthusiasts

We rarely give out 5-star ratings here at Laptop Mag, and the Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 is one of the chosen few. Starting at just $999, with education pricing dropping it to $899, the new 13-inch Air is a laptop we can recommend for just about any purpose. It's affordable, especially by Apple standards, and it features an excellent keyboard, fantastic performance, and outstanding endurance, which makes it a great laptop for just about anyone's needs.

In our review, Sean Riley writes, "The MacBook Air 13-inch M4 feels like the return of the original M1 Air. It's an undeniable value that will give you years of excellent performance, even if you pick up the base model."

With macOS 18, the M4 chips have access to Apple Intelligence, making the MacBook Air 13 M4 one of the most affordable AI PCs on the market, with features similar to those found in Microsoft's Copilot+ PC system, like image and text generation, email summaries, and in-call recording and summaries.

Outside of the fancy new AI features coming to Macs this fall, the MacBook Air M4 boasts the same kind of all-day battery life as the other AI PCs on this list, lasting 15 hours and 42 minutes in our battery life test.

The MacBook Air is more than competitive with other AI PCs when it comes to performance, scoring a Geekbench 6 multicore average of 14,849 which outperforms the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (13,750) and Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (12,908).

Of course, you could choose the MacBook Pro 14 M4 instead. Thanks to its fan-cooled design and larger battery, it has better performance and longer battery life, but it has a much higher starting price: $1,599.

So, if you want to stick with macOS and get the best Apple Intelligence features at an affordable price, the MacBook Air M4 is the way to go.

See our full Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 review.

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Benchmark Comparisons

AI Benchmarks

We run all of our AI PCs through a series of AI-focused benchmarks, including the Geekbench ML and Geekbench AI test suites. However, because of how fast AI and machine learning is evolving, these benchmarks are often difficult to compare between versions.

Geekbench ML does not test the NPU at all, while Geekbench AI will test the NPU using the best AI inference software for that chipset, so it can be difficult to compare NPU results between chipmakers.

Though AI PCs are all identifiable by their integrated NPUs, AI workloads run off all three hardware accelerators, so we try to benchmark the CPU, GPU, and NPU in AI tests rather than just focus on the NPU alone.

But if you're curious as to how our best AI PCs stack up in the AI benchmarking stakes, here's a comprehensive chart of our testing data.

Recent reviews

We review dozens of laptops annually, and while some simply don't have what it takes to make our buying guides, others are still strong options that came up short for one reason or another. Here are some of our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make the cut, which for this page could simply mean they aren't classified as "AI PCs."

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How to choose the best AI PC

There are several factors you should consider before buying an AI PC.

The benefits of AI laptops are multifaceted, but portability and battery life are some of the more tangible benefits of buying a laptop with a neural processing unit NPU. Courtesy of AI optimization, these laptops are more efficient than their non-AI counterparts, which helps shave off some weight with thinner, smaller batteries that can still last all day on a charge. Most AI PCs we've seen have lasted for more than 10 hours on our battery test, and many of the AI laptops we've reviewed and recommend go well beyond that, some even eclipsing 20 hours of battery life.

On-device AI is another key benefit of the AI PC platform, though we are still in the early days of generative AI, so those features will be upgraded and added as Microsoft, Apple, Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm flesh out their AI platforms. But at a minimum, all of the AI PCs have a dedicated NPU and can tackle on-device AI tasks like AI image and AI text generation. While some have more powerful NPUs than others, all of these AI PCs can run your favorite large language model.

Regarding minimum specs, we recommend a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus, AMD Ryzen 8000 series, Intel Core Ultra 100 series, or Apple M2. You'll also want to go for at least 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD minimum for extra memory and storage for your AI tasks.

Other deciding factors that can make your AI PC life even more successful are the same as most other laptops, including a comfortable keyboard, a sensitive touchpad, and a bright, vivid display. So you can enjoy your laptop for more than just its generative AI capabilities.

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FAQs

What makes a laptop an AI PC?

While there are many definitions for what counts as an AI PC, the one commonality between all laptops and desktops marked as "AI PCs" is the presence of a neural processing unit (NPU) machine learning core.

AI workloads will often use the CPU, GPU, and NPU of a machine, with certain tasks favoring one hardware accelerator over another. But to get the most use out of on-device AI, you'll want a computer with a strong chipset that has CPU, GPU, and NPU cores.

What does an AI PC do?

AI PCs are specialized laptops built to run AI workloads. They also offer great battery life and general performance. All laptops will be AI PCs at some point in the future, but for now, they're a bit more of a niche category. Essentially, any computer with an NPU machine learning processor is an AI PC.

You can use an AI PC to run on-device AI models like GPT-4 or Stable Diffusion. AI PCs can generate AI text and AI images and provide live AI translations or better video filters for your next Zoom meeting. One of the key differentiators is that these tasks are handled, at least in large part, by the NPU, which helps free up the CPU and GPU for other tasks.

You can also use an AI laptop for typical computing tasks like browsing the web, playing games, editing photos and videos, or productivity tasks if this is a work laptop. They're a versatile category of powerful, efficient laptops that fill various needs.

What specs do I need for a good AI PC?

While you can run generative AI programs like GPT-4, Stable Diffusion, or Dall-E on older processors, you'll want to opt for a newer, high-end CPU, GPU, and NPU combination if you plan to do a lot of on-device AI.

Different AI programs run through different hardware accelerators, so you'll want to have all-around powerful hardware.

An AMD Ryzen AI 300 processor gets you the most powerful NPU and a solid CPU and integrated GPU. Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series processors offer the best combination of powerful NPU and CPU performance with top-end battery life. The Intel Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" series gives you a strong NPU with solid CPU and GPU performance for additional AI support and great battery life. The Apple MacBook Air M3 gives you access to the Apple Intelligence AI software suite, alongside Apple's fantastic build quality, performance, and battery life at an affordable price. The M4 is better optimized for AI workloads and will be the superior choice once the M4 chipset hits the MacBook Air line.

If you're using mostly cloud-based AI software, you can use a processor with a less powerful NPU because the cloud server will run the AI model for most of your AI usage. However, in that case, you'll still want a laptop with a decent processor and at least 16GB of RAM to get a timely response.

Do I need a Copilot+ PC to have a good AI PC?

While having a powerful NPU rated to at least 40 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) can make certain AI programs run more smoothly, the requirement for at least 40 TOPS of NPU performance was based on Microsoft Recall. That particular segment of Microsoft's Copilot+ AI suite hasn't fully launched yet, but it is available in Preview Mode for Windows Insiders.

AI PCs can do more than just Microsoft Copilot+. Many other AI workloads, including webcam background blur, AI audio effects, and generative AI can be handled by smaller NPUs or can be run through the CPU or GPU instead of the NPU. So you can still get a quality AI PC experience with a lower-spec NPU than you'll find on Copilot+ PCs.

But if you want an NPU that can last for the next few generations of AI and you want access to every AI feature, you'll want to opt for a Copilot+ PC.

Should you get a discrete GPU for your AI PC?

Depending on the AI you intend to use, you may want a more powerful GPU. However, the integrated graphics tiles on the Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel Core Ultra 200 series are powerful enough for some light gaming and get solid GPU-based AI performance.

Of course, if you're going to be getting into heavy on-device AI that requires high graphics demands, getting a laptop with an Nvidia RTX 40-series or RTX 50-series GPU wouldn't be a bad idea.

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How we test AI PCs

We put each laptop we review through extensive benchmark testing using synthetic and real-world tests before it goes to our reviewers. Our reviewers evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers, and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 6 and 3DMark professional graphics tests. A Geekbench 6 multicore score of 10,000 or higher is needed for AI workloads. While AI PC laptops don't need to be great at gaming, a higher score on 3DMark benchmarks can indicate good image generation capabilities.

With AI PC laptops, we also use machine learning benchmark tests like Geekbench ML, Geekbench AI, UL Procyon Computer Vision, and UL Procyon Image Generation. These tests use real AI workloads and models to test a laptop's AI performance capabilities. Most of these tests can target CPU and GPU performance on AI workloads, but as NPUs are the defining factor of AI PCs, we tend to focus on NPU performance for these benchmarks.

To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop with compressing a 4K video to 1080p resolution and duplicating a 25 GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is the Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark with medium settings at 1080p and native resolution. On gaming laptops, we run additional benchmarks, including Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Cyberpunk 2077, and Assassin's Creed: Mirage.

We also test the laptop's cooling capabilities by playing a 15-minute 4K video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop, such as the keyboard, touchpad, and underside, to determine whether it is too hot to be safely used on your lap or if it should be relegated to a desktop.

Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 10 or Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good result, whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered longer than 5 hours deserve praise. We expect over 10 hours of battery life with AI PCs, though many AI PC laptops get around 14 hours of battery life.

Following these tests, the laptop is given to our expert reviewers for extensive hands-on testing. Our reviewers will spend days using the laptop as part of their typical workflow to get a sense of the real-world performance and live with the laptop to come away with a thorough understanding of the hardware and software experience. This blended lab testing and hands-on approach allows us to offer you a clear and comprehensive view of every laptop that comes through Laptop Mag.

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Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred laptops yearly, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100 percent independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades and continues to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

Future Publishing, one of the world's largest technology publishers, enforces our editorial trustworthiness. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

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Microsoft's branding and advertising have come under fire this week, and I can't say I'm surprised.

The Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division has published a report that feels like the latest chapter in Microsoft's history of being particularly terrible at naming its products.

But is this a case of AI washing, marketing spin, or Microsoft being terrible at naming products?

The BBB NAD has criticized Microsoft for its Copilot advertising, alleging that only some of the Copilot claims are supported by independent research. The report recommends that Microsoft modify or discontinue some AI features and performance claims.

Microsoft's Copilot AI and Copilot+ PC platforms are confusing -- even if you know the difference between the two. For the average Windows user, the difference is even more obscure.

Is it AI washing?

The National Advertising Division (NAD) is a watchdog organization that fact-checks various marketing claims to ensure products are marketed accurately.

The NAD investigated Microsoft's claims about Copilot AI features to determine if Microsoft was accurately advertising Copilot's capabilities both within the Microsoft ecosystem and with external applications.

While the NAD upheld many of Microsoft's AI claims, the advisory board recommended that Microsoft modify its advertising around the Business Chat feature, as it cannot "seamlessly" generate a document in non-Microsoft applications.

To get Business Chat to generate a document in outside apps, a user would need to take additional manual steps to produce the same results as Copilot.

The NAD also criticized Microsoft's claims that its Copilot and Business Chat AI features increase productivity. Microsoft bases its claim that AI improves productivity on a self-report statement: "67-75% of users say they are more productive" after 6-10 weeks of Copilot usage.

While Microsoft "disagrees with NAD's conclusions," the company has agreed to "follow NAD's recommendations for clarifying its claims."

Business Chat requires additional functionality in non-Microsoft applications. Microsoft's self-report style of productivity rating questions some Copilot claims; however, they don't appear to be "AI washing."

Business Chat can still generate documents in external applications, even if the AI feature requires additional steps from the user.

Instead, this appears to be a case of marketing spin.

It doesn't help that Microsoft's Copilot branding is confusing

The National Advertising Board also found that users could be confused by Microsoft's use of Copilot branding across multiple products with different features.

Microsoft's Copilot assists users in Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Copilot is also a stand-alone AI chatbot.

Microsoft's Business Chat is a chat interface for Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant.

Then there's Microsoft's Copilot+ PC program, which has expanded AI features for hardware that meets a strict 40 TOPS NPU requirement.

Even knowing all of this for the sake of reviewing hardware, I still find Microsoft's use of Copilot somewhat confusing. I can easily see how someone less informed would be blindsided by the differences between in-app Copilot features and accessing Copilot through Business Chat for external applications.

Microsoft is just bad at naming things

Look, Microsoft is notorious for being terrible at naming products. There are plenty of think pieces about its various failures, and the rankings of which have been the worst.

There are even multiple YouTube breakdowns. But here are a few quick examples:

• Microsoft was in hot water for attaching .NET to many of its products. The name came into use in 2002 and caused much initial confusion in the early days of the Internet.
• Windows 95 launched at the end of 1995, making users feel that even when it was new, it was already outdated.
• Windows also skipped from Windows 8 to Windows 10, implying Microsoft can't even count its OS iterations correctly.
• Microsoft also can't stick to a name scheme for its Xbox game consoles. The Xbox was followed by the Xbox 360, which in turn was followed by the Xbox One and Xbox One X. The current consoles are named the Xbox Series X and Series S, which doesn't reduce confusion.

So the idea that Microsoft overused the Copilot brand isn't exactly far-fetched.

All we can do is hope the NAD's intervention will make Microsoft's Copilot branding clearer in the future. But I also wouldn't hold my breath, considering Microsoft's track record with naming things.

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Get ready to always have an AI lighting technician at the ready -- even if you have already shot the photo and it's a decade old.

Microsoft announced earlier this month that a jaw-dropping feature is rolling out to Windows 11 users across all Insider Channels. That's the good news.

The not-so-good news takes a bit of the shine off this announcement.

The Relight feature in the Photos app is only available to Windows 11 users who have a Qualcomm Snapdragon X-powered Copilot+ PC. However, Microsoft points out in its announcement that AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs will get the Relight feature in the Photos app "in the next few months."

Relight gives Photos app users more control over the lighting in their images and adds “dynamic lighting controls to pictures.” Essentially, it's an after-the-fact AI gaffer on your laptop, assuming your laptop meets the requirements.

As announced on the Windows Insider Blog, the tool lets you position a maximum of three light sources and customize their color, intensity, and the focus point where all the lights automatically aim. You can also adjust the brightness and softness using a slider.

If editing isn’t exactly your strong suit, Microsoft is also adding built-in presets with “ready-made lighting styles” that you can apply to your image with just one click. Based on the example image Microsoft shared in its blog, the presets include options like Softbox, Classic Portrait, Dramatic, Golden Hour, and Cyberpunk. These presets are much faster, if you'd prefer not to twiddle the knobs.

Microsoft also announced a massive Windows 11 update in May during Build 2025, showing off a redesigned Start menu and new capabilities in Photos and the Snipping Tool.

The Snipping Tool got a color picker and a Perfect Screenshot feature that can intelligently resize a screenshot you’re capturing, along with an AI-powered Relight tool in the Photos app.

Though the Snipping Tool features started rolling out toward the end of May, Microsoft announced on June 6 that the Photos app updates are now going live.

The Microsoft Photos app is getting a new AI-powered Relight tool

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Relight is yet another AI-powered feature Microsoft’s added to its apps. Like a lot of them, Relight is restricted to Copilot+ PCs. For now, Microsoft’s only rolling out Relight to Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming in the next few months.

Relight isn’t the only new AI feature coming to Microsoft Photos

Microsoft has been testing Improved Windows Search for a few months now and finally rolled it out widely with the May Patch Tuesday update. In the same Windows Insider Blog post, Microsoft announced that it’s now enabling the “improved semantically-based Windows search” in the Photos app.

The feature works just like it does in File Explorer, only now within Photos. This means you can search for images with a description rather than typing in the exact file name or filtering by properties like date, file type, or tags.

For example, if you saw a bunch of camels in the desert on vacation, instead of scrolling through all your vacation images or trying to remember what the file was called, you could just search something like “camels in the desert,” and the app will pull up the most relevant photos automatically.

Microsoft mentions that this improved photo search works on images in your Photo Library that are saved locally and have been indexed. Similar to Relight, you must have a Copilot+ PC to try out the improved search in the Photos app.

Is this just another push for Copilot+ PCs?

It is ironic how Microsoft continues introducing more features exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. Though Microsoft hasn't admitted it, it's easy for even the non-cynics among us to wonder if the Copilot+ requirements are only there to nudge more users to upgrade to these AI-powered machines, even as some still aren’t sold on Copilot+ AI.

Besides, finding alternatives to at least some of the features Microsoft is locking behind Copilot+ PCs isn’t all that difficult. For instance, Clipdrop is a web-based AI tool powered by Stability AI and has a Relight tool.

Once you upload an image, you can choose from different presets, add multiple light sources, and customize their color, power, distance, and radius.

It matches much of what Microsoft’s Relight tool offers and works on almost any device with a browser. And of course, no Copilot+ PC required.

Both AI-powered Relight and Search in Microsoft Photos are currently being tested for Windows 11 across all Insider channels. They’re rolling out gradually, so you might not see them immediately, even if you’re a part of the Windows Insider program.

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Qualcomm is in yet another legal standoff, this time on the smartphone side of the Snapdragon brand.

Qualcomm recently won most of its defense case against Arm over the Snapdragon X Elite chipsets, with a second suit (this time brought by Qualcomm) slated to hit the courts next year.

Per PhoneArena, this new suit against Qualcomm was brought by Collabo Innovations. Collabo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WiLan, a company that states it is "critical to protect innovative technology by creating patents that describe and claim the innovative concepts." A Google search of Collabo Innovations primarily results in information about lawsuits it has filed for patent infringement.

This suit by Collabo against Qualcomm pertains to patented technology that Collabo acquired from Panasonic.

Whether you're invested in the Snapdragon name on laptops or phones, there's reason to watch for legal news involving Qualcomm.

But, before you get too concerned, here's what you need to know:

Qualcomm's new legal battle

Collabo's suit against Qualcomm hinges on a microcontroller on Snapdragon chips that handles the system's shutdown process. The lawsuit's outcome could affect how Qualcomm makes all of its phone and tablet chipsets in the future.

The vast majority — estimates range between 95-97% — of patent suits are settled, often with the defendant paying royalties or a sum of damages to the aggrieved party. Or those cases are settled before they go to trial with a monetary agreement between both companies.

However, that's not been Qualcomm's style as of late. Qualcomm recently requested that the judge dismiss Collabo's suit, but this request was deemed premature for this particular case.

A representative for Qualcomm clarified to PhoneArena, stating, "The court’s order is an early procedural step that doesn’t address the ultimate merits of the case. We look forward to briefing the issues again at a later time, as suggested by the court."

It appears Qualcomm intends to see the suit thrown out, even with extra steps involved in the process.

Qualcomm's ongoing suit with Arm

Qualcomm and Arm went to trial in December 2024, with Arm alleging Qualcomm had violated its licensing agreement by using the Oryon CPU cores in the Snapdragon X Series of PC chipsets, and that Qualcomm violated its agreement with Arm by puchasing a tech startup called Nuvia in 2021.

The jury ruled in favor of Qualcomm on these two points of contention.

Arm also alleged that Nuvia also violated its licensing agreement with Arm by providing those CPU designs to Qualcomm after Qualcomm acquired the startup in 2021. This was the question that left the jury hung and would likely not be resolved as Nuvia no longer exists as a separate entity.

Qualcomm is bringing a countersuit against Arm that will go to trial in early 2026, alleging Arm launched a campaign against Qualcomm to stifle competition and impede innovation.

That filing was recently amended to accuse Arm of misrepresenting itself, as Arm confirmed under oath that it is merely a chipset design firm, and not a "chipmaker." However, recent rumors of Arm launching its own chips have brought that claim under scrutiny.

The state of Snapdragon

Qualcomm's legal battle against Collabo Innovations is still in its early days, but it seems unlikely the outcome would prevent Qualcomm from continuing to manufacture the Snapdragon 8 chipsets that power flagship Android phones and tablets like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Worst case, Snapdragon phones and tablets could become a bit more expensive. But that's more likely to be caused by the US foreign manufacturing tariffs rather than a legal standoff.

The state of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Series of laptop and miniPC chipsets is protected by the outcome of the first trial with Arm. Which means Qualcomm can go ahead with the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 launch currently slated for early next year.

Qualcomm is expected to announce the second generation of Snapdragon X computer chips at Snapdragon Summit this fall. While this does leave Qualcomm with an almost two-year gap in generations, the company is "not worried about competitors."

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If you're searching for a budget-friendly Windows 11 laptop, you're in luck. Best Buy is having a sale on Copilot+ PCs right now that slashes some of the best AI laptops to less than $1,000.

There's something for everyone in this sale, including some of the best student laptops, best business laptops, and great laptops for creatives. For instance, you can snag the Acer Swift 14 AI for just $799, a whopping $400 discount off the regular price. At this price, the Swift 14 AI is a great pick for students thanks to its sleek, compact design and speedy Snapdragon X Elite processor.

Business users won't want to miss out on the Asus ExpertBook P5 for just $972, a $227 discount on an Editor's Choice pick. The Microsoft Surface Pro (11th Edition) is also at a huge discount, along with the Asus ProArt PZ13. Both are versatile 2-in-1s with detachable keyboards, making them perfect for anyone who frequently uses their laptop in tablet mode.

See also: Best laptop deals in June 2025

Top 7 Copilot+ PC deals from Best Buy this week

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Not all laptop chips are created equal, and that's as true of AMD's innovative Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo" APU as any.

AMD unveiled the Strix Halo APU in January as the Ryzen AI Max 300 series, debuting three consumer chipset variants and four variants made for workstation-class machines.

While we normally expect a large performance gap in between, say, a Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 9. But, with a name like Ryzen AI Max, you may not be expecting such a performance gap between the three APUs in the AI Max series.

An APU, or accelerated processing unit, is a chipset that combines the CPU and an integrated graphics tile. AMD coined the term back in 2011. AMD uses APU for all of its mobile chipsets, from the Ryzen AI Max to the Ryzen AI 300 series.

So far, we've seen only systems powered by the 16-core Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip, including the Asus ROG Flow Z 13 gaming laptop.

However, the Ryzen AI Max family offers more budget-friendly options, too, from the 12-core Ryzen AI Max 390 down to the 8-core Ryzen AI Max 385.

Last week, we finally saw the 8-core Strix Halo chipset's performance. An HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a featuring this budget-friendly APU has been benchmarked on Geekbench 6, and the results were uploaded to the Geekbench archives.

So, how does the 8-core Ryzen AI Max PRO 385 stack up against the 16-core 395? Let's take a look.

AMD Ryzen AI Max 385: Geekbench scores

According to results uploaded to Geekbench on May 27, the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a with an AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 385 APU scored a Geekbench single-core score of 2,489 and a multicore score of 14,136.

We expected these scores to be higher. However, a few factors may explain the larger-than-expected performance gap.

First, there's the hardware matchup (8 cores vs. 16). The Ryzen AI Max PRO 385 also has a lower max frequency than the flagship, which could explain the dip in single-core performance.

The difference in RAM between the HP ZBook Ultra configuration Laptop reviewed and the ZBook scores uploaded to Geekbench could also be behind the score differences, as RAM affects how Geekbench scores are calculated.

AMD Ryzen AI Max: Full specs

What does this mean for the Ryzen AI Max 385?

While the Ryzen AI Max 385 and its professional variant will still be interesting chipsets — as both still feature the larger Radeon 8060S integrated graphics tile — these early benchmarks clarify a few things.

• The Ryzen AI Max 300 series starts at 385 and tops out at 395.
• The Ryzen AI 300 Strix Point series starts with the Ryzen AI 9 365 and tops out with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375.
• The Ryzen AI 7 350 and Ryzen AI 5 340 are both technically on AMD's Krackan Point architecture.

Based on AMD's naming convention, the Ryzen AI Max 300 is designed to sit directly atop the Ryzen AI 300 series. So, as the entry-level Ryzen AI Max chip, the 385's Geekbench scores are just above what we've seen from the top end of the Ryzen AI 300 series.

We're not certain yet how expensive the Ryzen AI Max 385 will be compared to its slightly less powerful Ryzen AI 300 series counterparts, as only two Ryzen AI Max systems are on the market so far.

The HP ZBook Ultra with the Ryzen AI Max 385 starts at $2,599. Meanwhile, the Asus ROG Flow Z13 doesn't have a Ryzen AI Max 385 variant but costs $2,099 for the slightly more powerful Ryzen AI Max 390 chipset.

But based on those prices, you are paying quite a bit more for the Ryzen AI Max chipset and its more powerful Radeon 8060S iGPU.

The real question is, is the Ryzen AI Max worth its high price tag? Right now, that's still up for debate.

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Microsoft’s never been the best at rolling out feature-complete software right out of the gate. But every now and then, the Redmond-based giant makes up for it by getting something exactly right, even if you still wonder what took so long.

On Thursday, the company announced that it's baking a color picker into the Snipping Tool on Windows 11, and it’s the perfect example of a minor but long-overdue addition.

Windows 11’s Snipping Tool finally gets a built-in color picker

As announced on the Windows Insider Blog, Microsoft is adding a built-in color picker to the Snipping Tool, version 11.2504.38.0. The feature does exactly what you’d expect it to: letting you quickly figure out exact color values from anywhere on your screen.

The way it works is ridiculously simple. To use it, you’ll need to invoke the Snipping Tool like you usually do — either by clicking the “Start” button and searching for the Snipping Tool app, or by pressing the Windows logo key, Shift, and the S key simultaneously.

You’ll then find a new Color picker option, denoted by a pencil icon on the toolbar (according to Windows Latest). All you need to do is hover the dropper over any part of your screen, and the tool has a dropdown that instantly shows the color code in three formats: HEX, RGB, and HSL.

If you’re into design work, you likely know the difference between the three. But if not:

• HEX is a six-digit code (like #8F00FF) commonly used in web design to represent colors.
• RGB shows the amount of red, green, and blue in a color, formatted like rgb(143, 0, 255).
• HSL stands for Hue, Saturation, and Lightness. It’s especially useful if you want to fine-tune how vibrant or bright a color appears. For example, violet: h: 274°, s: 100%, l: 50%.

This saves you the manual effort of needing to use a third-party tool to convert the color code from one format to another. In case you need more precision, you can also press Ctrl and +/- to zoom in or out.

The best part about the feature, though, is that you don’t need to take a screenshot just to find out the color code. So if you’re someone who needs to figure out colors often, you won’t have to worry about your PC overflowing with unnecessary screenshots.

Before switching to Mac, there were multiple times I needed to figure out the color code from an image or somewhere on my screen, often for my school projects. What I always had to do back then was take a screenshot and then use a third-party tool like RedKetchup or Color Picker online. Since Macs have a similar built-in utility called Digital Color Meter, I haven’t felt the need to use those online sites anymore.

So, I’m thrilled that Microsoft’s finally integrating this basic functionality right within the Snipping Tool.

Perfect screenshots are now just a Ctrl key away too

The Snipping Tool is also getting a new AI-powered feature for Copilot+ PCs, called Perfect screenshot. This feature can intelligently resize a screenshot you’re attempting to take based on the content in your selection.

This means you won't need to manually edit a screenshot after capturing it. It also saves you the hassle of trying to get everything just right in a screenshot before hitting the capture button.

All you’ll need to do is open the Snipping Tool, select the Perfect screenshot feature, and choose the region of your screen you’d like to capture.

The best part about this feature is that you don’t necessarily need to pick the option from the toolbar. Instead, you can simply hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard once you’ve invoked the Snipping Tool and selected the screenshot region.

Both of these new Snipping Tool features are currently in testing for Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels on Windows 11. They’re rolling out gradually, so even if you’re part of the program, you might not see them right away. For everyone else, they’ll likely show up once Microsoft pushes them to the release branch. So you’ll need to wait a little longer.

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Microsoft Recall is going to have trouble recalling images of private messages sent through Signal after it announced its desktop app will block the AI screenshotting feature.

Microsoft Recall has had a rocky road on its path to a wider release, facing a slew of delays, major security concerns, and overwhelming skepticism from consumers and cybersecurity experts. In fact, the renowned antivirus maker Kaspersky had previously called the tool "dangerous" in a June 2024 blog.

Recall is one of several new AI features coming to Windows 11 and aims to help you "recall" things you've done on your laptop or PC by analyzing a treasure trove of screenshots of your activity.

It's also a feature that Kaspersky Cyber Security experts referred to as "dangerous," in a

The current preview version of Recall, which rolled out in April, is an opt-in feature, meaning it's not turned on by default. Even if you have it turned off, though, it's natural that some will still be concerned about their most private content being captured by an AI.

That's not a problem anymore on at least one app: the Signal private messaging app. It may be the first of many apps to announce a feature that will block Recall screenshots. Here's what Windows 11 users should know.

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"Signal is ready": Private messaging app blocks Microsoft Recall screenshots

On Wednesday, Signal announced in a blog post that its desktop app now includes a "Screen security" feature designed to block Microsoft Recall screenshots. The feature is turned on by default for Windows 11 Signal users.

Signal left no doubt about what motivated it to add this feature, clearly stating, "The purpose of this setting is to protect your Signal messages from Microsoft Recall."

The blog post goes on to explain: "Although Microsoft made several adjustments over the past twelve months in response to critical feedback, the revamped version of Recall still places any content that’s displayed within privacy-preserving apps like Signal at risk.

"As a result, we are enabling an extra layer of protection by default on Windows 11 in order to help maintain the security of Signal Desktop on that platform even though it introduces some usability trade-offs."

"Microsoft has simply given us no other option."

With Signal's new "Screen security" feature turned on, content from the Signal app won't show up in any screenshot tool, including Microsoft Recall.

Signal now uses the same Digital Rights Management (DRM) functionality that prevents you from taking screenshots of content from sites like Netflix or Hulu. Any attempt to do so shows only a blank black screen.

There are a number of reasons you might not want private or personal conversations recorded, and this feature ensures that you don't have to worry about that on Signal, even on its Windows 11 app. Signal likely won't be the only app developer to roll out a feature to block Recall, either.

How to block Microsoft Recall on your Windows 11 laptop

If you're worried about Microsoft Recall posing a threat to your privacy, you're not alone. Even if you're using your laptop for casual web browsing or schoolwork, you may find it uncomfortable that an AI could be snapping photos of your screen in 7-second intervals.

Luckily, if you want the peace of mind of having Recall turned off, it's pretty easy.

First, if you're on Windows 10, you have nothing to worry about right now. Recall is only available on Windows 11. It's also currently an opt-in feature, so if you didn't manually turn it on, it should be turned off by default.

If you're not sure if you have Recall turned on or not, head over to the Settings app and navigate to the "Privacy and security" tab.

Here, you should see a section called "Recall and snapshots." (If you don't have this section in your security settings, it probably means your Windows 11 PC doesn't have Recall yet.)

Select "Recall and snapshots" and turn off "Save snapshots." If this option was turned on, it's a good idea to also select "Delete snapshots" and "Delete all" to remove any existing screenshots Recall has captured.

Those steps should ensure Recall is disabled on your device, but you may want to keep an eye out for any pesky pop-ups trying to get you to turn Recall on again.

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Even if semiconductor giant Qualcomm likely faces a two-year gap between releases of its groundbreaking Snapdragon X platform — an eon in the hyper-competitive silicon market — the company's Snapdragon chief says he isn't worried.

"I'm not worried about our competitors coming out with something," Qualcomm's Alex Katouzian told Laptop Mag this week at the Computex conference in Taipei.

Katouzian is the General Manager of mobile, compute, and XR, and is responsible for execution on the Snapdragon chips. He believes the Snapdragon platform is powerful enough to survive the delay between the company's first- and second-generation computer chips, which have taken on the unofficial moniker "Snapdragon X2."

"We're sustained in performance-per-watt, and we have relationships that are strong across retail and commercial, and we have marketing campaigns that are now very much concentrated on Snapdragon," Katouzian said.

During their keynote at Computex, Qualcomm leaders sought to maintain momentum by directing attention to the Snapdragon Summit, scheduled for September 23-25 in Hawaii. At that summit, Qualcomm is expected to introduce "our next-generation solution," Katzouzian said. Questions about the second-generation Snapdragon X Elite chipset were answered with "come to Snapdragon Summit."

Nevertheless, one question loomed over the keynote: Will Qualcomm be left behind with a two-year gap between generations? After all, Qualcomm announced the first Snapdragon X Elite chips at the Snapdragon Summit in 2023 and released them in June of the following year. If Qualcomm repeats that pace, the next Snapdragon X chip won't be in laptops until June 2026.

The Snapdragon X series timeline

Qualcomm officially launched the Snapdragon X series with the X Elite and X Plus platforms last spring, between Microsoft Build in May and Computex in June 2024. In late 2024 and early 2025, Qualcomm announced additional X Plus chipsets and the budget X variants.

"We introduced our solution at Computex that would already have designs that we launched in May with Microsoft last year," Katouzian said. "And so, we're only in the market for nine months. I think a platform such as X Elite, X Plus, X — it needs more than nine months to become mature in multiple designs and SKUs."

Katouzian compared the release cycle to the Apple iPhones of yore, which used to follow a two-year "tick-tock" cycle, where a significant upgrade is announced every two years. By that logic, 2025 is Snapdragon's "tock" year.

"I think it's OK to come in as a tick-tock," he said. "We come in and then four months from now we're going to introduce our next-generation solution, and then it'll ramp into market early 2026. As long as people and OEMs understand that this continuous advantage is coming, I'm OK."

Qualcomm's competition will have launched two chips in the years between Snapdragon X Elite and X2

Since the first Copilot+ systems launch in June 2024, all of Qualcomm's competitors have released new chipset generations, and some are expected to hit their second generation since the X Elite this fall.

Intel's Panther Lake chipsets are on track to bring the Intel Core Ultra brand into its 300 series this fall, and Apple is expected to launch the M5 chipset any time between this summer and fall.

While Katouzian and CEO Cristiano Amon appear to believe the Snapdragon portfolio is strong enough to weather the oncoming storm, their new ad campaign tells a different story.

If Qualcomm weren't worried about the competition or the arrival of Snapdragon X2, would they really need to keep building ads around what I found to be not-quite-accurate data?

What can Qualcomm do to keep its lead?

Even during this "tock" year, laptops and mini-PCs are continuing to debut with Snapdragon chips. The HP OmniBook 5 is a recent example.

It's not as if the company isn't still working with partners to bring more systems to market. However, those systems are running 5-11-month-old chipsets, depending on which slice of the Snapdragon X series we're considering.

In the meantime, Intel, AMD, and Apple are all releasing newer silicon, making Qualcomm systems look less like a disruptor in the market and more like yesterday's news.

This means the second-generation Snapdragon X series chipsets need to make as big a splash as the first-generation chipsets, if not more, to recapture public attention.

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Asus kicked off its Computex announcements on Monday with “updated solutions” for creators, students, and businesses. But one laptop stands out from the rest.

The Asus ProArt P16 (H7606), a creator-focused laptop, has features that set it apart.

Let's dive in.

The ASUS ProArt P16 (H7606) packs serious power and local AI

ASUS’s ProArt lineup focuses on blending portability and performance for creative professionals. This year’s refreshed models appear to take that commitment even further and might be the company’s best devices yet for artists, editors, designers, and photographers.

Starting with the display, the ProArt P16 maintains the same specs as its predecessor (which Laptop Mag reviewed last year), featuring a 16-inch OLED touchscreen display, a 60Hz refresh rate, and a 3,840 x 2,400 resolution.

Ultimately, this means the laptop offers impressive color accuracy and sharpness. Though competitors like the Apple MacBook Pro are also constantly praised for their excellent displays, Asus's use of an OLED panel gives it a slight edge in contrast.

It comes in a classy matte black chassis, which ASUS refers to as the “Nano Black” colorway. The ProArt P16 model is powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor.

Given that this laptop is aimed primarily at creatives, a powerful GPU is usually more important than a strong CPU (which definitely still matters). ASUS pairs the powerful AMD Ryzen CPU with the newer Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU for that extra rendering muscle. Now, here's where it actually gets exciting.

This time, the ProArt 16 focuses on nailing local AI, which essentially means AI running directly on your device instead of the cloud. The laptop comes with two Asus-exclusive apps, StoryCube and MuseTree. The former is Asus's AI-powered digital asset-management tool, while the latter is more of a creative idea generator that can transform “inspiration into imagery.”

This brings three key benefits: Creatives can use AI even if they’re offline and don’t have a stable internet connection, they get faster responses, and using AI is more secure and privacy-friendly.

Since everything happens on the laptop itself and stays right where you can see it (instead of the cloud), any files you upload or prompts you give the AI don’t leave your device, so you maintain complete control of your data.

The on-device AI processing truly makes the Asus ProArt P16 stand out from the competition since companies have yet to integrate such powerful local AI capabilities into laptops. Think Apple — their Macs still rely mainly on cloud-based AI rather than fully on-device processing like this.

The ProArt P16’s powerful processor boasts 50 TOPS of NPU processing power, meaning it can easily handle on-device AI workloads. It packs all of this (and more) into an incredibly portable form factor—it’s just over half an inch thin and weighs 4.08 pounds.

The ProArt P16 is also a Copilot+ PC and runs Microsoft Copilot AI on-device. Copilot+ PCs are praised for their ability to run AI tools locally using an NPU, unlocking features that rely on this hardware, like the controversial Recall feature, which made a quiet comeback recently.

All this power comes at a hefty price tag

The 2025 ProArt 16 will start at $2,499 and will be available at the Asus Store (in-store and online) and Best Buy during Q2 2025, meaning it will hit shelves in late June.

If the price tag of the ProArt 16 made you reconsider your life decisions, or if you’re simply not a creative professional and don’t need that much power, thankfully, Asus has refreshed its other PC lines, too, including the Chromebook series (CX34, CX14, CX15) and ExpertBook series (B5, B1).

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As predicted, Qualcomm's Computex Keynote focused more on AI and AI-powered features on the Windows on Arm ecosystem rather than new announcements.

Qualcomm is turning 40 this year, but as CEO Cristiano Amon stated, "it's a new Qualcomm," thanks to the company's investment in computing. Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon X series at Computex last year, but despite that timeline, Qualcomm's Computex presence did not revolve around chip announcements.

Essentially: Qualcomm spent the entire 60 minute keynote dodging around the rumors of the second Snapdragon X Series chip generation to instead focus on their often-repeated performance claims, new systems, and Windows on Arm ecosystem updates.

At a rather slim Computex for computing news, this could have been a moment for Qualcomm to shine with the second gen of it's Arm chips. Instead the company chose to gamble and focus on its partnerships with various manufacturers including Microsoft.

But, did Qualcomm's gamble pay off?

Snapdragon X Series updates

Qualcomm now has 1,400 games optimized for Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. The company showed footage of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II on a Snapdragon X Elite system, though its uncertain whether the game will play smoothly across all of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X series.

Qualcomm showcased a lot of early gaming performance on the Snapdragon X Elite chipset on custom hardware, running on 80W systems that were never released to the public. Considering that history, it's hard to take Qualcomm's announcements at face value.

Qualcomm and Epic Games will also be bringing Fortnite to Windows on Arm, which makes sense considering Qualcomm announced Snapdragon support for Epic Games Online Easy Anti-Cheat back in March.

Qualcomm has reached 9% market share in the laptop market, thanks to a large portfolio of devices, including newly launched computes like the new Acer Aspire 14 and 16 AI, HP OmniBook 5, and new Microsoft Surface Pro 11-inch and Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch.

Amon also shared statistics on Snapdragon's performance compared to Intel's Core Ultra 7 processor. But this is a skewed comparison from the jump. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite is a 12-core chipset while the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V is a mid-range 8-core CPU. And some of the comparisons were calculated on specific workloads like DaVinci Resolve's SuperScale FHD to 4K upscaling technology.

Amon also repeated the claim that Snapdragon has "leading performance on an SoC in the laptop ecosystem." While this was true during the Snapdragon X Elite launch cycle, it has been overturned by recent launches from AMD, Apple, and Intel.

Windows on Arm updates

Qualcomm has also expanded its portfolio of applications to include the top 200 most-used Windows apps into the Windows on Arm ecosystem. Part of this is thanks to Microsoft's new Prism emulation software which helps alleviate the key pain-point of Windows on Arm.

However, there are still limits to Prism emulation and the Windows on Arm ecosystem. After all, what are those 200 applications? And are they actually the most-used apps?

Qualcomm makes this claim based on data from Microsoft that was collected by snapshots of aggregated app usage data as of August 2024 on Copilot+ PCs. Of course, the problem with that data is that in August 2024, only Snapdragon X systems were in the Copilot+ ecosystem. AMD and Intel's AI PC chips didn't get rolled into Copilot+ until the end of 2024.

So it's a bit of a skewed sample set.

As always with Qualcomm's claims, Amon's claims are technically correct, but the real context is always in the details Qualcomm doesn't share.

That said, Qualcomm has put in some serious work to fill out the Windows on Arm ecosystem. Just over a year ago, the Windows on Arm software ecosystem was almost unusably bare. That is no longer the case.

But if you need a highly specialized application, it may not run on Windows on Arm, even emulated. Some key examples are the Autodesk suite, Parsec, and Adobe DreamWeaver and Substance 3DStager.

In fact, despite Qualcomm's partnership with Adobe, the only applications that run natively on Snapdragon are Photoshop and Photoshop Lightroom. Other applications like Illustrator and After Effects are expected to make it onto Snapdragon platforms, but are still not available through emulation yet.

Qualcomm deserves recognition for the work done to build up an ecosystem. But it will still be years before Windows on Arm can even come close to the level of app-support you find on x86 systems.

Cristiano Amon: Q&A

Cristiano took questions during the keynote from audience submissions and had them spoken aloud by a Snapdragon AI PC. So these questions ranged from AI for business to a hybrid future that combines computing, AI, automotive, and mobile ecosystems.

Because these questions were collected from the whole keynote audience including Qualcomm staff, guests, OEM partners, and Computex industry attendees, many fed straight into Qualcomm's usual marketing stance about Snapdragon X Series performance and Qualcomm's view of a hybrid future.

The most interesting statement from Amon during this segment was "I'm very bullish about smart glasses" and the future of AR and how it will evolve with AI PCs and better smartphones to augment our lives.

Amon also took questions from press and analysts after the keynote to expand on Qualcomm’s portfolio from data center to DragonWing to robotics. “Robotics is natural to Qualcomm,” Amon said. Claiming robotics will be a big market for Qualcomm similar to the automotive market. As robots require a high degree of performance and strong battery life, and “that’s our DNA.”

As for the future of the Oryon CPU cores behind the Snapdragon X Series processors, Amon would only enthuse “the CPU team is very busy,” and that those interested in the future of Qualcomm’s computing portfolio should “come to Snapdragon Summit, you’re going to like what you’re going to see.”

What's next

Qualcomm sees the future of computing as a hybrid environment between computers and smartphones, where one is an extension of the other. This view of the future colors everything Amon and Qualcomm's OEM partners discussed at Computex.

However, is it an accurate view of the future? You can already access your smartphone data on your laptop in the Windows and macOS ecosystems. While there are differences in functionality, with some combinations working better than others. But phone to computer communication has been in the works for years now.

In fact, I distinctly remember crashing my 2010 MacBook Pro by adding macOS X Mavericks on it to control my iPhone from my laptop back in 2013.

While Amon is also bullish about on-device AI features with Snapdragon, Apple, AMD, Nvidia, and Intel are also pushing the same development. So it's hardly a unique feature to Snapdragon systems.

To support this dream, Qualcomm is entering the commercial and data center spaces in the future.

As for the highly anticipated Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2, it seems Qualcomm is holding all details on that chip for Snapdragon Summit in the fall.

Qualcomm paid for travel and accommodations for Computex 2025. The company did not see the contents of this article before publication.

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Microsoft will hold its annual Microsoft Build 2025 event starting on Monday. This is when the Windows maker shows what it's working on, which comes during a busy period for tech companies.

A day after Microsoft Build 2025 starts, Google will put on its Google I/O show and the big tech expo, Computex.

This year's Microsoft Build is expected to be all about AI. Copilot has been a feature the company has been pushing hard in 2025, and it doesn't look like it plans to slow down talking about AI.

How can I watch Microsoft Build 2025?

Microsoft Build 2025 starts on May 19 at 12 p.m. ET with a two-hour keynote featuring CEO Satya Nadella and other company leaders discussing the latest features and services Microsoft is developing. Other events will focus on everything Microsoft is developing.

A livestream of the event will be available on Microsoft's YouTube channel.

Here are some of the things to expect at Microsoft Build 2025.

Copilot

If there's going to be a star of the show, it'll be Copilot. Microsoft is not slowing down in making Copilot the AI model Windows users should be using. Expect to see a few new features finally roll out after being in preview for the past several months.

Copilot semantic search in Settings, File Explorer, and the main Windows Search will likely be demoed during the show, along with other features that have been shown in previous events.

Windows 11

It wouldn't be a proper Microsoft show without discussing Windows. Now, the question is whether there will be a lot of talk about Windows 11.

Arguably, the most significant and most controversial feature for the operating system, Recall, has already debuted on Copilot+ PCs. Expect some talk about the feature, maybe it's improving a bit more, or simply becoming more widely available.

As for other Windows 11 features, it's hard to find other big changes needed for the operating system. Microsoft could show off some major innovation that it has kept quiet for some time, but the most likely situation is that there will be some optimizations and a few small features coming to Windows 11.

Copilot Agents

In April, Microsoft held a Copilot event to show off the Copilot's AI companions. These avatars act as your personal AI agent while using Copilot and can come in different forms. One popular option was the Clippy companion.

It's like Microsoft will reveal some more features for the companions at Microsoft Build, along with a few more character options for your AI friend.

A new AI?

Copilot is now Microsoft's big focal point, and OpenAI's ChatGPT powers it. While the Windows maker owns a stake in OpenAI, it reportedly wants its own AI model. Microsoft's AI model is reportedly on par with some of the newer models of ChatGPT, but it's unknown if this new AI is ready for the spotlight. If it is, Microsoft Build 2025 would be the show to make its debut.

Azure

Microsoft Azure is the company's cloud platform and one of its biggest moneymakers. However, it's not the sexiest subject to discuss during an event, as it's mainly intended for businesses.

There will be some Azure talk, and how much will depend on what's new with Microsoft and AI. The cloud platform uses ChatGPT to run various services for clients, such as chatbots, customer support systems, and content generators. If Microsoft sticks with OpenAI, expect to hear some new features for Azure, but if a new AI model is revealed, a slew of changes could be coming to Azure.

New Xbox handheld?

While the next Xbox is still a ways off, Microsoft is working with Asus on a handheld. Nicknamed Project Kennan, the device isn't the next generation of Xbox. Instead, it's set to be a way for Microsoft to dip its toes into the handheld market by providing the Xbox UI for a handheld made by Asus.

Microsoft Build could be the show where we get the first glimpse of this new hardware. If not, expect it to be shown at the Xbox showcase on June 8.

Windows 12?

The least likely news item coming out of Microsoft Build is Windows 12. The company is currently struggling to get Windows 10 users to upgrade to 11, so it's unlikely there will be talk about it.

Unless Microsoft finds it needs a whole new operating system to fully use AI. Plenty of updates are coming to Copilot to make Windows 11 work seamlessly with AI, but maybe there are limitations to what can be done. Again, it's unlikely, and Windows 12 won't be teased until next year at the earliest.

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For the second Tuesday of May 2025, Microsoft released updates for Windows 11 22H2, 23H2, and, of course, 24H2. The latter is getting all of the most exciting updates, which Microsoft is likely hoping will entice you to make the jump to it.

While the second Tuesday of the month isn't all that special for most companies, it marks Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday. As the name implies, Patch Tuesday is when the tech giant rolls out new patches for its software to fix bugs and address security vulnerabilities.

These patches also usually bring the previous month’s preview updates, which were limited to certain insider or optional channels, to the general public.

Though Microsoft has a bit of a habit of downplaying what’s actually exciting in these updates in its release notes and chooses to focus on the security fixes instead, this one seems to pack quite a punch, particularly for those using a Copilot+ PC.

• See also: Best AI laptops in 2025

Recall is back, but this time with more privacy controls

The 24H2 update, delivered through the KB5058411 patch, includes all the improvements from the KB5055627 patch that Microsoft released as a Preview build on April 25, 2025.

The KB5055627 patch heavily focuses on the AI-powered features Microsoft has been quietly refining for a while now, including one that turned into one of the biggest controversies of 2024: Recall. The feature is finally making a comeback… after it was, well, recalled (pun fully intended) last year due to a widespread privacy backlash.

Recall, announced at Microsoft's 2024 Build event, is designed to help you “recall” something by capturing snapshots of what you’re doing on your PC every few seconds. For example, imagine you decided to watch a few Instagram Reels on your PC during your lunch break and came across a hilarious meme you wanted to share with your best friend. Before you can send it or save it, Instagram randomly refreshes, and that meme is lost forever.

With the Recall feature, you could type something like “funny cat meme from Instagram,” and it would harness the AI capabilities of Copilot+ PCs to “retrieve both text and visual matches for your search.”

Microsoft also added more privacy controls to avoid controversy this time around, like the option to pick which apps and websites Recall can snapshot. You’ll also be able to pause or turn off the feature at any time.

Critically, Recall is also now an opt-in experience, and Windows will ask for your permission before saving snapshots. You must also enroll in Windows Hello to “confirm your presence so only you can access your screenshots.”

Recall isn’t the only AI feature that’s finally landing

Copilot+ PC users will also finally be able to use Click To Do, which can analyze what’s on your screen and perform tasks like finding an app that can best do the job for you. You can use this feature by hitting the Windows key and clicking with the mouse, or the Windows key and the Q key.

Microsoft demonstrates how this feature could be useful by giving an example of using Click To Do to select an image. The feature might display different options you can take, like using the Photos app to erase an object from the image or using Paint to remove the background.

Improved Windows Search is also finally landing on Copilot+ PCs, allowing you to search for something with a description rather than the exact terminology. For instance, if you want to change the theme of your PC, instead of typing in random words you think might match the setting name, a description like “change my theme” should suffice.

Other than the Settings app, Improved Windows Search will also work in File Explorer, Windows Search in the taskbar, and even the Photos app.

The May 2025 Windows 11 update also includes a new Speech Recap feature in Windows’s built-in screen reader, Narrator, which can track what the Narrator said while providing you with a live transcription. The update also makes it easier to control or access your phone from your PC by placing Phone Link right in the Start menu.

The security updates, compared to the new features, are relatively limited, so you don't need to rush to update to protect your PC.

There are also no known issues in the April 2025 update, though, like every Windows update, bugs can surface as users begin to install it and start reporting their experiences.

What's next

This update arrives just ahead of Microsoft Build 2025, which will be held from May 19 to 22 in Seattle, Washington.

Now that Microsoft has finally rolled out all of the features announced at Build 2024, we can expect a new collection to debut with a heavy focus on AI again.

We'll also be keeping an eye out for any additional details on end-of-support plans for Windows 10, as Microsoft recently walked back the end of Microsoft 365 support for Windows 10 users. That may not be the last concession for Windows 10 holdouts.

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Advertising claims are often something to take with a grain of salt, but we've decided Qualcomm's latest ads deserve a proper fact-check.

Ever since AMD launched its Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" chips and Intel flew for the moon with the Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake silicon last year, Qualcomm has been making bold claims about how much better their chips perform when on battery power compared to AMD and Intel's chipsets.

Those claims are now the backbone of Qualcomm's latest ad campaign, which takes aim at both x86 chipmakers, but especially hones in on Intel.

Unplugged performance is Qualcomm's last great claim to dominance in the Windows AI PC space, as Intel and AMD have closed the performance and battery life gaps with their recent chip launches.

But does Qualcomm deserve to maintain that lead? Obviously, we had to take a look.

Battery profiles make a massive difference

Qualcomm's newest ads hone in on the idea that Intel and AMD are offering 55% to 70% performance when on battery power, while Qualcomm gives you the same level of performance whether the laptop is plugged in or on battery.

We didn't have perfect comparison units on hand, but we did have a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (XIE-78-100), Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 with Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, and HP ZBook Ultra G1a with AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395.

These chips aren't great comparisons. The Snapdragon X Elite XIE-78 is a somewhat under-clocked 12-core, 3.4GHz CPU. The Intel Core Ultra 7 256V is a mid-range 8-core, 4.8GHz CPU. And AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 is a 16-core, 5.1GHz workstation chip.

But I'm not really cross-comparing them here. Instead I'm more interested in seeing how much of a drop there is in these chips when on battery compared to on AC power.

What I found early on in testing is that the Windows power setting made a massive difference in performance on each chip when operating on battery power. So I tested each laptop when plugged in, when on battery power at the best performance setting, and on battery power using the balanced profile.

Even the Snapdragon X Elite takes a performance hit on battery power

Qualcomm's 45% and 30% claims against Intel and AMD on battery life are somewhat substantiated, at least when we're talking about single-core performance and the "Balanced" power profile.

Using the "Best Performance" profile, Intel's chips barely take a performance dip across Geekbench 6, Cinebench R23, Handbrake 4K to 1080p video encoding, and 3DMark. And that's something neither Qualcomm nor AMD can really say. The Snapdragon X Elite takes a multicore performance hit in Geekbench 6 when on battery at "Best Performance," as does AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ chipset.

In fact, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite also takes a performance hit on battery life in the "Balanced" mode in every test we ran except for Geekbench 6 single-core.

While maintaining single-core performance even at lower power is worth bragging about, it isn't a wholistic picture of a laptop's performance. Most things you do on a computer these days is a multicore workload. So maybe you don't want to just take Qualcomm at their word, since single-core performance isn't the whole story.

But, as I've previously ranted about, you don't need a Geekbench 6 multicore score of 15,000 for web browsing or email management. Sure, we all like to see better benchmarks over time. It means computing is getting easier and faster than ever. But it's not the ultimate deciding factor on whether or not you should buy a certain laptop.

What you need to know

Obviously, this is not a complete picture of any of these chips. We only had three laptops on hand to test, by different manufacturers. We only had one variation of all three chips, and our AMD laptop was very much a different category of computer than either the Intel-powered Dell or Qualcomm-powered Lenovo.

Our testing is also designed to be a stress-test for silicon. Geekbench 6 and Cinebench are rigorous CPU benchmarks. 3DMark is designed to benchmarking gaming PCs, running at high settings.

So naturally, after half a day of benchmarking, these "all day battery" laptops were drained down to critical capacity.

Basically no Windows laptop won't see some kind of performance drop when you're using it unplugged. However, most of that performance gap isn't noticeable most of the time. Chances are, you aren't doing video encoding tasks when on battery life. You're editing documents, looking at spreadsheets, browsing the web, reading your emails, watching videos, or hopping on zoom calls.

While some of those activities will drain your battery, none of them is really going to stress a modern CPU or GPU to extremes. So you won't really be operating a laptop at 55% capacity just by taking it off the charger to run to a meeting or when killing time at the airport.

Unless you decide to stress-test your Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x during your daily commute.

Personally, I think there are bigger considerations to make when buying a laptop. Data security, price, and app support tend to be bigger issues for most people than something like single-thread performance on battery life (in one specific power profile).

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Microsoft seems to have taken our biggest complaints about the Microsoft Surface Pro (11th Edition) to heart.

While we appreciated the Surface Pro (11th Edition)'s fantastic performance, stunning display, and superb battery life, it's price tag was a bit steep for a Windows tablet.

But that should change soon.

Microsoft announced new Copilot+ Surface devices during today's Surface AI event. The new Surface devices include the smaller, more budget-friendly Surface Pro 12-inch tablet, which was the subject of rumors earlier this year.

Starting at just $799, could the new Surface Pro 12-inch tablet be our new favorite Surface product?

Surface Pro 12-inch: Specs

Surface Pro 12-inch: features

Like the other Surface Copilot+ PC devices, the Surface Pro 12-inch tablet features an AI PC chipset with an NPU capable of over 40 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) of AI performance.

This gives the Surface Pro 12-inch access to the full Copilot+ suite of AI applications including Live Captions, CoCreate, and Recall.

The Surface Pro 12-inch is also the thinnest and lightest Surface device, measuring just 0.3 inches thick and weighing just 1.5 pounds, making it the most portable of the Surface lineup. And that makes it ideal for students, artists, and commuters.

Microsoft has also revamped the keyboard for the new Surface tablet, with a full-size backlit keyboard and precision touchpad with adaptive touch controls. The keyboard lies flat when open and folds completely back against the Surface Pro tablet for easier use when writing or sketching in tablet mode.

Finally, the new Surface Pro 12-inch tablet comes in multiple colors: Slate, Ocean, and Violet.

What's next

With the addition of the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus (8 core) Surface devices, Microsoft has options for most budgets in this most recent Surface generation. Between the high-end Snapdragon X Elite-powered Surface Laptop (7th Edition) and Surface Pro (11th Edition), to the work-focused Intel Lunar Lake Surface Laptop and Surface Pro for Business that were announced earlier this year, and now the two budget-friendly options, there's soon to be Surface product for most everyone.

The Surface Pro 12-inch will be available starting May 20, with configurations starting at $799.

We can't get too excited about the new Surface Pro 12-inch until we get a chance to test it out and see if it truly makes up for the faults of the Surface Pro (11th Edition), but based on what we know so far it looks like it should address most of our issues.

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Microsoft's next Surface laptops are about to get a lot more affordable.

The new Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch is available starting May 20, 2025, and will start at $899, which is the lowest price we’ve seen since the very first generation. It’s nice to see the Surface Laptop, which takes a lot of cues from Apple’s MacBooks, start at an even lower price point.

But can the new Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch offer a quality experience at this low price point?

What we know about the Surface Laptop 13-inch

The new Surface Laptop 13-inch is packing a Snapdragon X Plus processor that Microsoft claims outpaces the MacBook Air M3. That’s not good or bad, necessarily — it’s just about what we expected. However, it would’ve been nice if Microsoft jumped back to Intel or AMD because the ARM architecture limits certain Windows apps.

That chipset is stuffed inside an 11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61-inch and 2.7-pound chassis that you can paint in ocean, violet, or platinum colors. I love the violet colorway, it’s the only correct choice, sorry not sorry.

Microsoft claims that the Surface Laptop 13-inch features the longest battery life of any Surface device, with up to 16 hours of active web browsing. That’s a strong entry, if it is exactly 16 hours, it’ll surpass the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 by 30 minutes.

Surface Laptops usually rock a high-res display, but to maintain its low price point, Microsoft opted for a 13-inch, 1920 x 1280, 3:2 touchscreen display at 400 nits of brightness (that’s good). I wasn’t a big fan of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7’s display because of its poor color and weird ghosting issues. But I am hoping the new Surface can get past all of that (specifically the ghosting).

Microsoft is also boasting about how quiet and comfortable its new Surface Laptop keyboard is. That’s a relief because I didn’t like the previous generation’s, as it felt too hollow and didn’t offer enough feedback to please my fingers.

Overall, as a supposed Apple alternative, the Microsoft Surface Laptop has been disappointing over the years, with the last one being too expensive and mediocre. Nothing can really compete apart from the Surface Laptop Studio series, and that’s just an overpriced nightmare.

I want to see quality displays, comfortable keyboards, and incredible performance. Unfortunately, we’re out on the last one, since the Surface Laptop 13-inch is going with the low-tier Snapdragon X processor. The choice aligns with the price, but again, we could’ve gotten more out of Intel or AMD, especially concerning graphics.

Despite my concerns over this new Surface Laptop 13-inch, I am impressed by its low price, and if it can make a show for the best laptops under $1,000, we might just let them into the cool kids’ club.

You can pre-order the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch today at Microsoft, Best Buy, and more. It’ll also be available through Microsoft’s Business Copilot+ PC family, which would provide you with Windows 11 Pro, anti-reflective displays, and security and management features. The business version will ship on July 22.

Stay tuned for our full review and benchmarks of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch as well as the simultaneously announced Surface Pro 12-inch.

Last year at Microsoft's Build event, the company unveiled a new feature for its Microsoft Copilot+ PCs called Recall. This AI feature would automatically take snapshots of what you're doing on your computer to create an easily searchable timeline to find something like a browser tab from a month ago or an image you saved last week.

This feature, however, raised a lot of concerns regarding users' privacy, as the AI would technically be spying on everything you do on your computer. This led to Microsoft pausing the rollout of Recall to make some changes, including letting it be an opt-in feature for Windows 11 devices.

Almost a year later, Microsoft is finally rolling out the Recall feature to all Copilot+ PCs, according to a new Windows blog.

"Recall retrieves your digital memory, allowing you to retrace your steps in seconds to quickly and securely find and get back to an app, website, image or document," Microsoft wrote in the blog. "Simply scroll through your timeline or describe the content you remember. With Recall on Copilot+ PCs it can take up to 70% less time to find and reengage with your PowerPoint presentation – just use your own words, no digging required."

Microsoft did reiterate that Recall is an opt-in experience, and that there is a set of privacy controls to filter content and customize what is saved on the timeline. The company says there are also additional security features such as data encryption, the Windows Hello sign-in, and isolation in Recall to make sure a user's data is safe.

More new AI features for Windows.

Along with Recall, Microsoft also offered details on two other AI features for Copilot+ PCs.

Windows Search has been improved upon. Instead of having to provide the exact wording of what you're looking for, search will now understand what you're looking for based on more natural words or phrases you would use. An example would be doing a search by describing a picture based on what was in the actual picture instead of the filename of the picture.

There's also a new Click to Do feature that will integrate different Windows tools to cut down on the back and forth you would have to do. Using a prompt such as hitting the Windows button and clicking with the mouse, certain tools can be made available to you. Let's say you're on a website and there's an image you want to screenshot. Instead of having to open up the Snipping Tool, the Click to Do feature will do it for you.

Recall, the improved Windows Search and Click to Do will be available on Copilot+ PCs starting in April in the Windows non-security preview update. The features will then gradually roll out starting in May.

Here at Laptop Mag, we frequently look into switching up our traditional tech setups. But instead of cutting cords or ditching a computer entirely, I cut out a screen.

As part of the review process for various products, we spend a lot of time using them for our daily workload, binge-watch sessions, and gaming. Thus, I spent the last week using the Geekom AX8 Pro AI Mini PC as my daily work computer instead of the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q435) I typically use.

And to my surprise, I barely noticed a difference between my usual setup and using the Geekom mini PC. That’s thanks to all of the similarities between using one of the best laptops or a mini PC to power a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

But what’s the same and what’s different? Mini PCs are generally cheaper, too, so should you save that extra cash? Let’s jump in.

Switching to a mini PC: What’s the same

Mini PCs are tiny little desktop computers that often opt for the lower-powered mobile CPU variants (the same ones in laptops). Both are constrained environment computer designs, so they have a lot of the same needs, like power-efficient computing and low-profile thermal solutions.

So you’re getting a very similar level of performance in terms of CPU and integrated GPU between most laptops and mini PCs. Sure, you can find the odd mini PC that sports a discrete GPU or has space for one. But most are iGPU machines similar to consumer laptops.

The Geekom AX8 Pro is an AMD Ryzen 7 device, while my usual Zenbook 14 OLED features an Intel Core Ultra 7 chipset instead. For most of my workflow, I barely noticed a performance difference between the two.

Switching to a mini PC: What’s different

Port offerings are usually one of the key differences. As a mini desktop PC, the Geekom AX8 Pro featured a pretty robust port array. My only complaints were a lack of DisplayPort and a lack of quick-access USB-C connections on the front, but most laptops just come with a single HDMI port, so the Geekom mini PC is the clear winner on the port front.

Meanwhile, laptops come with an attached keyboard, touchpad, and monitor, so you can fully use the device when disconnected from a full desk setup. They’re the ideal commuting device, capable of working on the go whether that’s a long train ride, a flight, or even just working out of your hotel room during a trade show (speaking from personal experience).

With a mini PC, you’d need to carry a travel mouse, keyboard, and portable monitor to use it on the go. While some may prefer having a proper keyboard and mouse when on the road, it’s a lot of equipment to break out on a train or plane.

Plus, mini PCs don’t really come with internal batteries, so they can’t function without an outlet.

Personally, I didn’t really need to use the Geekom AX8 Pro outside of the office this week, so I noticed only the lack of a second monitor.

While I do use a 27-inch monitor with my display set to a shared-screen layout for increased productivity, I often like to set up my laptop to the side as an additional display, with my task manager or team chat open for quick reference without interrupting my workflow on the main display.

But the Geekom AX8 does have two HDMI connections, allowing you to connect multiple monitors, so you could easily go for a dual-monitor setup instead of the monitor and laptop combo. For the sake of saving my desk space, I didn’t go that route, but if I was making the switch long-term, dual monitors would definitely be the way.

Should you make the swap?

For my week in the office, it was easy enough to snag my laptop when I needed to run to a meeting or head home. I have the benefit of being surrounded by technology at all times, thanks to my job as a tech reviewer for Laptop Mag.

I also have the benefit of working at a company that uses web-based applications for pretty much all of our operations. Adobe Photoshop is perhaps the only piece of software that I need day-to-day outside of Google’s Chrome browser, making it easy to switch between multiple devices.

But without multi-device flexibility, swapping to a mini PC would be a bit harder. I spend a decent amount of time in meetings, commuting to the office on a hybrid schedule, and on the road. Which makes a laptop an easier choice for my usual work machine.

Plus, this is Laptop Mag. Sometimes, we do have to live up to the name of the publication.

However, for folks who work in the office every day, don’t have long commutes, and don’t travel for work much, a mini PC is a decent choice for your day-to-day work computer.

Or if you plan to set it up as your home computer, opting for a small, lightweight mini PC that mounts to the back of your monitor and de-clutters your desk may not be a bad choice compared to a traditional desktop computer tower.

But if you need a computer with a built-in display and keyboard, with the ability to work untethered, you’re better off with one of the best laptops instead.

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Mini PCs can fill the niche of a laptop, particularly if you don’t need to travel much for work. And if you’re in the market for a Mini PC, the Geekom AX8 Pro is so small you’ll forget it’s even there.

Geekom’s AX8 Pro AI Mini PC offers a mid-range CPU in a miniature desktop design to give you solid performance while easily mounting to the back of your monitor. Mini PCs generally use mobile CPUs but have the kind of port array that makes them desktop or all-in-one alternatives.

Thanks to its Ryzen 7 8745HS Hawk Point processor, integrated Radeon 780M graphics, and 16 TOPs NPU, the AX8 Pro offers reliable performance and enough AI power to enable NPU-specific AI tasks. The Geekom AX8 Pro is also thin and light enough to easily mount to a monitor with the included VESA mounting bracket, and offers plenty of ports for all your accessories and multi-monitor setup.

On the other hand, the AX8 Pro is a bit pricey for a mini PC with a mid-range CPU, has poor integrated graphics performance, and lacks a quick-access USB-C port on the front port array.

But is that enough to hold Geekom’s AX8 Pro AI Mini PC back from being one of the Best AI PCs?

Geekom AX8 Pro: Specs and benchmarks

Geekom AX8 Pro: Price and configurations

The Geekom AX8 Pro starts at just $529 for an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS processor with Radeon 780M integrated graphics, 32GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

You can upgrade your storage to 1TB for $799. Notably, this model is available for $549 at the time of writing.

Alternatively, you can upgrade to the Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU with a 2TB SSD for $999, though this model is currently on sale for $899.

While these prices are somewhat high for a mini PC with a mid-range CPU, it appears that the current US foreign product tariffs are responsible for some of that price inflation. You also need to be aware that some mini PCs are sold "barebones" without RAM or storage, so look out for this when perusing cheaper mini PCs.

Geekom AX8 Pro: Design

The Geekom AX8 Pro is a small, square mini PC, in a cool blue-toned metal. While the look of the Geekom is rather plain, that aesthetic works perfectly for a mini PC, which is generally designed to fade into the background.

Geekom placed most of the ports on the rear of the AX8 Pro mini PC, but there are two USB Type-A ports and the audio jack on the front side of the chassis for ease of access.

The AX8 Pro ships with a VESA mount to easily secure it to the back of your monitor, giving the appearance of an all-in-one PC with the port array of a desktop.

Measuring just 4.61 x 4.37 x 1.52 inches and weighing just 1.23 pounds, the Geekom AX8 Pro is on the small side, which is, again, ideal for mounting on the back of a monitor. It’s pretty similar compared to mini PCs like:

• Asus NUC 14 Pro: 4.6 x 4.41 x 1.45~2.13 inches, 1.1-1.32 pounds
• AceMagic F2A AI Mini PC: 5.79 x 5.79 x 2.05 inches, 4.58 pounds
• Apple Mac Mini (M4, 2024): 5 x 5 x 2 inches, 1.5 pounds

Geekom AX8 Pro: Ports

Mini PCs, like laptops, need at least a few ports to make your life easy, and Geekom’s AX8 Pro nails that objective. The full list of ports includes:

• 1x USB 4 (40Gbps)
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (10Gbps)
• 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10Gbps)
• 1x USB 2.0 Type-A
• 2x HDMI 2.0
• 1x RJ45 Ethernet jack
• 1x 3.5mm audio jack
• 1x DC-in

This should be more than enough ports, even if you rock a dual-monitor setup in your home office. My only complaint with the port offerings is the lack of a USB Type-C port on the front quick-access ports. However, getting two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports on the front is an acceptable trade-off.

But if you prefer a DisplayPort monitor connection or if you need an SD card slot, you may want to consider kitting your office out with one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs as well.

Geekom AX8 Pro: Performance and heat

Geekom packed an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS processor and 32GB of RAM into the AX8 Pro, so it features more than enough power to handle web browsing with over 20 Chrome tabs and Adobe Photoshop without pause.

While the Geekom isn’t the most powerful mini PC out there, it gets enough performance that most folks won’t run into throttling or overheating with general workloads. If you’re trying to run very large language model (LLM) AI workloads, it is possible to push the AX8 Pro to its limits, but if you’re going to be doing that much work with AI, a mini PC probably isn’t the best choice for you in the first place.

The AX8 Pro does feature fans inside the chassis, but you’ll need to really push its Ryzen 7 processor to its limits to hear them kick on. Of course you can also adjust the fan speeds through the BIOS menu if you plan to throttle the AX8 Pro routinely with heavy tasks.

That said, even while running Photoshop or running my daily Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail dungeons didn’t cause the AX8 Pro to heat up much, though the fans did kick on.

Geekom AX8 Pro: Gaming and graphics

Geekom did not build the AX8 Pro as a gaming PC, so don’t expect RTX 50-series performance. This little mini desktop just has AMD’s Radeon 780M integrated graphics under the hood.

I did run it through some gaming tests, as we have seen some incredible iGPU performance from AMD and Intel over the last few generations. Unfortunately, the AX8 Pro is not a standout.

While sitting in the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Solution Nine hub town I got about 44 frames per second (fps) with the graphics set to Standard (Laptop) and 1080p. While in dungeons, I saw my frame rates average about 33 fps for new content, 38 fps for older instances, and lows of about 26 fps.

While still playable, it was far from enjoyable.

I had a bit more luck with Baldur’s Gate 3 at 1080p, Medium settings, as BG3 doesn’t require high level hardware for basic playability, though higher spec systems do get smoother graphics with more detail.

The AX8 Pro is designed as an AI PC for LLM use rather than a gaming PC. So it’s best to stick with indie games if you need to get some game time in.

Geekom AX8 Pro: AI features

Thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS processor, the Geekom AX8 Pro is an AI PC. AMD has included a 16 TOPS NPU onboard the 8745HS Hawk Point platform, so it can handle a number of AI features like Microsoft Studio Effects’ automatic camera framing and the Copilot AI assistant.

However, the AX8 Pro does not meet the standards for the Copilot+ AI suite, so it can’t take advantage of Copilot+ exclusive features like Live Captions, CoCreate, and Recall.

That said, as an AMD AI PC, the AX8 Pro can access the AMD Ryzen AI software, which grants features from Amuse, Topaz Labs, Camo Studio, and Arkrunr.

Geekom AX8 Pro: Software and warranty

Geekom doesn’t load any proprietary software onto the AX8 Pro Mini PC, so it’s a clean Windows install for Windows 11 Pro. The only pre-loaded software is the usual Windows 11 offerings like Microsoft Office 365, Copilot, and the Xbox Game Bar.

While Microsoft does load a lot of applications onto a system alongside the OS itself, the AX8 Pro gives you as little bloatware as possible, which is nice to see.

Geekom includes a 3-year service warranty with the AX8 Pro.

Bottom line

Geekom’s AX8 Pro AI Mini PC is a solid mid-range desktop with dependable performance and enough NPU and GPU power to run localized AI. It also features a large array of ports and a VESA mounting bracket to easily fit to the back of your monitor.

Unfortunately, the AX8 Pro is a bit on the pricey side for a mid-range mini PC, has poor integrated graphics performance for gaming, and lacks a quick-access USB-C port on the front port array. It’s still a solid mini PC for work, productivity, or as an entry-level AI machine.

However, for just about the same price, you can get the Apple Mac Mini with the more powerful M4 chipset. If you don’t need any Windows-specific software, the Mac Mini gets you more power for your dollar.

But overall, if you need to run Windows as an operating system, and you don’t want the customizability of the Asus NUC 14 Pro, the AX8 is a worthy contender.

Qualcomm and Arm are expected to return to court in February 2026 and, unlike the previous lawsuit, which was ruled primarily in Qualcomm's favor, this suit sees Arm as the defendant.

Qualcomm has previously amended its complaint against Arm in January, and now, the company has submitted a motion to the courts to amend the complaint again.

The new complaint adds additional details on Arm's alleged breach of contract and includes information on Arm's rumored chipset, which is at odds with Arm CEO Rene Haas's testimony in the initial court case.

Amended complaint details

Qualcomm's countersuit against Arm is primarily a breach of contract dispute over the Technology License Agreement between Qualcomm and Arm.

Qualcomm's claim alleges that Arm is in violation of the licensing agreement between both companies by misrepresenting the relationship between the two corporations to Qualcomm's customers, throttled the delivery of critical IP, and that Arm has been misrepresenting its intentions as a design firm.

The second amended complaint from Qualcomm includes further details to support these three claims that:

• Arm repeatedly attempted to interfere with Qualcomm’s customer relationships
• Arm has failed to respond to Qualcomm's requests for an extension of the existing license between both companies
• Arm intends to transform its business into that of a chipmaker, rather than architecture design firm, and sees licensees as competition

Laptop Mag has obtained copies of Qualcomm's motion to amend the complaint, and Qualcomm's full amended complaint.

Qualcomm alleges that Arm interfered with its customer relationships immediately after Arm's filing in the initial lawsuit. The complaint argues, "Arm took further action in an attempt to disrupt Qualcomm’s business relationships by sending emails to Qualcomm’s customers on two separate occasions that misrepresented the terms of the NUVIA agreements and misleadingly implied that Qualcomm was required to destroy the custom CPUs that it was working on."

As for the existing licensing agreement, Qualcomm alleges that "Arm failed to uphold its obligations under the QC TLA by refusing to offer licenses to its off-the-shelf cores at commercially reasonable prices to Qualcomm."

As for Arm's transition into a chipmaking firm, Arm argued throughout the initial lawsuit that the company had no plans to make its own chips. Haas even stated on the stand that "We don't build chips."

However, a report from the Financial Times in February included information on a chip built in-house by Arm.

Qualcomm has added those alleged chips to its complaint, as the second complaint claims "Arm’s Chief Executive Officer, Rene Haas, repeatedly stated that Arm did not view Qualcomm as a competitor because Arm did not build or sell semiconductor chips in the marketplace, which Mr. Haas stated would amount to direct competition between the companies.

Despite Haas’ sworn statements denying Arm’s involvement in chip development, Arm is now in the process of designing and distributing its own semiconductor chips."

Qualcomm has also brought claims against Arm in other countries.

Arm has declined to comment to Laptop Mag on this lawsuit at this time.

What this means for Snapdragon AI PCs

The initial court case between Qualcomm and Arm defended Qualcomm's ability to make chips using the Oryon CPU cores.

While Arm has previously stated an intent to appeal that case, Arm later admitted "We were not going to prevail in that lawsuit."

Qualcomm is well within its rights to continue making computer chips on the Snapdragon X platform, including the recent budget-friendly Snapdragon X chipset.

The court ruling has also defended Qualcomm's ability to manufacture the second generation of Snapdragon X chips, the rumored "Project Glymur."

So far, things look good for Qualcomm as far as the legal proceedings go. It is unlikely a judgement in this second trial would impact Qualcomm's ability to produce chips.

What this trial will mean for Qualcomm's relationship with its licensing partner Arm, however, remains to be seen.

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The early reviews for Framework's Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen AI 300) are in, and the early buzz is mostly positive.

The general sentiment from reviewers is that Framework's laptops get better over time, and the AMD Ryzen AI 300 edition is the latest step in the climb to modular laptop greatness.

Framework announced the updated Framework Laptop 13 with AMD Ryzen AI 300 processors back in February.

While we're still hoping to get our own hands on a Framework Laptop 13, we missed the early review round, so here's a look at what others are saying.

What do the reviews have to say so far?

Brandon Hill over at Tom's Hardware gave the Framework Laptop 13 (Ryzen AI 300) a 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing "Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 gives the Framework Laptop 13 a performance injection, but battery life suffers."

Hill does give Framework credit for its modularity and repairability options, but cautions "that customization and upgrade prowess comes at a price premium compared to other systems. For example, the Dell XPS 13 (9350) offers similar performance, nearly 8 hours of additional runtime per charge, and costs just $1,599 (or $1,899 for a 1600p display). The Lenovo Yoga 9i is also sub-$1,900, comes with twice the memory, a 3840 x 2400 display, and lasts longer per charge."

Matthew Buzzi of PC Mag awarded the Framework Laptop 13 a 4-star rating because "the updated Framework Laptop 13 is the best yet, with a quick AMD Ryzen AI 300 processor, long battery life, and the company's signature modular component design for excellent future upgradability and sustainability."

Antonio G. Di Benedetto of The Verge was a bit more effusive of the Framework Laptop 13, arguing "If you value repairability and upgradability in a laptop, there’s no competition for the Framework 13. I’m a big fan of what this company stands for, and with the Framework 13, it continues to deliver on its promise of a modular, repairable, upgradeable laptop."

Notebook Check's Allen Ngo awarded the Framework a score of 84% for the performance improvements of the Ryzen AI 9 platform. Ngo writes, "The new Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is a sizable upgrade over the 2024 Core Ultra 7 or Zen 4 Ryzen U configurations.

Performance has improved without needing to up the power envelope or enlarge the cooling solution to maintain part compatibility with older Laptop 13.5 configurations. If you don't need all that performance, then older configurations of the Laptop 13.5 can still provide essentially the same user experience for less."

Should you jump on the Framework bandwagon?

Framework laptops are an enthusiast's dream. A laptop with almost desktop-like modularity, upgradeability, and repairability. With more chipset options for motherboards, full I/O port customization, and even multiple display options you have more flexibility than ever with a Framework laptop.

But the formula isn't quite perfected yet. If you're okay getting a laptop with a subpar display, middling audio, and have the spare change to drop on a modular laptop now, the Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen AI 300) is the best option so far.

Or you could wait for Framework to iron out the kinks of the Laptop 16, assuming Framework can get the thermals to handle Intel and AMD's most powerful mobile CPUs.

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Microsoft's 50th birthday celebrationon Friday had some talk about the past, but focused more on the future. In particular, the company's future in AI with Copilot.

There was even a return of the once-hated but now beloved mascot Clippy during the show.

The mood of the show, however, took a turn early in the presentation by Mustafa Suleyman, Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft AI. One Microsoft employee approached Suleyman and the stage to protest the company's AI being used by the Israeli government.

“Shame on you,” Microsoft employee Ibtihal Aboussad told Soleyman as the crowd went silent. “You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide. Stop using AI for genocide in our region. You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands. How dare you all celebrate when Microsoft is killing children. Shame on you all.”

Aboussad was escorted from the room shortly after her protest.

"Thank you," Suleyman said when Aboussad was led out of the room. "I hear your protest, thank you." He then went on to complete his presentation.

A video of the presentation was uploaded to the Microsoft Copilot YouTube channel, but the protest was edited out at approximately 14:45.

Shortly after her protest, Aboussad sent an email to other company employees explaining her actions, according to The Verge.

"As you might have just seen on the livestream or witnessed in person, I disrupted the speech of Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during the highly-anticipated 50th anniversary celebration," she wrote in her email. "I’ve been a software engineer on Microsoft’s AI Platform org. I spoke up today because after learning that my org was powering the genocide of my people in Palestine, I saw no other moral choice."

The email went on to point out that Microsoft has a $133 million contract with Israel's Ministry of Defense and claims that Microsoft Azure is used by the country for mass surveillance. Aboussad's email went on to say she hopes the voices from other employees will lead to a change that will "correct Microsoft’s actions regarding these human rights violations, to avoid a stained legacy."

A second interruption.

Another protest happened during a different part of the birthday celebration when current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was joined by former CEOs, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal interrupted the conversation the CEOs were having, saying, "You're all hypocrites."

"I'm a Microsoft worker," Agrawal began saying before she was quickly escorted out of the room, while there was a smattering of boos from the crowd. "50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you! Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood!"

Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the protests.

The company told Associated Press on Friday that it does provide avenues for "all voices to be heard."

“Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption," Microsoft told the AP via a statement. "If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”

Microsoft didn't say what action was being taken against the employees, but confirmed that the two have lost access to their work accounts.

Microsoft officially turned 50 years old on April 4. To commemorate the occasion, the company held an event to talk about AI.

More specifically, it was about Copilot.

Heading up the presentation about the latest features of Copilot was Mustafa Suleyman, Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft AI. In the almost hour-long show, which had a brief interruption by employees protesting the action of the company, Suleyman spoke about Copilot's upcoming features, such as being able to do tasks for users, whether it's buying event tickets, making dinner reservations, or buying gifts.

The AI is also going to get customizations to make it more unique to the user.

"So what if co-pilot had an appearance and you could shape and form to be whatever you want," Suleyman said. "We're in the very early stages of this thinking, and we're still experimenting, but we're super excited about the possibilities."

At this time in the presentation, Suleyman begins talking to Copilot itself on the display screen behind him. He then asks Copilot to change form, which it does. After the little back and forth with the AI, Suleyman goes on to say that Copilot's appearance could transform into anything, including the once-hated and now beloved mascot for Microsoft, Clippy.

This caused the crowd in attendance to applaud and cheer for the return of the living paperclip.

"Whatever floats your boat, we'll work with it," he said. "Maybe something entirely out of your imagination. We see the potential for endless possibilities here, and I really think that these Copilot appearances could be the beginning of a fresh and delightful way for you to make co-pilot truly yours."

One of the many returns of Clippy.

It's clear that Microsoft gets the humor surrounding Clippy. The paperclip buddy first appeared in Office 97 and would offer some suggestions when a user began a certain task, like writing a letter. Clippy didn't win over fans and eventually was removed from Microsoft Office back in 2001, although it would still show up in the software in different ways until Office 2007.

Microsoft wasn't completely over Clippy, even though its software users were at the time. The company made different references and even April Fool's jokes about Clippy over the years. Microsoft Office Labs even released a game in 2012 featuring the paperclip called Ribbon Hero 2: Clippy’s Second Chance, which was a humorous way to show off some of the features of Microsoft Office 2010.

Then in 2021, the official Microsoft Twitter account told its followers that if the tweet received more than 20,000 likes, it would add Clippy to Microsoft 365.

As of today, that tweet has more than 146,000 likes.

Clippy did come back, but only to replace the paperclip emoji.

Windows users just can't catch a break — unless the break in question is a myriad of routine update-related BSoD errors.

First, Microsoft gatekept Windows 10 users from upgrading to Windows 11 through its controversial hardware requirements, insisting on previously non-standard TPM 2.0 modules and a strict cut-off for particular processors.

Then, after years of pretending not to understand why people with perfectly good PCs chose to avoid Windows 11 like it had the plague, Microsoft announced Windows 10's end-of-support date of October 14, 2025.

The news was an indicator that Microsoft was effectively preparing to strong-arm holdouts into upgrading or going turncoat on their operating system under the duress of no more security updates, technical support, or feature drops.

Now, Microsoft has let the mask slip even further, recently publishing an update checklist for Windows 10 users that spends more time suggesting they prepare their computers for the scrap heap than emphasizing how to upgrade to Windows 11.

And that's all because, while many Windows 10 users have the hardware to accommodate Windows 11's hardware requirements, Windows 11's minimum specifications are something of a red herring.

New AI-backed additions to the platform, like Copilot, Recall, Cocreator, Restyle, Super Resolution, and more, are either exclusively available to or vastly superior on a new wave of Copilot+ PCs that depend on modern processors outfitted with dedicated NPUs (Neural processing units).

Make no mistake about it. These aren't just features, they're a fork. Microsoft is splitting the Windows 11 userbase down a clear hardware divide. And if it's going to do that, it might as well cut the cord entirely and call it Windows 12.

Copilot+ isn't a feature set, it's a fork

Microsoft touts Copilot+ features as a bold step into an exciting AI-powered operating system frontier. And sure, it is. But it's not a feature drop, it's a platform fork hiding behind the Windows 11 nametag.

The requirements for running Microsoft's modern vision of Windows 11 dwarf the old TPM 2.0 module complaints, requiring modern Intel Core Ultra, Qualcomm Snapdragon X, or AMD Ryzen AI processors to make use of many exclusive Copilot+ PC tools.

That's a benchmark the vast majority of Windows 11 users are yet to meet, effectively holding these newer features to ransom under hardware requirements that turn Microsoft's official minimum specs into a joke.

That's because Microsoft's scope for Windows 11 has exploded in recent years alongside the AI boom, and what was once intended to be a prettier, more secure, and more "modern" operating system is morphing into something else entirely — something that perhaps isn't all that fitting.

After all, you don't need a Copilot for a vessel originally designed to be helmed by one. Perhaps it's time that Microsoft christened an entirely new ship for its AI-driven expedition.

Let's just get to Windows 12 already

After spending years trying to bring Windows users together under the banner of Windows 11, Microsoft has now effectively placed a hardware divider among its userbase once again.

It's time Microsoft bit the bullet and stopped trying to wedge its next-gen operating system ambitions into Windows 11's framework and started forging the road ahead with Windows 12.

This makes hardware expectations clear from the get-go, gives developers a clear milestone to move on from, and gives Windows users peace of mind that they won't once again be left chasing further hardware requirements to access the latest Windows features when Microsoft inevitably moves the goalposts on their 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) NPU recommendation.

If Microsoft is going to split its userbase, raise the hardware bar, and launch a fleet of AI-first features that only work on the latest chips, then fine — but at least do it properly.

Just as Windows 10 never panned out to be the "final version of Windows" that Microsoft claimed it to be, neither will Windows 11. It's time for Windows 12.

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Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, it's been nigh impossible to avoid Microsoft's relentless push to bring Windows 10 users to Windows 11 ahead of the older operating system's October 14, 2025, end-of-support date.

And while that strategy is starting to pay off — with Windows 11 now claiming an all-time high Windows market share of 42.69% on desktops and rapidly closing in on Windows 10's 54.2% lead — Microsoft still has plenty of work to do in the months ahead to cater to those yet to upgrade.

Attempting to convince Windows 10 users that the grass is greener on the other side, Windows 11 is marketed as a more secure, smoother, and feature-rich experience.

However, a recently published end-of-support checklist perhaps says the quiet part out loud: reading less like a guide on getting ready to transition and more like funeral arrangements for your favored hardware.

It's hardly subliminal; in fact, it's barely even subtle. The truth of the matter is that Windows 11's minimum hardware requirements only paint half the picture of what you'll need to experience the operating system in full.

In my opinion, this checklist all but confirms that Microsoft doesn't want you to upgrade to Windows 11. It wants you to upgrade your laptop or PC entirely — preferably to something of the Copilot+ PC variety.

Upgrading to Windows 11: It's about the hardware, not the software

Cynics (read: most Windows users) have long claimed that Microsoft's stricter hardware requirements for Windows 11 were less about security and more about sales.

Given the contents of the company's Windows 10 end-of-support checklist, that suggestion feels less like conspiracy and more like clairvoyance.

By default, Microsoft's checklist automatically assumes that your hardware is fit for the scrap. The checklist's first three steps suggest that users update Windows, make a backup of their files, and then promptly erase everything.

Immediately following this, Microsoft suggests recycling your PC responsibly — or trading it in "for money you can use toward a faster, more secure, new Windows 11 PC."

Any mention of upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 is an afterthought, with Microsoft failing to even state its operating system's minimum requirements or indicate to readers that their current hardware may be up to par.

While not explicitly stated, Microsoft's true message is easy enough to decipher. It's time to part ways with your PC, preferably in a way that frees up shelf space at your local Best Buy.

Windows 11's minimum requirements are a problem for Microsoft

Officially, the most divisive aspect of Windows 11's minimum hardware requirements has historically been its hard-line demand for a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip. However, while not explicitly commonplace at the time of Windows 11's 2021 launch, this module is now a standard offering of modern hardware.

Unofficially, Windows 11's evolution into an evermore AI-backed platform has raised that bar considerably — and it has "Copilot+" written all over it.

Microsoft's checklist isn't about ensuring users can run Windows 11. It's about ensuring that users can run Microsoft's vision of Windows 11. And the operating system's own minimum requirements aren't enough to ensure that will be the case. I just don't think Microsoft is willing to face the backlash if it were to state so openly.

The company's big gamble on AI has seen a growing suite of features and tools emerge on Windows 11 that increasingly benefit from an on-board NPU offered in newer processors from Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD through Snapdragon X, Core Ultra, and Strix Point chipsets.

Just because your system can upgrade to Windows 11 doesn't mean you'll have access to several of these features. In a sense, your hardware might get you through the door, but you'll have a hard time finding a space at the bar without the latest hardware.

For many, upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 will be a temporary band-aid and a gateway to a sub-par experience as a member of the crowd that Microsoft isn't primarily looking to cater to anymore.

What's next

In all honesty, this is likely the path Microsoft has to take. Windows 11's minimum requirements have slowly transitioned from controversial to obsolete, at least when compared to the operating system's current scope.

With Windows 10's end-of-support date rapidly approaching, there's still time to stretch your current hardware to its limits or see it reborn as a Linux machine if you're content enough.

However, it's clear that Windows' future is both AI-powered and hardware-dependent. If your laptop or PC isn't up to spec (and I'm not just talking about minimum requirements), then it's perhaps time to say your goodbyes. Clearly, Microsoft already has.

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Qualcomm and Microsoft announced a major push into the Windows-on-Arm ecosystem at Microsoft Build in May 2024.

The Surface brand laptops — outfitted with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors built on Arm system architecture — were among the first wave of Copilot+ PCs, and were generally well received, thanks to their fast performance and long battery life.

However, not everyone has been pleased with their Snapdragon-powered laptop.

In news first reported by Windows Central, Amazon now applies a "frequently returned item" warning box on the listing for the Arm-based Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th Edition), telling them to check reviews before committing to the purchase.

Laptop Mag requested comment from Microsoft about the "frequently returned item" classification on Surface laptops. A representative for Microsoft tells Laptop Mag that the company has nothing to share at this time.

So, what exactly has customers returning their Surface machines in volumes high enough to warrant an Amazon disclaimer? According to Amazon reviews, it may have everything to do with apps (or a lack thereof).

Arm-based Microsoft Surface Laptop return rates spike on Amazon

In December 2024, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, interim Co-CEO of Qualcomm rival Intel, claimed that machines with the Snapdragon chip were returned to retailers at higher rates than average because "the things that we just expect do not work, right."

Qualcomm immediately fired back, denying those claims. But it seems Intel's sources may have been correct.

After all, Amazon doesn't put a "frequently returned item" warning on just any product. The "frequently returned item" policy rolled out about two years ago.

The Information quoted an Amazon spokesperson then as saying: "We’re currently showing return rate information on some product detail pages to help our customers make more informed purchase decisions."

While not explicitly a warning, Amazon sellers say a "frequently returned item" badge makes their sales "plummet."

"After the product was marked with the 'frequently returned item' label, the sales volume plummeted," commented a seller in a forum last year.

Despite the Amazon flagging, there are plenty of Windows-on-Arm systems available on Amazon.

Qualcomm's computer processor lineup includes the Snapdragon X Elite, Snapdragon X Plus, X Plus 8-core, and Snapdragon X chipsets. Most major manufacturers like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo offer laptops powered by Snapdragon processors.

Possible reasons for the returns

Other Snapdragon PCs, including the Microsoft Surface Pro 11, don't have the same Amazon warning for frequent returns.

The Surface Pro (7th Edition) may be the most popular laptop of the Snapdragon cohort, and that could be the reason it's the first Arm-powered Windows PC to receive the Amazon warning flag.

Or, users could be returning the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) in higher numbers thanks to additional issues with the laptop. Our review indicated the device suffered from a lackluster display with severe ghosting, a shallow keyboard, and disappointing graphics.

Microsoft also offers an Intel version of the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, so this could also be a case of mistaken identity, where users wanted the Intel version of the Surface and instead purchased the Qualcomm edition by mistake.

Windows-on-Arm is better — but a big switch

To Qualcomm and Microsoft's credit, both companies have worked with application developers to bring more and more software support to the Windows-on-Arm ecosystem.

DaVinci Resolve was available on the Snapdragon X Elite systems at launch, and Adobe has already ported over Photoshop. Games like Control and Baldur's Gate III do run on Snapdragon, though gaming performance is underwhelming compared to what was seen in previews.

Music applications like Moises and Cubase have Windows-on-Arm native support, as do photo editing suites like Capture One.

Qualcomm recently partnered with Epic Games to make the Easy Anti-Cheat system available on Arm-powered Windows devices, bringing Fortnite to Snapdragon laptops.

In October 2024, software developer Jeff Geerling posted on his blog that Qualcomm was canceling its Snapdragon Developer Kit for Windows and refunding all orders.

On Monday, Google announced that it had opened for general use Google Drive on Arm-compatible Windows PCs.

Adobe has also promised to bring more Creative Cloud applications to native Snapdragon support, but only Photoshop and Photoshop Lightroom run natively.

Other programs like Adobe After Effects and AutoCAD have no plans for Windows-on-Arm support.

So while some can make the switch to Snapdragon X-powered systems without issue, others may need to look for alternative applications to fill in some of the gaps.

And for those with highly specialized app needs, sticking with the standard x86 version of Windows is perhaps the best bet.

Qualcomm is expected to unveil the second generation of Snapdragon X processors this year, possibly in May at Computex in Taiwan, or at the Snapdragon Summit in the fall of 2025.

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Laptop Mag loves a good benchmark comparison, especially when a product eclipses the competition, but not every comparison is a fair one.

This morning, AMD published new AI benchmarks pitting the powerhouse Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chipset in the Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025) against Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V in the Asus Zenbook S14 (UX5406).

AMD tested both systems in AI performance through the GPU tile, and as you might expect, Intel's mid-range Lunar Lake chipset couldn't keep up with the Ryzen AI Max Strix Halo APU.

The problem is those benchmark charts only focus on the AMD and Intel rivalry, leaving out the far more pressing Apple competition. So, for a more fair comparison, we went ahead and did the hard comparison work for you.

AMD's AI findings aren't a surprise

Rather than use standardized industry benchmarks, AMD's comparisons use a "tokens per second" speed rating on how Lunar Lake and Strix Halo handle various Large Language Model (LLM) and Small Language Model (SLM) AI frameworks like DeepSeek and Microsoft's Phi 4.

As you might expect, the robust GPU tile on the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 outperforms Lunar Lake's smaller Intel Arc 140V integrated graphics.

After all, Intel's Lunar Lake chips were designed for ultra-portable AI PC laptops and operate at a much lower power threshold than the Ryzen AI Max+. Additionally, no one expects the same GPU performance from an ultra-thin notebook as they do from a gaming machine like the Flow Z13.

True, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and Intel Core Ultra 200V series are both x86 CPUs that can handle AI workloads. Comparing AI power on the Zenbook S14 and the ROG Flow Z13 is a lot like comparing the gaming performance of the Asus ROG Ally X to the ROG Strix Scar 18. They're completely different devices, with different hardware, designed for different uses.

Plus, AMD already has a Lunar Lake competitor in the Strix Point and Krackan Point Ryzen AI 300 series.

Since AMD's performance benchmarks don't use standardized tests or report hard score numbers, we checked AMD's findings with our own lab benchmarks.

AMD vs Apple M4

AMD titled the AI performance benchmarks "Most Powerful x86 processor for LLMs" and that is true. But Strix Halo isn't a standard mobile CPU design. It has more in common with Apple's Arm-based M4 Max or M3 Ultra. While that is an x86 vs Arm comparison, Apple's high-end chipsets are in a similar CPU class as the Ryzen AI Max, whereas Lunar Lake just isn't.

While we don't have benchmarks for the M4 Max or M3 Ultra yet, we do have testing results from the "most powerful Apple laptop we've ever tested," the MacBook Pro 16 with the M4 Pro chipset.

Of course, for a proper chip and product comparison, the other launch system for the Ryzen AI Max APU would have been a better choice for facing off with the MacBook Pro. Apple's premium laptops have long been a standard for design professionals, and so the HP ZBook 14 Ultra would have been a fantastic test to run against the MacBook Pro 16.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to test the ZBook 14 Ultra G1a just yet. So we had to use the Flow Z13 instead.

We kept the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V-powered Asus Zenbook S14 in the comparison to verify AMD's claims, and we weren't really surprised to see the Zenbook S14 on the low end compared to the Apple and AMD powerhouses.

While the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 in the ROG Flow Z13 does have the edge on gaming performance, the M4 Pro does give it some solid competition on GPU-bound AI performance, based on the Geekbench AI benchmark.

Ryzen AI Max lives up to its name

While the Geekbench AI benchmark does have its own drawbacks in measuring AI performance, it is a cross-platform benchmark designed to compare CPUs and GPUs where AMD's reported "Tokens per second" benchmarks are a bit more difficult to repeat in outside testing.

Just because the Apple MacBook Pro 16 offers solid competition to the Flow Z13 in our benchmarks, it doesn't mean the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 isn't a massively powerful chipset. It's a heavy-hitting, multi-purpose chip that we've seen crush creative and gaming performance. It's a new take on the x86 processor design. And it was our Best-in-Show winner for CES 2025 for good reason.

We loved seeing its power in the ROG Flow Z13, and we're excited to get our hands on the PRO-version in the HP ZBook 14 Ultra. We'd also love to see AMD put the Ryzen AI Max in more systems, so we have more points of benchmark comparison.

After all, Apple Silicon could always use stronger competition.

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Fans of Fortnite and Snapdragon-powered PCs just got some huge news.

This week, Epic Games and Qualcomm announced Windows on Snapdragon support for the Epic Online Services Anti-Cheat, also known as Easy Anti-Cheat, which will make Fortnite playable on Copilot+ PCs.

That's great news for gaming on Snapdragon-powered laptops, but don't celebrate too soon. Epic hasn't rolled out Fortnite on Snapdragon just yet, and while increased app support is great for Snapdragon gaming, there are a few drawbacks to the Snapdragon X platform.

Epic support is a step in the right direction

Epic's Easy Anti-Cheat system is used by hundreds of multiplayer games, including games that aren't available just through the Epic Games Store. After all, Epic is the company behind the Unreal engine, which powers a lot of multiplayer games.

While Fortnite is the first game with Snapdragon support for Easy Anti-Cheat, Epic intends to roll the system out to other games once the Fortnite stress test phase has been completed. The announcement reads, "Battle-testing Windows on Snapdragon anti-cheat support with Fortnite will help ensure smooth implementations in other games."

A lack of multiplayer and competitive games has been one of the major gaming drawbacks of the Snapdragon X platform, and the root cause is that most multiplayer games use Windows kernel-level anti-cheat software. Since most games are compiled for Windows x64, kernel anti-cheat doesn't translate directly to Windows on Arm.

Qualcomm has been partnering with many companies, including Adobe, BlackMagic, and Moises, to increase application support for Snapdragon X systems. So, working with Epic Games to get more games running on Snapdragon just makes sense. Especially as the Snapragon X series chipsets are now coming to miniPCs as well as laptops.

Don't get too excited for gaming on Snapdragon X laptops

iGPU gaming has come a long way, with the AMD Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" and Intel Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake AI PC chips offering impressive graphics that blew our expectations out of the water. But of the three Windows AI PC chips, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X series falls short of its competition.

While we'd seen gaming demos with the Snapdragon X Elite that were impressively smooth, the experience with actual production systems was beyond underwhelming. Depending on the games you play, the integrated Adreno graphics tile leaves you playing a slideshow even at medium 1080p settings.

However, Snapdragon X gaming also has issues that go beyond underpowered hardware. Windows on Arm gaming has a decent library of indie and single-player titles but lacks competitive games and MMOs, thanks to Windows kernel-level anti-cheat systems.

While Epic's Easy Anti-Cheat support could eventually open up more games from the Epic library on Snapdragon X systems, Epic is using Fortnite as a stress-test before rolling out support on more games. So, gamers will have to wait for other Easy Anti Cheat games like Apex Legends, Elden Ring, Halo: Infinite and Destiny 2.

What this means for you

Increased app support for Snapdragon X systems is great for the Windows on Arm ecosystem. One of the biggest challenges in swapping from an Intel or AMD-powered Windows x64 system to Arm is the software gap between the two versions of Windows.

Making games available to more gamers is always a good thing. After all, people like to game on laptops.

But even with more games becoming available, gaming on Snapdragon-powered laptops will still have to contend with sub-par hardware.

So, sure, you may one day be able to play Elden Ring on your Snapdragon X Elite Copilot+ PC, but the overall experience may not be worth it. At least with this generation.

We still don't know much about the next generation of Qualcomm Snapdragon AI PC chips, but the second generation could feature a beefier iGPU that would make gaming on a Snapdragon laptop a worthwhile experience.

There is no current date for when Fortnite or other Easy Anti-Cheat games will become available on Snapdragon-powered devices.

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The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge is truly at the bleeding edge of performance for Windows on Arm laptops, challenging some of the best laptops overall, even powerhouses like the MacBook Pro M4.

That's in addition to one of Samsung's consistently excellent touchscreen AMOLED displays, a thin-and-light chassis for a 16-inch laptop, and Galaxy AI features that complement the Microsoft Copilot+ suite. The positives for the Book 4 Edge are building up fast.

But all that speed comes at a cost, and no, I'm not talking about the $1,749 retail price of the configuration we reviewed.

The Book 4 Edge's battery life falls short of our expectations, and when you push that impressive performance, the chassis heats up to an uncomfortable degree.

However, all is not lost for the Galaxy Book 4 Edge if you like the rest of what it offers. Read on for a complete picture of my time with Samsung's speedster.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Specs and benchmarks

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Price and configurations

I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge, which has a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1-84-100 processor, Qualcomm Adreno integrated GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 16-inch, 2880 x 1800 AMOLED touchscreen display. This is the top-end configuration for the 16-inch model. The full listed price is $1,749 directly from Samsung, but there’s an instant $300 savings, so you’ll pay only $1,449.

If you want to save money and still want the 16-inch display like my review model, you can upgrade to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1-80-100 CPU and 512GB SSD, which costs $1,449 ($1,149 with the same instant savings). That’s the mid-tier Snapdragon X Elite processor, so that the performance will fall slightly. However, based on our experience with this chip in other laptops, you should benefit from less heat concerns and longer battery life.

The Book 4 Edge also has a 15.6-inch FHD LED Display (1920 x 1080), the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. At $899 ($799 with an instant discount), it’s considerably cheaper, but the display and CPU are significantly downgraded. If you need to stay below $1,000, this configuration is worth considering, but the display and CPU upgrade make the base 16-inch configuration the best value.

If the Galaxy Book 4 Edge doesn’t fit your budget or needs, you can check our best 16-inch laptops or best AI PCs for some of our favorite alternatives.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Design

Samsung calls the color of the Galaxy Book 4 Edge “Sapphire Blue,” but I would be shocked if 100 out of 100 people surveyed on the street wouldn’t say it was silver. Regardless, it’s still a welcome break from the tired dark grey. The design of the Book 4 Edge otherwise sticks closely to that same Samsung look. Galaxy laptops have worn it like a comfortable sweater for several years, but it still looks good. The laptop flares slightly at the back to allow for the ports but tapers toward the front, which also makes it easier to pick up off a table.

Inside, there are minimal bezels on the top and sides, while the bottom bezel remains thicker than you might expect in 2025. I suspect that other components within the laptop chassis may be driving the size decision, but if the whole laptop could be reduced slightly along with that bezel, it would be a welcome change for the next generation.

The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge falls on the lighter end of the scale for 16-inch laptops, at 3.38 pounds, and is pleasingly portable at 14 x 9.85 x 0.48 inches. That’s comparable to its rivals, with the exception of the HP Spectre x360, but that is a 2-in-1:

• HP Spectre x360 16 (2024): 4.3 pounds, 12.3 x 8.8 x 0.44 inches
• MacBook Air 15-inch M3: 3.3 pounds, 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches
• Asus Zenbook S16 UM5606: 3.3 pounds, 13.92 x 9.57 x 0.51 inches

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Ports

The Galaxy Book 4 Edge has all the typical ports most users need, but I have one complaint about their specific arrangement.

• 2 x Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Type-C
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
• 1 x HDMI 2.1
• 1 x headphone mic/jack
• 1 x microSD card slot

Credit to Samsung for not dropping the USB Type-A or HDMI 2.1 port in a laptop this thin and light. However, I would like a Thunderbolt 4 port on both sides of the laptop so that I can charge from either side. It’s not that Samsung doesn’t provide a long enough charging cable; I’d just prefer not to stretch the cable around the laptop depending on where I’m working, as it puts unnecessary stress on the cable.

The Galaxy Book 4 Edge isn’t short on ports, but if you need more, our best USB Type-C hubs or best laptop docking stations guides can help.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Battery life

The Galaxy Book 4 Edge’s battery life is an anomaly among the first wave of ARM-based Windows laptops that arrived in the summer of 2024, and that’s not a good thing.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite laptops were among the first to completely shift the standard for good battery life in a Windows laptop. At the time of publication, the longest-lasting laptop on our laptops with the best battery life page is the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1-78-100 chip, it delivered over 21 hours of battery life in our testing.

On the same Laptop Mag battery test, which involves surfing a set group of websites with video and static images while the display is set at 150 nits of brightness, the Galaxy Book 4 Edge lasted an average of 9 hours and 56 minutes. The ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 isn’t as powerful as the Book 4 Edge, but it delivers over twice the battery life and only about a 9% drop in performance. I recently covered five powerful laptops that deliver over 15 hours of battery life to highlight that you simply don’t need to trade performance for battery life in 2025.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Display

The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge features a 16-inch, WQXGA+ (2880 x 1800) touchscreen AMOLED display. A Samsung AMOLED display has yet to disappoint me. Watching the latest Marvel series on the Book 4 Edge was a pleasure.

I watched the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+ for my real-world testing, and the thematically and visually dark show played to the OLED panel’s strengths. A close up of Charlie Cox as Daredevil with his face half in darkness and half bathed in red light retains fantastic detail. It illustrates the incredible color and contrast capabilities of this display.

Reproduction of the dark doesn’t mean this display can’t get bright. In our testing, it registered a solid 387 nits, so I could work in any environment with the Book 4 Edge. It passed my typical torture test of working next to an east-facing floor-to-ceiling window in the morning at my local coffee shop with flying colors.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Keyboard and touchpad

Samsung makes full use of the 16-inch chassis on the Galaxy Book 4 Edge, giving you an absolutely massive touchpad paired with a full-size keyboard and number pad.

While the key travel is fairly shallow, I found the keys bouncy and quick to type on. Turning to 10fastfingers.com to test my typing performance, I hit 92 words per minute with 99% accuracy. I slightly outperformed my average of 88 words per minute with 99% accuracy. That short key travel is not ideal if you spend all day typing. Our best laptops for writers include alternatives with up to 1.5mm key travel.

The touchpad measures 4.2 x 5.9 inches, which may be larger than it needs to be. However, touch rejection works effectively as I didn’t get any stray cursor movement while typing, and it makes Windows 11 gestures a breeze by allowing my fingers to glide smoothly over its surface. While I’m happy to use a touchpad on the go, I still like to pair one of the best wireless mice with my laptop when I can, but that comes down to personal preference.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Audio

The quad-speakers on the Galaxy Book 4 Edge create a solid soundscape, but aren’t as loud as I hoped. They filled my small 10’ x 7’ office, but at 100%, the audio does perceptibly distort, so you need to scale back slightly. Listening to my typical playlist of Creative Writing Scores, “S.T.A.Y.” from the Interstellar soundtrack sounded crisp and clear at about 85% volume, but pushing beyond that diminished the quality while still not completely enveloping the room in sound.

While the built-in speakers are perfectly fine for casual use, if you’re regularly trying to enjoy audio content through your Galaxy Book 4 Edge, I’d recommend picking up a pair of the best wireless headphones or best computer speakers for a superior listening experience.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Performance and heat

The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge is one of the few laptops to offer the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1-84-100 chip, which makes for blistering fast performance, but it may have you blistering too.

For years, Windows-on-ARM laptops were hampered by the weak performance of available ARM-based chips. That was finally put to rest with the arrival of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite in June of 2024.

The productivity performance of even the lowest X Elite chip is outstanding. While it isn’t a fitting comparison for other reasons, the Book 4 Edge’s top-of-the-line X Elite chip also beat the 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro (and the newer 14-inch MacBook Pro M4) in the Geekbench overall performance test.

My laptop usage is a malstrom of multitasking with dozens of Chrome tabs across at least a few windows alongside Asana for task management, Slack for communication, and typically Photoshop. While it isn’t going to claim a spot among our best laptops for Photoshop or best video editing laptops, it dealt with my casual Photoshop usage without slowdowns.

Now, we get to the downside of all this performance muscle. One of the highlights of most Snapdragon X Elite laptops is their power efficiency, which typically rivals or surpasses Apple Silicon, representing the gold standard for that metric since 2020.

However, for fans of Greek mythology, Qualcomm may have flown too close to the sun, like Icarus. Its most powerful chip is a little too hot to handle.

The hottest temperature our lab testers recorded following a 15-minute video test was 112 degrees Fahrenheit behind the vent on the bottom right-center portion of the laptop. That’s well beyond our 95-degree comfort threshold. However, we see gaming laptops pass our much more rigorous gaming heat test with results lower than that.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Gaming and graphics

Do not buy this laptop with gaming or graphics work in mind. This is one clear weakness for the first generation Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips. You can look at our best gaming laptops or cheap gaming laptops for stronger options, including a few that are at or below the Galaxy Book 4 Edge price.

Our only gaming test that would run on the Galaxy Book 4 Edge is the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark, and it delivered only 24 frames per second (30 fps is the minimum for playability). Civ 6 wasn’t even intensive when it debuted in February 2019, so unless your gaming sticks to much older titles, this isn’t the laptop for you.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: AI features

The Galaxy Book 4 Edge gets a full scoop of AI with the full Copilot+ PC suite of AI features and then sprinkles Galaxy AI features on top of the AI sundae.

If you've been shopping for a laptop online, you've undoubtedly seen ads for Copilot+ PCs AI features or AI features in general, but if you are currently on an older laptop, they may not be part of your routine just yet.

Samsung has a few features that are exclusive to its laptops, including Circle to Search, AI Select, Photo Remaster, and Chat Assist. The first two make searching the web on your laptop easier by allowing you to circle or highlight an image or text onscreen to search for information regarding that content. Photo Remaster tries to unblur hastily snapped photos, while Chat Assist gives you spelling and grammar help in Messages.

The Book 4 Edge also supports all of Microsoft's Copilot+ PC features. This includes Recall, which essentially records the activity on your laptop to help you find anything you've seen or done in the future.

If you need help creating an image, Microsoft's Cocreator will do it with a text prompt, allowing you to refine it as you go. Live Captions can translate audio from over 40 languages into English. Finally, Windows Studio Effects augments your laptop's webcam with extras like portrait lighting, automatic framing, and improved voice isolation.

One oft-ignored key to some AI features is that they offload tasks from your CPU. For example, using Windows Studio Effects won't impact your laptop's performance, which is a win for everyone.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Webcam

The Galaxy Book 4 Edge features a 2MP webcam, and it is no threat to the best webcams, which you will want to buy if you regularly do video calls. Turning the camera on in my well-lit office, the image was grainy and even had a slight blur or haze.

The colors are accurate, but the camera simply can’t produce a sharp, satisfying image. That's not a problem if you're using it occasionally for personal calls, but if you ever have more important video calling needs, you’ll want an external webcam.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge: Software and warranty

The Galaxy Book 4 Edge comes with Windows 11 Home or Pro, which includes the typical array of Windows software, but Samsung really adds to the tally.

There are an additional 19 Samsung apps when you first boot up the laptop. To be clear, some of these apps, like Samsung Notes, are quite good, so I’m not calling these bloatware by any means, and you can uninstall most of them if you prefer to keep your laptop storage tidy.

The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge ships with a typical one-year limited warranty, but it can be extended with Samsung Care+ or Samsung Care+: Extended Warranty, starting at $99.

Bottom line

The Galaxy Book 4 Edge may be the fastest thin-and-light Windows laptop we've ever tested, which is an incredible feat. However, this is not enough to overcome the poor battery life and thermal performance.

It simply doesn't have enough of a performance edge on the best AI PCs to justify its significantly lower battery life, and truly, you do not want to touch the bottom of this laptop when it's going all out.

Again, there's more to like here than just the performance. The display is outstanding, the keyboard is fast, and if you're in the Samsung ecosystem, it melds seamlessly with your phone or tablet.

But if you do opt for the Book 4 Edge, I strongly recommend the base model. It will unquestionably deliver longer battery life in exchange for a negligible dropoff in performance.

If you're unsure if it's the right choice for you, then consider checking our best laptops page for our current top recommendations across numerous categories.

I was excited when the latest Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro landed on my doorstep to review, but its price creates a certain expectation, and its competition is as fierce as ever. Would I be impressed again?

There’s a lot to love about the Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Features like the touchscreen AMOLED display are as outstanding as I’ve come to expect from Samsung, and the 3.44-pound chassis is delightfully light for a 16-inch laptop. Gaming and graphics performance gets a noticeable bump from the newer Intel Arc integrated graphics. And finally, Samsung also gives you a double helping of AI with its own Galaxy AI stacked on top of Microsoft Copilot+.

However, a few drawbacks will keep the Galaxy Book 5 Pro from taking a top spot in our best laptops guide: The multitasking performance from the Intel Lunar Lake processor isn’t as snappy as I’d hope. While your mileage may vary regarding the limited keyboard key travel, the webcam and lack of facial recognition for Windows Hello login are nothing but disappointing.

Starting at $1,449, the Galaxy Book 5 Pro falls squarely in the premium laptop range, so the expectations are high, and the competition from other laptops in this category is ferocious. However, not everyone shares the same priorities on laptops, so let’s look closer at the Galaxy Book 5 Pro.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Specs and benchmarks

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Price and configurations

I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro with an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V processor, an Intel Arc 140V GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 16-inch, 2880 x 1800 AMOLED touchscreen display. This is the mid-tier configuration for the 16-inch model, and it’s available for $1,649 directly from Samsung. At the time of publication, if you have a laptop from most major brands to trade in, you can get up to $500 off, though more common situations will see you get about $300. These enhanced trade-in values are only good for a limited time on new Samsung laptops.

As is typically the case with Samsung, you have limited configuration options. For example, dropping to a 512GB SSD will save you $200 ($1,449), and upgrading to 32GB of RAM while keeping the 1TB SSD will cost an additional $100 ($1,749) compared to our review unit.

The $200 premium for the 1TB SSD is an outlandish upcharge. I recommend sticking to the base model or jumping to the top configuration for the best value. If you don’t have a trade-in or the Galaxy Book 5 Pro isn’t on sale, it’s a premium-priced product. If it’s more than your budget will allow, look at our best Ultrabooks and 16-inch laptops, which include some more affordable choices.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Design

The Galaxy Book 5 Pro features a dark grey, traditional minimalist laptop design. Without the prismatic Samsung logo on the lid, you would be hard-pressed to differentiate it from at least a dozen other laptops on the market at a glance.

That may sound like a criticism, but it’s hard to argue that Samsung shouldn’t stick with a familiar design that people are used to. It just works.. The laptop is relatively thin and lightweight, and the beveled edge on the bottom means it's comfortable in your lap if a desk isn’t handy. If the exterior color bores you, consider picking up a laptop skin to liven things up.

On the inside, the display has fairly minimal bezels at the top and sides, but the bottom bezel is thicker than seems warranted. I have no doubt there are engineering or cost reasons why it wasn’t done, but Samsung could have shaved another half inch off the bottom bezel and the bottom of the laptop itself.

The Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro is impressively light at 3.44 pounds, but not quite as thin as expected at 14 x 9.93 x 0.5 inches. Here’s how that compares to some of its rivals:

• HP Spectre x360 16 (2024): 4.3 pounds, 12.3 x 8.8 x 0.44 inches
• MacBook Air 15-inch M3: 3.3 pounds, 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches
• Asus ProArt P16 (2024): 4.08 pounds, 13.97 x 9.72 x 0.59 inches

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Ports

The Galaxy Book 5 Pro should satisfy most people, although I wish there had been one change to its arrangement.

• 2 x Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 Type-C
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
• 1 x HDMI 2.1
• 1 x headphone mic/jack
• 1 x microSD card slot

While you can quibble about whether it’s preferable to have a full-size SD card slot over a microSD, the one change I would have liked is having a Thunderbolt 4 port on both sides of the laptop for greater charging flexibility. Instead, Samsung stuck them both on the left side, so particularly when on the go, you may find yourself stretching the cord around the back of your laptop to charge.

The Galaxy Book 5 Pro offers a good-enough port array for a non-gaming laptop, but if you need more ports, our best USB Type-C hubs or best laptop docking stations guides can help.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Battery life

The Galaxy Book 5 Pro, which debuted last fall, is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V “Lunar Lake” processor, a chipset focusing on efficiency, which is good news for battery life.

Samsung put a 76.1Wh battery in the Galaxy Book 5 Pro, likely to maintain the light size and weight compared to many of its 16-inch competitors that are carrying a 99.9Wh battery inside. However, the trade-off was likely worth it, as you should still have no trouble making it through a typical day with this laptop. My standard workday has me juggling dozens of Chrome tabs, Photoshop, Asana, and Slack. Even at full brightness, I have battery life to spare at the end of the workday.

On the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves surfing a set group of websites with video and static images while the display is set at 150 nits of brightness, the Galaxy Book 5 Pro lasted 12 hours and 25 minutes. That’s not enough for it to challenge for a spot among our laptops with the best battery life, but it holds up well against its nearest competitors.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Security and durability

For the privacy-conscious, the Galaxy Book 5 Pro offers the typical array of Windows 11 security features and a discrete security chip that is part of the Samsung Knox platform to ensure your laptop’s safety from a chip level.

You have a fingerprint scanner on the power button for secure sign-in, but I miss facial recognition for Windows Hello login. I’m surprised Samsung still hasn’t integrated Windows Hello login into its laptops, the company has vast experience with it on the mobile side with its Samsung Galaxy phones. However, the fingerprint reader is reliable and quick, so it’s not something that I would let sway my purchasing decision.

The Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro doesn’t boast specific durability testing ratings, such as the common MIL-STD 810. Still, the chassis feels sturdy despite the laptop's thin profile, and there is no noticeable flexing or bending. An outright drop onto a hard surface likely won’t be kind to the aluminum chassis, but it should hold up fine to typical usage with the occasional bump and scrape in your laptop bag.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Display

The Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro features a 16-inch, WQXGA+ (2880 x 1800) touchscreen AMOLED display. Samsung is renowned for its displays, so it was no surprise to see the colors positively popping off the screen when I powered the Book 5 Pro on.

Obviously, this is most advantageous when watching videos. I watched the new 2025 Superman trailer to gauge how well it reproduced the much brighter version of Superman gracing the theaters this summer. The classic blue and red suit stood out prominently against the snowy backdrop, but what I noticed even more was how well the Galaxy Book handled gradients. In darker scenes, I could see an awkward blending of colors on my other monitors, while the Galaxy Book made it all seamless.

Brightness was similarly strong, with an average of 381 nits, which holds up well against anything but direct sunlight. I worked directly against a window at a local coffee shop on a sunny day (a rare thing in Wisconsin in February), and I never had any issues seeing the display.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Keyboard and touchpad

The Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro gives you an expansive touchpad and a full-size keyboard with a number pad, making full use of the larger chassis afforded a 16-inch laptop.

However, the thin chassis dictates that the key travel is limited, meaning you can’t depress the keys very far. This can be an issue when it comes to accuracy, which in turn can slow down your typing speed. I ran into this while testing on 10fastfingers.com, only reaching 82 words per minute with 97% accuracy. That’s below my average 88 words per minute at 99% accuracy. I’m sure this would improve over weeks and months with the Book 5 Pro, but if a great typing experience is of paramount importance to you, I’d recommend looking at our best laptops for writers to find better alternatives.

The massive touchpad measures 4.4 x 6.1 inches, offering smooth navigation and a satisfying click. This is about as large a canvas as you can ask for Windows 11 gestures, so you’ll have no trouble with even four-finger swipes. Depending on your needs, you may still want to invest in one of the best wireless mice, but this is as good a trackpad experience as you’ll find.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Audio

The bottom-firing speakers on the Galaxy Book 5 Pro are loud and deliver reasonable audio quality, but the best computer speakers will blow them away. Listening to my typical playlist of Creative Writing Scores, the swelling instrumentals easily filled my small office, but the soundscape is limited, so don’t expect to feel immersed in your audio with these speakers alone.

Whether you enjoy bass-heavy music, a more three-dimensional audio experience, or are regularly in shared environments, investing in wireless headphones will pay dividends for your ears.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Performance and heat

An Intel Lunar Lake processor powers Samsung’s Galaxy Book 5 Pro, precisely the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V. After reviewing several laptops with the chipset, we know what to expect from Lunar Lake since it debuted in 2024. Performance takes a backseat to battery life. That doesn’t mean you can’t churn through tasks with it. I spent days using the Galaxy Book 5 Pro and could carry out my work, but there are some caveats.

The primary trade-off with Lunar Lake is reduced multi-core performance compared to its competitors. This predominantly impacts more complex apps, like Photoshop, or if you juggle numerous apps simultaneously. I’m guilty of both, so Lunar Lake isn’t an ideal fit for me, but if you focus on one app at a time or largely web browsing and productivity apps, you’ll never experience any slowdowns. I loaded up my typical array of a dozen Google Chrome tabs in two windows without stuttering or dropped frames. However, piling on five tabs of YouTube videos playing at 1080p while playing YouTube Music created some stuttering.

If you have more aggressive performance needs for tasks like content creation, consider one of the best laptops for Photoshop or video editing. I want to be clear: it’s not that the Galaxy Book 5 Pro can’t do these tasks, so if it's only an occasional thing for you, then you’ll be fine, but there are comparably priced and even cheaper alternatives that are better suited to that sort of work.

Beyond battery life, the other positive impact of its power-sipping processor is that the Galaxy Book 5 Pro keeps its cool; the hottest temperature our lab testers recorded following a 15-minute video test was 86.8 degrees Fahrenheit, significantly below our 95-degree comfort threshold.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Gaming and graphics

While integrated graphics are improving, you will not mistake the Galaxy Book 5 Pro for one of the best gaming laptops or cheap gaming laptops. Unless your gaming consists largely of emulators, indies, or AAA titles from several years ago, this isn’t the laptop for your gaming needs.

It performed well in the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark, managing 61 frames per second. To put that in perspective, that expansion debuted in February 2019, so if you have a Steam Library consisting of titles from the turn of the decade, the Book 5 Pro could knock the dust off those, but don’t expect much more.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: AI features

The Galaxy Book 5 Pro gets two dollops of AI with Samsung’s own Galaxy AI adding to the Copilot+ PC suite of AI features from Microsoft.

AI adoption is rising, but even if it’s not part of your workflow, it’s worth looking at some features. It’s a safe bet that you won’t use all of them, but it’s equally safe to bet that there’s at least one or two that could save you time, whether this laptop is for work or personal use.

First, look at Samsung’s Galaxy AI features, which are exclusive to Samsung laptops. For photographers, Photo Remaster uses Galaxy AI to clean up blurry photos you may have considered lost. AI Select is another Galaxy AI feature that makes searching the web quicker and easier with an AI-powered search triggered by selecting text, images, or QR codes.

Copilot+ features continue to expand, but you currently have features like Recall that can help you find anything you’ve seen or done on your laptop. Cocreator is Microsoft’s image-generation tool, allowing you to make custom images with just a text prompt. Windows Studio Effects augment your laptop's webcam, while gamers may appreciate Automatic Super Resolution boosting their frame rates without sacrificing visual fidelity.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Webcam

Run, don’t walk to pick up one of the best webcams if you are buying the Galaxy Book 5 Pro and need to appear on video calls regularly. Even in my office, where I have extensive control over the lighting conditions, the image looked grainy and somewhat blurry. None of the various AI features were able to improve on this, although I will say the blur detection is remarkably good, but the fact that I’m a little blurry too kind of ruins the effect.

If you never do video calls or it’s a rarity, then this will be a nonissue for you, but if you make regular video appearances and want to look your best, you’ll need to invest in an external webcam.

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro: Software and warranty

The Galaxy Book 5 Pro comes with Windows 11 Home, which is the typical array of bundled Windows software — Samsung heaps quite a few apps on top, 19 by my count. The good news is that most of them are pretty small, and you can uninstall them if you aren’t going to make use of them.

The Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro has a typical one-year warranty, but it can be extended with Samsung Care+ or Samsung Care+: Extended Warranty, starting at $99.

Bottom line

The Galaxy Book 5 Pro is a solid laptop with plenty to recommend, but there are just a few too many weaknesses for a laptop at its price point. There’s no question that the Samsung name carries some weight, and if you are deep in the Samsung ecosystem, that changes your value proposition, but for most people, there are better alternatives.

This is partly due to the highs for the Book 5 Pro not being sufficient to tip back the scales against its negatives. The display is bright and vivid, but not overwhelmingly, with options like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x beating it on both counts for much less. Twelve hours and twenty-five minutes of battery life is enough, but not near the top of the charts in 2025, where numerous laptops go to 15 hours and beyond. The added Galaxy AI features are potentially interesting, but the best AI PCs share the same features as Copilot+ PCs.

Now, the negatives aren’t that bad. Performance doesn’t match the strongest alternatives, but for most typical tasks, it’s snappy. The keyboard is not my favorite, but I would adjust to it over time. The webcam is the only indefensible piece to me, but not everyone uses their webcam.

Now, using Samsung’s trade-in deal or finding the Galaxy Book 5 Pro on sale will change the equation. At under $1,200, it would compete against very different competition than its full $1,449-$1,749 price tag. But at full price, I recommend you skip the Galaxy Book 5 Pro and peruse our best laptops page for some of our top-rated alternatives.

I hate to sound like a broken record to those in the know, but, if you aren't already aware, Windows 10 will be retired by Microsoft later this year — with its official end-of-support date billed for October 12, 2025. That means no more security updates, no more fixes, no more features, and no more technical support.

The obvious and clearly pushed solution? Upgrade to Windows 11. However, for some, that's easier said than done. Microsoft's current flagship operating system is something of a mixed bag to many. With its divisive design choices, stricter hardware requirements, and questionable stability, it hasn't won everybody over. In fact, it hasn't even won most people over. Currently, estimates provided by StatCounter suggest that Windows 11 has only a 36.6% share of the Windows desktop market, compared to the 60.3% share held by Windows 10.

'Lo, a chorus of angels rings out to honor the emergence of Windows 12, suspended on a beam of light, cascading directly from Heaven — or at least, the hope of it. The savior of Windows 10 users is naught but whispers from the lips of tech tipsters, with Microsoft having not said a thing about a new milestone Windows release officially. Still, many are hoping it'll right the perceived wrongs of Windows 11, following Microsoft's near-tradition of providing good-again, bad-again operating system releases.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but even if Windows 12 is coming, it may not be the beacon of light many are hoping for. In fact, to those crossing their fingers, toes, and eyes, as they wish for a chance to skip Windows 11 entirely — you may be manifesting a journey that sends you out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Could Microsoft's next OS fix Windows 11's biggest failings, or could Windows 12 double down on two of the most contentious issues users are struggling with: stricter hardware requirements and AI overload?

If I was a betting man, my money would be on the latter.

Windows users, Microsoft Copilot is your ride or die (whether you like it or not)

Microsoft invested $1 billion in ChatGPT makers OpenAI in 2019. By late 2024, that figure had reportedly climbed to nearly $14 billion — and it's almost certainly grown since.

Even to a company with a $3 trillion valuation like Microsoft, that's hardly chump change. Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI, granting it access to several cutting-edge models, has given the company a clear edge in AI integration. Like it or not, the fact that even Microsoft Paint boasts generative AI proves that AI isn't just a fancy add-on, it's the new default for Windows. From this moment on, it's Copilot all the way down.

Microsoft isn't pushing AI tools, it's on a quest to turn Windows into an AI operating system, and won't let a few controversial hurdles slow it down. Whether that means weathering privacy concerns with Microsoft Recall or routinely cleaning up the mistakes of Windows' AI assistant, Copilot — as with its most recent blunder: helping users illegally activate copies of Windows 11.

Windows 12 could bring about a hard time for hardware

Windows 11's hardware demands left many users sitting in front of perfectly functional computers that Microsoft had no problem labeling as e-waste.

Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chips are standard now, but in 2021, when Windows 11 launched, they weren't. Microsoft's insistence on this hardware inclusion left many users stranded on Windows 10, unwilling to overhaul their hardware to meet an arbitrary requirement. Some even see it as something of a forced maneuver by Microsoft to get people to buy new computers.

If you think that's bad, just wait. Microsoft's clear desire to cram more AI into Windows makes me think it's not out of pocket to suggest that if and when Windows 12 arrives, it'll flat-out refuse to run on anything that's not an AI PC, complete with a new NPU-embracing processor that meets the Copilot+ PC standard.

The lesser of two evils? Windows 11 might not be so bad after all

To those eagerly awaiting Windows 12's grand debut, I say this: be careful what you wish for. Microsoft's next big leap could leave you feeling further behind than ever.

Suddenly, Windows 11 doesn't look so bad. Sure, it's only winning against a strawman of speculation, but it might just be the lesser of two evils. Yes, it still has its problems — ask anyone stung by the recent Windows update that borked the operating system's vital File Explorer. However, it sure beats the hypothetical alternative.

Of course, you could always avoid all of these headaches entirely and jump ship. I hear macOS is nice this time of year. Or, for the adventurous (and nerdy), there's always the strange and interesting world of Linux — as did Laptop Mag contributing writer Stevie Bonifield. But for life-long Windows familiars like myself, that's a leap that may cost both time and money.

If you're wishing upon a star that Windows 12 can swoop in and fix everything wrong with Windows 11, you might want to steady your expectations. If Microsoft's new AI-fueled direction is anything to go by, Windows 12 won't be the savior you're hoping for.

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Could we see a major shakeup in the gaming laptop market this year?

A Redditor shared over the weekend a "how to sell" PDF that's still on the AMD website that reveals what could be bad news for Nvidia — though there are still plenty of question marks.

The document reveals testing benchmarks for AMD's Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo" APU processor, and they imply that AMD's integrated Radeon 8060S GPU is more powerful than the Nvidia RTX 4070 discrete mobile GPU.

If these benchmarks are accurate, as AMD claims, they could give budget-conscious gamers an alternative to Nvidia's pricey RTX GPUs.

New Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo" performance benchmarks

The benchmarks AMD shared show a 23% average increase in frame rates with the Radeon 8060S iGPU compared to the Nvidia RTX 4070.

Additionally, AMD recorded these results on the 2023 and 2025 Asus ROG Flow Z 13 gaming tablets at similar TDPs and form factors.

AMD tested both systems on High settings at 1080p resolution and ran multiple game benchmarks including: Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, Far Cry 6, Borderlands 3, and Assassin's Creed: Mirage.

Laptop Mag uses many of these same benchmarks in its testing to find the Best gaming laptops. However, we opt for "Ultra" graphics settings — not "High" — and disable frame-generation technology like AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution, or FSR for short.

However, with scores of 77-197 fps (frames per second), the Ryzen AI Max 395 is on the high end of the spectrum for mobile GPU performance.

AMD does not state in the PDF whether FSR or Nvidia's DLSS was enabled while testing the Ryzen AI Max 395 and RTX 4070.

While AMD's benchmarks look reliable, we'll wait for our independent testing to confirm the performance.

However, assuming these benchmarks are accurate, the Ryzen AI Max could be a solid contender for the mid-range gaming space, as it would easily outperform the RTX 4050 and 4060 mobile GPUs.

Is the RTX 4070 a good comparison point for Strix Halo?

AMD's benchmarks are a fair comparison for the RTX 4070 mobile GPU and Ryzen AI Max 395, as both are restricted to a similar device. Though the two Flow Z13 gaming tablets have some differences in build, they are the best comparison we can make with existing consumer devices.

Yes, the 2023 Flow Z13 has an Intel Core i9-13900H processor, nearly two generations behind. And yes, gamers backing Team Blue prefer the Intel HX series CPUs over the H.

Asus likely decided to build the Flow Z13 with the 13900H rather than the HX variant due to the Z13 tablet's thermal constraints.

So, given all that, the comparison to the RTX 4070 feels about as fair as we can expect without running the chips on an independent test bench.

In my hands-on testing with the Flow Z13 at CES, the tablet performed smoothly and at decently high graphics settings while playing Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

Even if Ratchet and Clank isn't the most demanding game, the Ryzen AI Max 395 performed well after hours of running the same demo.

So, while I can't say I can confirm the RTX 4070 comparisons, I can't argue with them either.

Could this indicate a shift in the budget laptop market?

Nvidia will launch the RTX 50 series on laptops in just a few months. However, the desktop RTX 50-series GPUs are already subject to price-hike rumors. Additionally, all of the known launch systems for the RTX 50-series mobile launch are on the premium side of the market.

After all, Nvidia hasn't announced any new lower-end GPUs for desktops or laptops. While those GPUs could launch later this year, the budget gaming space will still utilize the RTX 4050 and RTX 4060 for a while longer.

So if AMD's Radeon 8060S iGPU on the new Ryzen AI Max chips can provide Nvidia RTX 4070-level performance, it could be a cheaper mid-range gaming GPU option that offers better performance than the RTX 4050 and RTX 4060 mobile GPUs.

The Asus ROG Flow Z13 tablet is the only AMD Ryzen AI Max launch system dedicated to gaming. However, the Flow Z13 gaming tablet is a little pricey to be called mid-range at $2,000. But there could be plenty of reasons for that price tag.

We'll have to wait for more Ryzen AI Max systems to hit the shelves to tell.

But so far, 2025 is shaping up an enjoyable time for gaming.

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AMD's Ryzen AI Max, codenamed "Strix Halo," was our Best-in-Show winner for CES 2025, and with good reason.

Thanks to its innovative approach to x86 chip design, the Ryzen AI Max series of APUs (Accelerated Processing Units) offers incredible performance in gaming, content creation, and AI. With up to 128GB of unified memory, up to 16 cores and 32 threads, and a boost clock that ranges from 4.9GHz to 5.1GHz this Ryzen series has earned its "Max" name.

But we gave the Ryzen AI Max chips Best-in-Show for more than just its beefy tech specs.

Asus ROG Flow Z13 with Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

The Asus ROG Flow Z13 features a Ryzen AI Max APU chipset onboard, designed to make this a powerful gaming tablet on its own. You can also connect it to the XG Mobile eGPU with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 or RTX 5090 to make it a gaming powerhouse.

AMD showcased the Flow Z13 at CES, running Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart on the Ryzen AI Max chipset. While Rift Apart is not the most graphically demanding game, the Flow Z13 kept up with the fast-paced teleporting combat without any frame drops or stuttering.

While the Flow Z13 was plugged into AC power for the gaming demo, so we can't say if you'll see a massive framerate dip on battery power only, the fact the Flow Z13 can provide a smooth 60+fps gameplay experience at 1080p is a solid win for the Ryzen AI Max and AMD's commitment to iGPU gaming.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a with DaVinci Resolve

The HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a was our Best Laptop of CES 2025. There was plenty of stiff competition for this coveted spot, but the ZBook Ultra blew us away with its powerful performance and ultra-light build, weighing under 4 pounds.

At the AMD suite at CES 2025, we watched the ZBook Ultra chew through an transcription test in just seconds utilizing its powerful AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro's 50 TOPS NPU in Black Magic's DaVinci Resolve. Editors can also make changes to the transcript, either before or after dropping it into the video, though according to reps from AMD the transcription AI is generally pretty accurate.

While a powerful desktop workstation is still going to be faster at basically any video editing workload, the easy portability of the ZBook Ultra makes it fantastic for editing in the field. Tasks that used to take hours are down to just minutes of time.

Is Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo" the one chip to rule them all?

Systems featuring the Ryzen AI Max APUs are expected in Q1 2025, with the Asus ROG Flow Z13 and HP ZBook Ultra 14 being the first two products announced for the consumer and professional lines of the chip.

If the Ryzen AI Max's powerful gaming and workstation performance, and unified memory, have put Apple's M-series silicon in mind, there is a good reason for that. In an interview with Engadget, AMD's Joe Macri credited Apple for proving people will buy powerful computers without discrete graphics. Additionally, AMD compares the Ryzen AI Max chip's performance to Apple's M4 Pro silicon. So there are plenty of reasons for the Apple comparisons.

Intel's Lunar Lake chips also have unified memory, with 32GB of RAM soldered right onto the CPU package. However, AMD's Ryzen AI Max offers a truly bonkers 128GB of unified memory, of which up to 96GB can be dedicated to the GPU.

With Qualcomm gunning for MacBook users with its new suite of creative applications and AMD aiming at M-series performance, we could see an interesting shakeup in the Apple market this year.

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If you were hoping for a quick resolution to the legal fight between Qualcomm and CPU architecture firm Arm, you may be out of luck.

While a mistrial temporarily put the dispute on pause in December, the fight got even more complicated thanks to a counterclaim from Qualcomm alleging that Arm has launched a campaign to stifle competition and impede technology innovation.

This countersuit also means we might not see a resolution until next year thanks to a slated February 2026 start date for the new trial.

Here's what you can expect in the year ahead.

What's the counter-claim about?

Based on the most recent court filings, Qualcomm's counter-suit against Arm will go to trial in March or April 2026. This means the chipmaker drama could drag out for at least another year.

Court documents also include a redacted version of Qualcomm's complaint, a copy of which was provided to Laptop Mag.

While we've already heard some of Qualcomm's arguments thanks to reports of the initial trial in Delaware, this counter-claim brief gives us more detail into Qualcomm's claims that Arm sees its licensees as competition and is seeking to drive businesses into using Arm's pre-packaged CPU cores.

"Qualcomm now stands as an obstacle to Arm’s ambition to raise prices and eliminate alternatives for customers... Unable to compete fairly with Qualcomm, Arm has employed a series of wrongful tactics in an attempt to stifle Qualcomm’s technological leaps in CPU design, to force Qualcomm to continue to use Arm’s off-the-shelf CPUs, and to coerce Qualcomm into renegotiating the QC ALA, despite it being in effect for years to come, on terms substantially more favorable to Arm—or simply to nullify that agreement."

Outcome of the previous trial

The initial lawsuit may have ended in a mistrial, but that jury did uphold Qualcomm's right to manufacture Snapdragon X chips based on Qualcomm's existing agreement with Arm to manufacture custom cores based on the Armv9 instruction set.

The question of whether Nuvia, a company now owned by Qualcomm, violated its agreement with Arm led to a hung jury. However, that jury did find that Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Oryon CPU cores are officially licensed under the existing agreement between the two firms. A representative for Qualcomm confirmed to Laptop Mag that the agreement extends until 2033.

While Arm has stated a desire to pursue an appeal in this initial case. A representative for Arm told Laptop Mag after the verdict was handed down, "We intend to seek a retrial due to the jury’s deadlock. From the outset, our top priority has been to protect Arm’s IP and the unparalleled ecosystem we have built with our valued partners over more than 30 years."

What's next for Qualcomm and Arm?

The Qualcomm complaint submitted to the court system was rejected by the trial judge, as was the proposal submitted by Arm. Both companies will need to refile amended versions of those documents.

Arm's appeal of the initial trial could drag things on even further.

It's worth noting that presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika told both parties at the end of the first trial to seek mediation as she did not think "either side had a clear victory or would have had a clear victory if this case is tried again."

So far both companies seem content to keep pursuing this argument in court, which means it could drag out for years unless strong new evidence is presented on either side.

For now, it seems Qualcomm's ability to keep making Oryon CPU cores for the Snapdragon X series of chips is protected, as would any subsequent chips. So we could see the Snapdragon X Elite 2 hit sometime this year.

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Snapdragon doesn't just want to take down the Intel and AMD duopoly on Windows, Qualcomm is now coming for dedicated Mac users in the creative space.

Qualcomm unveiled the final entry in the Snapdragon X platform, the budget-friendly Snapdragon X chipset, at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, NV, from January 7-10. However, the new SKU in the Snapdragon X family was hardly the most interesting thing Qualcomm brought to the computing space of CES. Qualcomm has expanded its app partnerships for Windows on Arm to include the Moises App, DJay Pro, Steinberg Cubase, and Capture One.

So what's new with Snapdragon?

DJay Pro and Capture One

Qualcomm announced a partnership with Algoriddim for DJay Pro back in May 2024 at Microsoft Build. The application is usable on all Snapdragon platforms, including the new budget Snapdragon X chipset. DJay Pro wasn't quite ready to go for Windows on Arm at launch, but it is available now on Snapdragon X devices.

The special feature Qualcomm showcased at CES 2025 was DJay Pro's Neural Mix software, which allows for real-time music source separation, allowing you to adjust and remix singular elements of a track in real time to isolate beats, instruments, or vocals in the midst of a performance. So, if you want to emphasize the cowbell in "Livin on a Prayer," you can now get speedy isolation support on Snapdragon machines and Apple's MacBook line.

Qualcomm also showcased CaptureOne in a demo photo studio complete with a multi-monitor setup, studio lights, and a camera that was plugged into the Snapdragon X Elite laptop for additional control right from the digital workstation. Not only did the Snapdragon X-powered workstation control the camera and a dual monitor setup, but Qualcomm also leveraged the built-in Hexagon NPU for quicker and easier photo editing, essentially allowing photographers to leverage post-production effects in pre-production.

While both the DJay Pro and CaptureOne applications had been announced for Snapdragon X prior to CES, this was our first time seeing both applications in action on Snapdragon X Elite laptops.

Moises Live

New for CES 2025 was a demo of the Moises Live feature in the Moises App. A preview build of this feature was showcased at Snapdragon Summit in October 2024, but the feature is now live and exclusive on the Snapdragon X Series.

Moises Live will leverage the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU to isolate vocals and instruments in any audio streamed on a Snapdragon X platform. So whether you're streaming Netflix or watching YouTube videos, you can get crystal clear audio tuned to your specific needs in seconds with the Moises Live application.

Qualcomm demoed the app using a recording of live music, and the adjustments were seamless.

Steinberg Cubase

Finally, Qualcomm showed off Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo, which are now available on Windows on Arm with Snapdragon X. This was the one live demo Qualcomm showcased on Snapdragon X Plus machines, while all of the others were running on Snapdragon X Elite platforms.

Not only has Qualcomm achieved MIDI support for electronic instruments, and pioneered low-latency audio with a native ASIO driver, but the company hosted a live music riff session showing off the low-latency drivers and MIDI support using Steinberg Cubase to cover various guitar effects pedals. If I didn't know the entire performance was run on a few Snapdragon X laptops, I would honestly have believed it was performed using standard effects pedals and amplifiers.

While Steinberg's music applications are useful for live music, and that's how Qualcomm showcased the applications, they're also used in music production and recording. This allows Qualcomm to compete with Apple's native and third-party music recording software.

What's next?

Creatives, particularly in the music and photo studio space, have long been a core user base for Apple. Because Apple's platform is plug-and-play, it makes it easy to connect a camera, a guitar, or a set of turntables to a MacBook and get started. So, with MIDI support, native ASIO drivers, and multi-monitor support, the Snapdragon X series is a solid competitor to the MacBook.

And considering the massive updates to Qualcomm's native application portfolio, the company is clearly hoping creatives will flock to Snapdragon X laptops instead since they'll be available for much less than the MacBook Pro line. Plus, unlike previous Snapdragon X demos, which used custom hardware to run DaVinci Resolve, all of these demos were run live on consumer laptops that are currently available on the market.

But it's hard to predict that these creatives will ditch the MacBook anytime soon. Apple's dominance in art spaces has been running for decades, lasting through the final Intel-Mac years, which were inarguably Apple's worst MacBook hardware in recent years, with the much-maligned "butterfly" keyboard and Touch Bar. If those weren't enough to get creatives to switch to Windows, I'm not sure Snapdragon will move the needle.

But you've got to respect the efforts Qualcomm has put into building out the Windows on Arm ecosystem over the course of a single year. Apple's reputation with creatives wasn't built in a day either, so perhaps Qualcomm can slowly win over a new generation.

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Today, Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon X chipset at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, finally entering the budget-friendly laptop space with Snapdragon X systems. Qualcomm's latest chipset is expected to make Copilot+ computing more accessible than ever as it targets the $600 bracket.

The Snapdragon X processor is the entry-level chip of the Snapdragon laptop line which kicked off with the Snapdragon X Elite in June 2024. The Snapdragon X will join the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core, Snapdragon X Plus 10-core, and Snapdragon X Elite to round out Qualcomm's line of AI PC chipsets.

Snapdragon X: Features

The Snapdragon X is the fourth laptop processor from Qualcomm, bringing Copilot+ PCs to the $600 range, making AI PCs more affordable and accessible than ever.

The Snapdragon X will feature the same Qualcomm Hexagon NPU with 45 TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second) as the Snapdragon X Elite. The Snapdragon X chipset will feature 8 CPU cores alongside the Hexagon NPU and a Qualcomm Adreno GPU.

Qualcomm claims the Snapdragon X can offer 63% better performance at ISO power compared to the Intel Core 5 120U. Qualcomm also claims the Intel Core 5 120U would require 168% more power at ISO performance than the Snapdragon X.

However, Qualcomm is basing these claims on a custom Snapdragon X laptop compared to the consumer-level Dell Inspiron 14 (7440 2-in-1), so real-world results may vary.

Snapdragon X: Platforms

Snapdragon X systems will be designed mostly for creating presentations, web browsing, and streaming content, making them ideal choices for students, freelance workers, and budget-conscious consumers alike.

Not only will the Snapdragon X chipset launch on budget-friendly laptops, but it will also appear on mini desktops PCs in the $600 range.

Qualcomm expects the Snapdragon X Series to appear on computers from manufacturers like Asus, Acer, Dell, and Lenovo in laptop and mini-PC desktop formats.

The mini PCs expected to feature the Snapdragon X chipset will be the first desktops powered by Snapdragon processors after Qualcomm canceled the Snapdragon X Elite dev kit mini-PC last year.

What's next?

In a statement provided to the press ahead of the official announcement, Qualcomm's Alex Katouzian, Group General Manager, Mobile, Compute, and XR said, "The Snapdragon X Series portfolio offers the most powerful, intelligent, and power-efficient processors for Windows in their class, making Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon the ultimate choice for users who want a laptop that can do it all.

"Our ecosystem of partners continues to build on Snapdragon to deliver innovative form factors and premium AI experiences that enable everyday PC users who want a laptop that can keep up with their busy lives.”

Obviously, we will have to wait until we can get our hands on a Snapdragon X processor to confirm Qualcomm's performance claims, but the Snapdragon X may be the chip that finally makes AI PCs affordable to most consumers.

Of course, Qualcomm's claims are based on a custom-built platform that will not be available to consumers, which makes it hard to take the company's performance claims at face value. We'll have to reserve judgment on the Snapdragon X until we get to test it ourselves later in 2025.

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As internet usage started to reach critical mass in the early 2000s, long before smartphones effortlessly connected us to fast wireless networks, several companies sought to create or augment devices that would allow web browsing without a PC, so-called “internet appliances.” In the consumer market, the most successful of these was WebTV, which survived as MSN TV until 2013. But there were plenty of swings and misses from startups and giants alike, including the Virgin Webplayer, 3Com’s Audrey, Sony’s eVilla, and Microsoft’s Web Companions. In the commercial market, Oracle spinout Network Computer, Inc. attracted the most attention, but its product was slow and came to market as PC prices were in freefall.

The rise and fall of cheap and easy internet connected devices

In 2008, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington floated the idea for a cheap, open-source web tablet that would come to be known as the CrunchPad. But a few weeks before it was set to launch, his design partner claimed it as their own, ultimately releasing it as the disappointing JooJoo. Meanwhile, a small Boston startup called Litl shipped a more polished netbook-class device, the thoughtfully designed Webbook. Priced at $700, it made little headway. But it set the stage for the first broadly successful web-centric device class: the Chromebook. Leveraging Google’s market-leading browser (now targeted for divestment by the U.S. Department of Justice), Chromebooks were cheap yet familiar, highly compatible with websites, fast, and secure. They quickly became a hit in education and earned a place in the product lines of major PC companies that had seen little success with Android. (In fact, Google itself is one of the few companies that has left the Chromebook market.) Connectivity was viewed as so important that the first Chromebook, Google’s own Cr48 aimed at developers, came with a few gigabytes of free Verizon wireless internet access if a hotspot wasn’t available.

Over the years, though, Chrome OS has lost much of its less-is-more differentiation. The big move came in 2019 when Chrome OS began supporting Android apps. Chromebooks can also now run Linux distributions (albeit mostly for developers). And, while its implementation is still far from perfect, Google has improved its tablet interface to the point where it is now best-in-class at accommodating both desktop and touchscreen interfaces. Regardless of whether rumors that Google is looking to fold Chrome OS into Android hold true, Chrome OS as an expression of “browser as operating system” is long dead.

Can Microsoft pick up where Google left off?

Curiously, as Google has been pushing Chrome OS away from cloud-centricity, Microsoft has become more aggressive on the opposite path, at least in education and enterprises. At the launch of the Surface Laptop, the company positioned inexpensive third-party Windows notebooks, aka “Cloudbooks,” as answers to Chromebooks. In November 2021, it waded into the low-cost laptop waters with an education-exclusive Surface Laptop SE featuring a stripped-down version of Windows 11 that didn’t allow downloading of any apps, even from the Microsoft store. That was also the year it launched Windows 365 for enterprises.

Now, Microsoft has unveiled Windows 365 Link, a thin client that can connect only to Windows 365. Microsoft says that Link is the first Windows 365 client that it intends to develop both in-house and with third parties. The paradox in the consumer market is that while Microsoft and others have pushed the performance limits of broadband with cloud gaming platforms, there’s never been much momentum behind a cloud PC service aimed at consumers. That’s in large part because most other traditional consumer PC applications, e.g., word processing, email, and even file managers like OneDrive and Google Drive, are already available there as web apps. Meanwhile, with the 2024 debut of CoPilot+ PCs on a rejuvenated Qualcomm platform and their push across x86 processor architectures in 2025, local PCs aren’t going anywhere.

What's next for cloud computing?

Still, those early internet appliance advocates have been partially vindicated. While the Chromebook as a pure web play is dead, it may soon play host to an enhanced version of Android, one of the two smartphone/tablet OSes that offer a simpler interface than desktop OSes. And AI-imbued smart glasses are progressing toward a world where “computing” involves little more than statements or stares.

2024 has been a banger year for Qualcomm in the laptop realm, with the Snapdragon X Elite chip helping propel Windows on Arm into actual competition with Apple's macOS.

One of the first laptops powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip, dubbed Copilot+ PCs, was Microsoft's Surface Laptop 7. In our official review of the Surface Laptop 7, we praised the device for its strong performance and MacBook-rivaling battery life — both of which can be attributed to the Snapdragon X Elite chip.

However, impressive battery life and smooth performance don't mean as much when you run into the multiple compatibility issues that accompany Snapdragon X-powered laptops. Even a long-time Windows on Arm user notes the difficulty of trying to use unoptimized apps, saying "It can feel like the Wild West once you leave that bubble" of optimized Windows on Arm apps.

Windows laptops are finally in a competing space with MacBooks — despite Apple launching more powerful, efficient models this year — but they still have a lot of room for improvement. I think 2025 could be the year Snapdragon X-powered machines and other Copilot+ PCs truly get their chance to shine.

What I'd like to see with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 chips

The Snapdragon X Elite chips bring a lot to the table, but unfortunately, Qualcomm doesn't have much control over my first request. I'd like to see Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops, with their strong performance and lengthy battery life promises, graced by even more compatible Windows on Arm apps.

Ultimately, that'll come down to changes from Microsoft within Windows itself and individual native updates or versions for existing apps.

There are definitely a lot of compatible apps right now that make it easy for the average user to upgrade to a Copilot+ PC, including Chrome, Firefox, Zoom, Spotify, and Adobe Photoshop. But there are still a lot of software that don't work natively with Windows on Arm. Take a look at this helpfully compiled list of non-native Windows on Arm apps on Reddit for a full picture.

My first desire leads into my second, in that I'd like to see native support for Steam, and subsequently stronger support for gaming. When we saw an in-person gaming demo on a Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptop, we were impressed by the "buttery smooth visuals," but that's not always the case when gaming on a Copilot+ PC.

One of Laptop Mag's editors tried gaming on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, and it made him want to cry. The Xbox app won't allow you to run any of its games natively on an Arm processor, popular multiplayer game Helldivers 2 has an anti-cheat engine that's not compatible with an Arm processor, and the default Automatic Super Resolution setting made games run real funky.

If a Copilot+ PC could have great overall performance, long battery life, and decent gaming performance, that'd be a dream.

My last wish is what we all want in next-gen chips: even better performance and efficiency. I'd like to see Qualcomm come out swinging with a chip that competes well with Apple's newest M4-series chips, and graces Windows users with long-lasting, multitasking-made-easy laptops.

We're still in the early stages of hearing leaks and rumors on Qualcomm's next-gen chip series, but here's what we know so far about the Snapdragon X Elite 2.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 or Snapdragon X2 Elite is still the subject of speculation, and has only been referred to in documentation by its codename, "Project Glymur."

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chipsets helped launch the Microsoft Copilot+ tier of AI PCs and helped Windows claw back the battery life crown from Apple. So, we're already looking forward to what the second generation of these chips can offer.

It's still early days for sightings of this chipset and we will be updating this hub as we get more news, but here's what we know so far.

Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2: Specs

The only confirmed spec information we have on the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 is the Oryon V3 CPU cores.

As Notebook Check reports, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon teased the second generation of Snapdragon X chips as "truly incredible" and essentially confirmed that the Snapdragon X Elite 2 would utilize the second generation of Qualcomm's Oryon CPU cores.

Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2: Platforms

The "Project Glymur" silicon has been spotted in testing since July 2024, and the chips are expected to launch on laptops like the first generation.

WinFuture spotted an updated Project Glymur test in early December thanks to an import-export database. That test unit features a 120mm radiator and liquid cooler by Dynatron. A coolant system of that size wouldn't fit into a laptop and would require a larger-sided PC case.

This implies we may get full-sized desktop PCs with the second generation Snapdragon X Elite chips. The current generation of Snapdragon X Elite desktops tend to be in the mini-PC range, though Qualcomm notably killed its own Snapdragon X Elitemini PC in mid-October.

Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2: Outlook

We expect to see or hear more about the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 chips at CES 2025, though an official announcement may not be guaranteed at the show.

However, Qualcomm is currently embroiled in a tense legal battle with silicon architecture firm Arm. The first trial verdict ended in a mistrial, thus increasing the chances of an appeal which could lock both companies up for a few years if they do not decide to settle out of court. Maryellen Noreika, the judge for that first trial urged both companies to seek mediation because she did not think "either side had a clear victory or would have had a clear victory if this case is tried again,"

While the first trial concluded with a win for Qualcomm about licensing the contested Oryon CPU cores, any appeals process could delay the launch of the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 chips.

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Microsoft previewed Recall at Microsoft Build on May 21, 2024, the marquee tool of its next generation of AI-powered Windows PCs and updates. Recall arms your PC with a “photographic memory” by taking snapshots every few seconds of everything you do and see on your computer. It then stitches all the data in a scrubbable, searchable timeline so that you can instantly find anything you looked at on your computer. No more dumpster diving in your browser’s history to find that one deal link or saving screenshots of countless bits of online information you (may) need to revisit with a web clipper.

The idea behind Recall is straightforward and one we’ve seen before, including from Microsoft a few years ago with a discontinued feature called Timeline. Thanks to the latest advancements in machine learning and on-device silicon, companies can finally efficiently draw insights from all the collected information. However, as would be the case with any such watchful tool, Recall rightly faced pushback over privacy concerns.

I expected Recall to creep me out to the point that I would immediately want to get rid of it — and it did. Watching my PC meticulously record a visual timeline of all my private texts, emails, documents, investments, and more was, as expected, unnerving. But I didn’t shelve it right away because it also turned out to be a game-changer and a glimpse into the future of desktop productivity.

The third (fourth?) time’s the charm

On November 22, after months of delays and controversies, Microsoft Recall finally rolled out to participants in the Windows Insider Program. It’s not quite the same as what we saw on stage in May; it’s tweaked to be more privacy-friendly. It’s not active by default, for example. Users have to opt into it from the settings explicitly. In fact, you have the option to uninstall it altogether from your PC. When they do toggle it on, all your snapshots will be stored and processed on your computers instead of a distant server, and protected by your biometrics. Since it only works when your PC meets a set of security standards, it’s, for now, only available on Copilot+ PCs.

I’ve been using Recall for the last month on a new Snapdragon X Elite PC, the Honor MagicBook Art 14. Here’s what it’s like to have an all-seeing, all-knowing AI sidekick.

Getting started with Windows Recall

Setting up Recall can feel like a chore. At the time of writing, it isn’t available in public builds. So, you must enroll in the Windows Insider Program from Settings > Windows Update. That doesn’t take long and all you have to do is authenticate the switch with your Microsoft account.

Once you boot into the Windows 11 Insider Preview build, you must activate Recall from Settings > Privacy & Security. Your PC then downloads a series of additional updates, allowing it to record, scan, and analyze the screenshots locally. This takes a while, and Windows 11 won’t tell you it’s complete. You then have to check the Recall app once in a while to know. Hopefully, Microsoft will make this process more user-friendly when it becomes widely available.

Now, Recall will quietly begin taking snapshots of your computer’s screen in the background, and a persistent icon in the bottom tray will keep you informed whenever it’s active. Check the Recall app after a while and you’ll find all the screenshots it has taken laid out in a horizontal timeline. You can simply scroll on your mouse to go through each or click the indentations at the top to jump to a particular time frame.

Under each snapshot, you will have a handful of additional options. You can copy the photo file, delete a specific entry or everything from a particular website or app, and even revisit the link if it’s a website. This last feature works for apps as well, and in subsequent versions, once developers update their programs to support Recall, you should be able to jump right back into what you were doing in the snapshot. For now, it’s compatible with limited built-in apps like Finder. So, for instance, if a snapshot features a local folder, you can click the “File Explorer” button underneath to enter that directory instantly.

The last button at the bottom of each snapshot, awkwardly called “Click to Do,” is far more intriguing. It makes snapshots actionable and lets you perform actions on the detected images and text. I could, say, click a YouTube thumbnail in a screenshot, and do a visual search with it on Bing or edit it in the Photos app directly. On the latest Windows 11 version, Click To Do is a systemwide tool that allows you to take action on whatever content is on your screen at any moment.

A clunky glimpse into Recall’s potential

Though handy in theory, Click To Do struggles to deliver on its potential in its current form. While the visual detection works more enough than not, it’s limited to Bing, and that itself isn’t nearly as powerful or accurate. On top of that, the text engine fails to extract text on most snapshots, preventing me from copying it.

The most useful feature of the Recall app is the search bar at the top. You can search for any piece of information, and it will pull up quickly matching snapshots. Eventually, Recall should do this via computer vision, allowing it to understand visuals and respond to natural language requests. At the moment, it appears to depend on an old-school OCR system.

When I search for apartments I looked at this week, Recall will surface all the snapshots that not only feature flat listings but also those that have the text keywords, including a Steam screenshot (“week”) and IKEA page (“flat”). These results come up under the “Text matches” section, whereas the supposedly AI-powered “Visual matches” are usually empty or inaccurate. Another, more alarming instance of this: Searching for a “spreadsheet” pulls up text documents with that word written in them but not actual spreadsheets I’ve worked on for hours.

While it’s convenient to go through the carousel of results with a mouse scroll, the thumbnails do little to help me find the screenshots I’m precisely looking for. They are too small to tell whether they contain the information forcing me to open and close each. A better alternative would be for Recall to tell me why a snapshot is in the list and how it relates to the keywords as I hover over it.

Your personal Wayback Machine

That said, it didn’t take me long to realize the utility of having a tool like Recall at my disposal. Like most people, I’m constantly drowning in a round-the-clock avalanche of digital content, whether that’s correspondence scattered across endless services, research I’m doing for my work as a journalist, tab overload, and the list goes on. I juggle multiple apps to bring some order and organization to this chaos, and even then, bits of vital information tend to slip through the cracks. In the last couple of weeks, Recall has come to the rescue and patched that gap numerous times for me.

During Black Friday sales, for example, after surfing dozens of websites, I spotted this one rare deal on a pair of smart glasses but forgot to bookmark it. Later that night, I immediately punched in the price I saw into Recall, and it popped up in seconds. While planning a trip, I browse tons of travel websites and often forget to save the ones I’d like to revisit, hoping I’d retrieve them from my browser’s history. On one such recent exercise, when I couldn’t locate a hidden gem I was looking forward to adding to my itinerary, I was able to rely on Recall’s memory. Even in cases where I know where the information I’m searching for is, like inside a Slack chat, I find myself instead jumping into Recall for it.

Imperfect Recall

However, the experience is far from perfect, at least on the current Insider build. Microsoft doesn’t explicitly say how often Recall takes a snapshot, and there’s no option for me to customize it. Several times, I’ve found Recall has failed to save a screen altogether, even when I’ve been on it for a few seconds. Other reviewers have also discovered Recall can go for “several minutes” between screenshots, leaving large gaps in the timeline. While scrolling a list of the top 10 non-fiction books, Recall only captured a handful of entries I read through. So when I returned to look for the one I couldn’t remember, it couldn’t help me.

More importantly, though Recall usually honors sensitive filters, which prevent it from clicking information like credit cards and passwords across the system, it can malfunction at times. On multiple occasions, it recorded my bank statements, card numbers, and other financial data. These filters, notably, also only work on supported browsers like Edge and Chrome, and not newer alternatives like Arc, my browser of choice. So I’m often left wondering whether the privacy protections I have in place will kick in for the program I’m on.

Final word on Recall

That said, I appreciate the control Microsoft offers over how much space Recall can consume on your PC. You can also set older snapshots to auto-delete. Plus, Recall disables automatically when your computer’s battery is low.

Before Recall’s public release, however, there are a handful of changes I hope Microsoft puts in place. For privacy reasons, its data stays locally on your machine, but that forces me to export the snapshots elsewhere if I want to access them on my phone or another computer. This defeats the purpose, and hopefully, Microsoft will figure out a way to privately cross-sync your Recall data. Similarly, an AI chatbot that could compile relevant snapshots to my query for me could be a game-changer for Recall’s utility, just like what a few third-party apps like Rewind offer.

On top of that, Recall would be far more convenient if it were integrated into the Windows search. This may happen since Microsoft is expected to bring natural language support to search, which would let you look for documents and pictures without knowing their file names.

Despite these shortcomings, Recall joins a long list of thoughtful productivity tools Microsoft has brought to Windows 11 in the last few years, from a clipboard manager to the phone companion app to versatile multitasking. It may not completely transform your desktop workflows, but it will improve them to a meaningful extent. At least, it did for me.

On June 4, 2024, Pat Gelsinger, then CEO of Intel, came out swinging when he arrived at the highlight of his keynote presentation at Computex in Taipei, Taiwan: AI PCs.

Gelsinger compared his announcement that day to the launch of Wi-Fi 25 years earlier and confidently predicted, "We expect that by 2028, 80% of all PCs will be AI PCs. And Intel is leading the way."

Just moments later, Gelsinger had a literal curtain drop to unveil a dozen upcoming AI PCs. Several of them were running the latest chip from Intel, the star of the show that day: Lunar Lake.

Intel's Lunar Lake chips were the latest additions to its Core Ultra line-up and its most advanced consumer AI chips yet. In his Computex presentation, Gelsinger promised these chips would deliver up to 50% better graphics performance and up to four times stronger NPU AI computing power. In a September 2024 presentation at IFA Berlin, Intel claimed Lunar Lake would have up to 50% lower power consumption.

That set a high bar for Lunar Lake laptops, especially after the success of AMD's Ryzen AI 300 series chips and the launch of Copilot+ PCs with Qualcomm chips this year. However, Intel was up to the challenge and delivered in one crucial area. While there were some key flaws with the Lunar Lake laptops we tested this year, there was also one surprising win for Intel.

Intel dominated on battery life with Lunar Lake, but at what cost?

When our first test results for laptops running on Intel Lunar Lake chips rolled in earlier this year, it was immediately clear that they were battery-life beasts. For instance, the Dell XPS 13 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V lasted 18 hours and 34 minutes in our battery life test. That's enough for two full work days on a single charge!

Of course, if you're doing more resource-intensive tasks like gaming or Photoshop, you'll burn through that battery life much faster. However, that score is still incredible, especially for commuters and students relying on strong battery life.

It wasn't just the Dell XPS 13 that crushed our battery life test, either. The Asus Zenbook S14, Asus ExpertBook P5, and Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition boasted over 13 hours of battery life. So, Intel's claims about superior battery life on Lunar Lake are grounded in reality.

However, that doesn't mean there are still no drawbacks to Lunar Lake.

Excellent battery life usually comes at the cost of something else. For instance, a more powerful processor or a more premium display will generally eat through battery life faster than less powerful or premium alternatives. With great battery life comes great compromises.

A perfect example is, ironically, the Dell XPS 13. The non-OLED version lasted 18 hours and 34 minutes in our battery life test. The version with a premium OLED display lasted just 8 hours and 40 minutes, less than half as long.

Display quality isn't the only trade-off we noticed, either. In our review of the Acer Swift 14 AI, we note that Lunar Lake seems to fall behind on multicore performance, which can be a considerable drawback for multi-tasking.

Reviewer Joanna Nelius writes, "Maybe this is the result of Intel ditching hyperthreading on its new processors — a process that improves a computer’s ability to multitask and increases its multicore performance."

These drawbacks are disappointing, but that doesn't mean Intel didn't have any wins with Lunar Lake. Its biggest win will probably surprise you.

The surprising silver lining for Intel Lunar Lake

Lunar Lake laptops might not be perfect, but there was one surprising, last-minute win for Intel's latest series of chips this year: the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus.

If you heard anything about the disastrous original MSI Claw earlier this year, you're probably scratching your head at that. I would be, too.

At least, until I tried out the new-and-improved Claw at IFA Berlin in September. Even in my brief hands-on, I could tell MSI listened to user feedback. The new version of MSI's flagship handheld gaming PC got many updates and design changes in response to its predecessor's rough launch. One of those updates was an Intel Lunar Lake chip.

The MSI Claw 8 AI Plus was one of the best tech glow-ups of the year. While the original Claw received a measly 2.5 stars from us, the Claw 8 AI Plus earned a shining Editor's Choice award, partly thanks to its Lunar Lake processor, which powered top-tier performance and stellar battery life.

Gelsinger left Intel late this year, leaving the legendary company in a state of uncertainty — at least in public, anyway. However, with the success of the MSI Claw AI Plus, it may be taking steps in the right direction.

If you're anything from an AI enthusiast to the average AI tinkerer (or simply seeking out some of the additional features offered through Windows Copilot+ PCs or Apple Intelligence on Macs), then you'll need a powerful and performative laptop to keep up to speed with your needs.

At Laptop Mag, we review laptops year-round to ensure we're giving you expert-backed and up-to-date recommendations on which notebook is right for you. When it comes to the best AI PC category, our top picks are the excellent Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) for Windows users and the impressive Apple Macbook Air M3 for those running macOS.

So, if you're shopping for a new laptop and looking to invest in an AI PC (or just a great laptop in general), check out our current top-tier picks below.

I never thought I'd be here, arguing that technology has gone too far. But here I am.

The constant generation-to-generation updates to CPU power, graphics performance, and battery life have left us in a world where most computers are more powerful than the average user could ever need.

Does anyone need 25 hours of battery life on an ultra-thin laptop? If you only check your email, browse the web, and create some documents and spreadsheets, do you really need Geekbench scores in the 15,000-20,000 range?

Games aren't even fully optimized for the Nvidia RTX 3000 series, let alone the 4000 series and expected RTX 5000 series. So, do you actually need a new graphics card?

I spent years testing the limits of what laptops are capable of, and those limits are higher than ever, but so are our expectations. Here's a look into why your next laptop will be more powerful than you ever need it to be.

CPU performance

I have a testing background. I love benchmarks. I understand wanting the fastest, most powerful CPU on the market. I am the kind of person who will watch AMD techs use liquid nitrogen to cool a Granite Ridge CPU in an overclocking record-break attempt with rapt focus.

But the new MacBook Pros with Apple's M4 silicon are stupidly powerful. The MacBook Pro 16 with the M4 Pro is more powerful than the M3 Max version from just a year ago. Our review unit came with 48GB of RAM and the base M4 Pro chip and got a Geekbench 6 multicore average of 22,822.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chipset is incredibly power efficient and still gets incredible performance. The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge achieved a Geekbench multicore score of 15,818.

While Intel and AMD's latest AI PC chipsets trail behind their ARM counterparts, the Asus Zenbook S16 with AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 scored over 13,000 on Geekbench 6, while the Zenbook S14 with Intel's "Lunar Lake" Core Ultra 7 258V scored over 11,000.

However, the score threshold for what makes a CPU viable for general users is much lower on Geekbench 6 than you might expect. Geekbench 6 scores are calculated against a baseline score of 2,500 based on a Dell Precision 3460 with an Intel Core i7-12700 processor. That baseline score is the single-core performance metric. For multicore averages, you'd consider a CPU good if it hit a score of about 11,000 or higher based on the same i7-12700 processor.

The Dell Precision 3460 is a small form-factor workstation desktop. We have hit the point where ultra-thin and light laptops are achieving CPU performance that was considered acceptable workstation class just three generations ago. Even the lower-power Intel Lunar Lake processor meets the i7-12700 threshold.

Laptop CPUs are more powerful than most any laptop users will ever need. So it doesn't really matter that the Snapdragon X Elite version of a laptop gets a higher Geekbench score than the AMD or Intel version. All of them can check your email and let you open 32 Chrome tabs and upload your vacation photos to Instagram.

Graphics performance

Nvidia has cornered the market on gaming GPUs, particularly on the laptop side.

While I am excited to see what the GeForce RTX 5000 "Blackwell" series has to offer in terms of performance, early indications of the next generation of Nvidia GPUs do have us worried about increased price and power requirements.

In fact, we've gone so far as to say you should opt for an RTX 40-series gaming laptop once the RTX 50-series drops. Not only will it save your wallet from serious damage, but most modern games are still optimizing for older GPUs. According to the November 2024 Steam Hardware Survey, the most popular GPU is still the GeForce RTX 3060. Plenty of games still can't use all the capabilities of the higher-tier RTX 3080 and RTX 3090, not to mention the 40-series variants.

Additionally, if you want to game in 1080p and Medium settings, you can get some decent performance from most modern integrated graphics chips. Intel's integrated Arc platform and AMD's integrated Radeon RDNA 3.5 iGPUs have better gaming performance than ever, thanks to supersampling tech like XeSS and FSR, as well as AMD's Fluid Motion Frames.

Handheld gaming PCs like the Asus ROG Ally X use only integrated graphics for increased portability, both in terms of saving weight on the handheld and getting better battery life.

There's even the Acer Chromebook 516 GE cloud gaming Chromebook. So, despite all the gains in dedicated GPU technology, if you want to do some casual gaming, you don't even need a discrete GPU anymore.

Battery life

Lately, companies have begun boasting about offering laptops with over 20 hours of battery life. Those claims are typically based on running an offline video playback test. However, our proprietary battery test is a web-surfing benchmark that often knocks a few hours off that video playback time.

The Dell XPS 13 (9350) "Lunar Lake" model averaged 18 hours and 34 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test. That was just a little short of the Dell XPS (9345) Snapdragon X Elite model's 19:01 battery benchmark.

The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) is the longest-lasting Apple laptop we've ever tested, with 20 hours and 46 minutes in our test. The M4 variant beat the previous MacBook Pro 16 (M3 Max, 2023) by over two hours.

The longest-lasting laptop we've tested is the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s, which achieved an astounding 21 hours and 3 minutes.

And yet, virtually no one needs battery life that lasts more than maybe 14 hours to account for a long workday.

The longest flight in the world right now is the New York to Singapore route, which lasts 18 hours and 50 minutes. And you won't be able to have your laptop out for about an hour of that flight time during takeoff and landing. So you're looking at about 18 hours total. Even if you get stuck on a runway for several hours before leaving New York, most modern airline seats have outlets for each seat.

Sure, some folks might like the idea of having multiple days of battery life on their device. But even then, how often do you actually run a laptop's battery all the way down?

We've already hit peak battery efficiency. Our standard for good battery at the start of 2024 was 10 hours of battery life, but most laptops coming through our labs are clearing that mark easily now.

Artificial Intelligence

I've been consistently grumpy about AI for the last year, so much so that it feels like my personal brand, but it's because I haven't found a good reason to adopt large-language models and generative AI for even basic tasks like sorting data or summarizing my emails. The Copilot+ AI options are middling at best, and Recall may be stealing your credit card information.

The Artificial Intelligence space is evolving quickly in a variety of directions, fully embracing the old "move fast, break things" tech adage. But it's made it difficult to measure AI performance on processors, and despite all the buzz over the NPU, only a handful of applications really hit the NPU. And of the applications that will offload some tasks to the NPU, many haven't rolled that functionality out yet. And they still aren't utilizing all of the Copilot+ mandated 40 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) of AI power.

Also, a discrete GPU is still the best AI accelerator we have.

So, have we made all this buzz about AI for a handful of poorly-functioning chatbots?

Where do we even go from here?

As a gamer and a tech enthusiast, not to mention a tech journalist specializing in the computing space, this entire hardware breakdown hurts me. You don't need a gaming laptop or dedicated GPU to game. You don't need as much battery life as you're getting. Thin and light laptops get the same CPU power as workstation desktops from just a few years ago. We don't even know how to utilize all of the AI power we're putting into AI PCs.

If the entire computing industry took all of 2025 off, we would be just fine.

Obviously, that's never going to happen. However, the current rate of exponential generation-to-generation growth is also going to plateau as the focus shifts from performance and power efficiency to something else. We're just waiting to see what the industry will pivot to. Maybe it's AI, once we get a real reason to embrace the artificial revolution. Maybe it'll be foldable laptops. Maybe we'll finally break out those bendable Graphene concepts again.

Only time will tell, but my complaints aside, the good news is that if you need a new laptop right now, the best laptops are more powerful than you'll ever need; you don't need to wait for the next big thing.

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On May 20, 2024, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the stage at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, to introduce the next generation of Windows 11 laptops.

Nadella kicked things off by waxing nostalgic about the launch of Windows 95 nearly 30 years ago. Windows 95 was, in many way,s a revolution for the Windows platform. About five minutes into his keynote, Nadella unveiled a revolutionary upgrade to the platform of his own:

"We're introducing an entirely new class of Windows PCs engineered to unleash the power of distributed AI across the Edge and Cloud.

"We call this new category Copilot+ PCs."

With that, a new era of Windows computing was born, and the introduction of the NPU (Neural Processing Unit) as a core feature of several inbound chipsets set a new standard for the AI PC. The first wave of Copilot+ PCs in 2024 greatly focused on productivity, enhancing performance and battery life. But productivity is only the first step in a longer journey.

Jason Banta, a corporate vice president at chipmaker AMD, which makes chips for Copilot PCs, tells Laptop Mag AI is coming to gaming soon, too.

"In the coming months and years, consumers can expect to see AI integration in various other areas, including gaming," Banta says. "Gaming on an AI PC will give users a more immersive gaming experience with AI-enabled NPCs, providing a more realistic and dynamic environment.”

While NPCs won't be evolving into sentient AI beings like in Free Guy any time soon, NPUs are helping to improve the gaming experience on AI PCs. For instance, the AMD-powered Asus Zenbook S16 (UM5606) is bringing integrated graphics to a new level.

Copilot+ PCs: AI hype or AI innovation?

The term "Copilot+ PC" refers to Microsoft's AI assistant, Copilot. These new laptops were marketed as AI productivity powerhouses with Copilot baked in at every level, even down to a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard.

But there's more on offer from Copilot+ PCs than a shortcut key. Designated Copilot+ Windows 11 laptops offer several unique features, including:

• A dedicated NPU rated for 40 TOPS of performance
• Accessibility features like Live captions
• Powerful and fast image generation through Cocreator (local AI image generation in the Paint app)
• Enhanced webcam filters and tools through Windows Studio Effects
• On-device AI features in third-party apps (such as Adobe Photoshop)
• Unique Windows 11 features and tools like Microsoft Recall

The Copilot app is the most basic AI feature and likely the one you'll use most. By tapping the Copilot key, you can launch the app and use text prompts to ask questions, generate text, or generate images overall; it ran smoothly on most of the Copilot+ PCs I tested this year.

Even if you don't use generative AI much, you may appreciate live captions and Windows Studio Effects. These AI-powered features make daily life on a Copilot+ PC easier, especially for those who love to watch almost everything with subtitles. Live captions allow you to do that even with video and audio content that doesn't already have captions, such as live streams.

Copilot+ PCs may not be the motherlode of AI software, but their feature sets continue to grow month after month, offering optimized and exclusive tools for various use cases.

AMD's Banta tells Laptop Mag, "Despite Copilot+ application development just starting, there are many things to get excited about, especially as Microsoft just announced a second wave of apps like ‘click to do.’"

Click to do offers an interactive overlay with contextual suggestions when you see images or text on Copilot+ PC. It makes adjustment suggestions and links tasks to various AI tools within installed apps. It's a perfect example of how companies like AMD and Microsoft view Copilot+ PCs — an overhaul in how people use their computers.

Banta continues: "The reason to buy is not just one application but how working with Microsoft, we are creating a new category of consumer experiences and fundamentally changing how they interact with their PCs."

Copilot+ PCs aren't just good for AI tasks, though. This year, we reviewed dozens while searching for the best AI PC. Aside from their improved performance, one stand-out feature among almost all of these machines, whether powered by AMD, Intel, or Qualcomm, was an incredible improvement in battery life. Because the processing was done directly on the chip, the computer didn't use nearly as much battery power.

In fact, a Copilot+ PC currently holds our record for best battery life, the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s, powered by a Qualcomm processor. It lasted over 21 hours in our battery life test.

The real future of "AI PCs" isn't flashy

On some level, labeling a collection of new laptops "Copilot+ PC" was a marketing decision meant to set them apart from older Windows 11 laptops. However, there may still be something to the idea of having an AI assistant baked into your laptop to help with specific tasks when you need it and stay out of the way when you don't.

That might not be flashy, but it may end up being what most people want from AI on their laptops. Just look at how dedicated AI devices, like the Humane AI pin, fared this year. Ultimately, most people want a capable, reliable AI app on the devices they already use daily, like their laptops and phones.

AMD's Banta had similar thoughts, telling Laptop Mag, "To AMD, an AI PC is a PC designed to optimally execute local AI workloads across a range of hardware, including a CPU, GPU, and NPU, each with their processing efficiencies."

Microsoft's approach could become ubiquitous in consumer tech. Apple is already taking a similar approach with Apple Intelligence on its Macbooks. Google is even getting in on the action with Gemini-powered Chromebooks.

As we head into 2025, we'll soon see if integrating AI into laptops is a standard feature. The "AI PC" of the future could very well end up being just a PC — with the AI being as standard as the spacebar.

If you're anything from an AI enthusiast to the average AI tinkerer (or simply seeking out some of the additional features offered through Windows Copilot+ PCs or Apple Intelligence on Macs), then you'll need a powerful and performative laptop to keep up to speed with your needs.

At Laptop Mag, we review laptops year-round to ensure we're giving you expert-backed and up-to-date recommendations on which notebook is right for you. When it comes to the best AI PC category, our top picks are the excellent Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) for Windows users and the impressive Apple Macbook Air M3 for those running macOS.

So, if you're shopping for a new laptop and looking to invest in an AI PC (or just a great laptop in general), check out our current top-tier picks below.

A tense court case between Qualcomm and Arm kicked off last Monday, December 16 and the jury has already returned a verdict.

While the case ended in a mistrial, with the jury unable to come to a verdict on one of the three questions at the heart of the case, the saga might not be over quite yet.

Here's everything you need to know about what happened and how the legal battle might rage on.

What was the verdict?

As Reuters reports, the jury deliberated for more than nine hours, after which they could not reach a unanimous verdict on the question of whether the tech startup Nuvia breached the terms of its license with Arm.

The legal battle centered on Qualcomm's use of the Oryon CPU cores in the Snapdragon X-series chips that power Copilot+ AI PCs. The cores were based on licensed Arm technology that was developed by Nuvia, which Qualcomm acquired in 2021. Nuvia was set to pay a higher royalty rate to Arm than Qualcomm based on a pre-existing deal with the architecture firm.

The jury did decide in favor of Qualcomm on the two other questions central to the case. The jury found that Qualcomm did not breach the license with Arm when purchasing Nuvia for $1.4 billion in 2021. The jury also found that Qualcomm's Oryon CPU chips, developed using Nuvia's technology based on Arm's licensed chip designs, are properly licensed under Qualcomm's pre-existing agreement with Arm.

This verdict means Qualcomm can continue to sell Snapdragon X Elite, X Plus, and X Plus 8-core chipsets to manufacturers for use in laptops and mini-PC desktops.

A spokesperson for Arm issued a statement on behalf of the company to Laptop Mag:

“We are disappointed that the jury was unable to reach consensus across the claims. We intend to seek a retrial due to the jury’s deadlock. From the outset, our top priority has been to protect Arm’s IP and the unparalleled ecosystem we have built with our valued partners over more than 30 years. As always, we are committed to fostering innovation in our rapidly evolving market and serving our partners while advancing the future of computing.”

Qualcomm issued a statement to the company's official website. That statement reads in full:

"We are pleased with today’s decision. The jury has vindicated Qualcomm’s right to innovate and affirmed that all the Qualcomm products at issue in the case are protected by Qualcomm’s contract with ARM. We will continue to develop performance-leading, world class products that benefit consumers worldwide, with our incredible Oryon ARM-compliant custom CPUs."

What's next?

While the jury did rule in favor of Qualcomm on two of the three central questions, the question of whether tech startup Nuvia is in breach of its contract with Arm remains undecided. Because the jury could not reach a verdict on all central questions of the case, it can be appealed to a higher court system.

Based on the statement given to Laptop Mag, Arm Holdings plans to appeal the verdict.

Jude Maryellen Noreika, the presiding judge over this case, told both parties to seek mediation as she did not think "either side had a clear victory or would have had a clear victory if this case is tried again."

For now, Qualcomm's right to continue selling Snapdragon X AI PC chips to manufacturers for use in laptops and mini-PCs. However, depending on the appeals process and how much of the case Arm brings to the appeal, the future of Snapdragon X is not yet in the clear. While Qualcomm's right to continue producing chips with the Nuvia CPU cores is in less peril than before the initial case, it is not fully protected.

Depending on how the appellate court rules, the case could have further ramifications for all companies that license Arm architecture to create custom CPU cores, which include Apple, MediaTek, Nvidia, and AMD. Arm was seeking the destruction of Nuvia's CPU core designs in this initial case, after all.

Of course, both companies could also settle the rest of this matter out of court. Only time will tell.

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Whenever anybody asks me to recommend a great Windows laptop to rival the MacBook Air, the name Zenbook is never far from escaping my mouth.

Asus' Zenbook line offers some of the most visually impressive, sleek, and slimline laptops on the market, built from premium materials with unique finishes and proportions that make these laptops so thin they look like optical illusions.

Making the Zenbook all the more of a recommendation, Asus on Monday teased an all-new Copilot+ PC model of its popular laptop, set to be revealed as part of the company's Always Incredible CES 2025 event kicking off on January 7, 2025.

The world's lightest Copilot+ PC

Last year, Asus' Zenbook S 13 became one of the thinnest laptops on the market at just 0.42 inches thick.

It would seem that the lessons Asus learned on its way to crafting such a thin laptop have been expanded, as the company now claims it's made the lightest Copilot+ PC in the world with its upcoming Zenbook.

The machine's lightweight build is likely down to refinements on the same qualities that made last year's Zenbook S 13 so slim: A magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis, a solid CNC keyboard deck that requires no additional support, and a more optimized internal layout with an ultrathin cooling fan and slimline vapor chamber.

However, that's not to say Asus hasn't innovated even further in making every millimeter inside its Zenbook count. We'll need to wait for CES 2025 to learn more.

A Zenbook with a 'cutting-edge processor'

While we can't say ahead of time which processor the new Zenbook will feature or confirm any specifications, the mention of a "cutting-edge processor" may suggest several options for the laptop's CPU selection.

The obvious processor options for the Zenbook include Intel's Lunar Lake, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite, and AMD's Ryzen AI Strix Point chips.

However, CES 2025 will likely bring several new silicon announcements. As such, there's an outside chance that we can take the "cutting-edge" claim at face value, with the potential to see the laptop adorned with Intel's next-generation Arrow Lake or AMD's Krackan processors.

On the far end of speculation, the Zenbook could also host Qualcomm's rumored Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 processor (also known as the Snapdragon X2 Elite). However, that may be more wishful thinking on our part.

One thing we can say for definite is that the shift to Copilot+ computing will undoubtedly benefit Asus' upcoming laptop.

Copilot+Zenbook: Perfect harmony

Not only will the new Zenbook be ultra-lightweight, with Asus claiming it to be the world's lightest Copilot+ PC, but it'll also be among the most ultra-efficient thanks to its Copilot+ PC branding.

AI and Copilot+ PCs have had an impressive outing throughout 2024, showcasing impressive performance and longevity thanks to their improved efficiency and battery life.

A particular star among this year's release has been the Dell XPS 13 (9345), outfitted with the powerful Snapdragon X Elite CPU, which dazzled during our Laptop Mag battery test — lasting over 19 hours of web surfing at 150 nits of brightness on a single charge.

According to Asus' testing, this new model may become a go-to for laptops with the best battery life, rating the Zenbook with a jaw-dropping 32-hour battery life. We look forward to going hands-on with the Asus Zenbook to see how well those claims hold up in our proprietary tests.

What's next?

Next up, CES 2025. That's where the always-interesting Asus will be hosting the Always Incredible launch event (streaming live, January 7, 2025, at 9 a.m. Pacific and Noon Eastern) showcasing this new Zenbook in full alongside similar hardware offerings from other manufacturers — like the recently announced Acer Swift 14 AI.

Here, we can expect processor details to be revealed and wider specifications and potentially more information about how the company achieved its new ultra-thin-and-light design. Not to mention when this new Copilot+ Zenbook will become available for purchase.

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A legal battle between Qualcomm and Arm Holdings officially kicked off Monday in a federal courtroom in Delaware — and we're getting a clearer picture of how the fallout could have seismic consequences on Qulacomm's Snapdragon X chip portfolio.

Arm, the UK-based semiconductor and software design firm responsible for chip architecture used by companies like Apple and Nvidia, alleges that San Diego-based Qualcomm's series of Snapdragon X chipsets copied key aspects of Arm's architecture and, as a result, constitute copyright infringement.

Earlier this fall, the dispute peaked when Arm issued a 60-day cancellation notice for Qualcomm's licenses to build and sell chipsets with Arm architecture.

Qualcomm's defense

At the heart of the Arm Ltd. v. Qualcomm Inc. suit — see the 48-page legal PDF here — is a small tech startup called Nuvia. Founded in 2019 by a group of former Apple engineers, Nuvia licensed Arm's architecture to create a server SoC (system-on-a-chip). Nuvia was acquired by Qualcomm in 2021, and the team was reassigned to develop a laptop processor. That processor eventually became much-lauded Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chipsets.

Attorneys for Arm questioned Gerard Williams, the former Apple engineer who founded Nuvia and is now employed by Qualcomm, this week about whether Qualcomm violated its agreements with Arm by repurposing Nuvia's computer chip designs without permission.

As Reuters reports, "Williams said his team of developers started with Arm architecture and was asked to estimate the amount of Arm's technology in Nuvia's final designs.

"One percent or less," Williams responded.

Qualcomm also alleges that Arm Holdings intends to build its own chips and thus views Qualcomm as a competitor, leading to the tense legal entanglement.

Qualcomm's CEO, Cristiano Amon, testified in the case on Wednesday. Reuters reports, Amon explained Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia was intended to save Qualcomm as much as $1.4 billion a year in royalty payments to Arm.

"It justified the acquisition," Amon explained to the court. The $1.4 billion in savings was based on the expectation that Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets would open a large new market for the company, saving Qualcomm from higher fees for using pre-made CPU cores from Arm.

Arm's arguments

Arm is seeking to remedy this alleged breach of contract with the destruction of Nuvia's designs, including the Snapdragon X silicon.

As Reuters reports, Arm argues that Nuvia used licensed Arm technology to develop chips. The licensed architecture is at the base of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X processors. Qualcomm was required to honor Nuvia's original royalty rates for its chip designs rather than pay Qualcomm's lower royalty fees.

While Qualcomm may claim that only 1% or less of the Oryon CPU cores — which are in Snapdragon X Elite chips — are based on Armv8 technology, Arm alleges that the original Armv8 licenses Nuvia agreed to cover all Arm technology as well as "derivatives" and "modifications" made from that tech.

Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia potentially lost Arm $50 million in royalty revenue.

What will happen to Snapdragon-based AI PCs?

The legal battle between Arm and Qualcomm has cast doubt on the future of Snapdragon-based AI PCs.

One piece of evidence included in the trial was a letter Arm sent to Qualcomm's customers, including Samsung, arguing that the lawsuit could lead to the destruction of Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips. Qualcomm alleges the letters were "misleading," but Arm CEO Rene Haas argued, "I felt we had a reason."

Further complicating the future of Snapdragon-powered laptops is a statement by Intel's interim co-CEO, Michelle Johnston Holthaus (via Tom's Hardware), who claimed, "if you look at the return rate for Arm PCs, you go talk to any retailer, their number one concern is 'I get a large percentage of these back,' because you go to set them up and the things that we just expect do not work, right." The statement was part of a larger conversation with Holthaus at the Barclays 22nd Annual Global Technology Conference.

While Qualcomm has asserted the return rates are "within industry norms" and that Arm's warnings of complete destruction are "misleading," the damage may already be done to the future of Windows on Arm.

What's next

Ultimately, a fallout between Qualcomm and Arm would be bad for both companies.

Qualcomm needs Arm licenses to continue selling chips for smartphones and cars in addition to the contentious laptop chips, and Arm makes a decent chunk of revenue from Qualcomm's chip sales.

Qualcomm also has major plans for CES 2025, which could include the rumored Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2, codenamed "Project Glymur."

Those plans could fall apart depending on the outcome of the court case.

The court case is expected to go into deliberations this week, possibly as early as Thursday, so we could know the final call before CES even rolls around.

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On May 20, 2024, I watched live as Microsoft's Pavan Davuluri announced one of the most controversial features in the company's history, possibly even tech history at large.

Davuluri, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Windows + Devices, kicked things off by laying out Microsoft's vision for the Copilot+ experience:

"Windows has always believed in making technology accessible to everyone. Today, we’re carrying that belief into the new era of AI with a reimagined core architecture for the PC, weaving AI into every layer, from the chip to Windows to the cloud."

When Davuluri said Microsoft was "weaving AI into every layer" of your laptop, he wasn't kidding. The feature he announced just seconds later proved it: Recall.

Microsoft Recall uses AI to track and interpret everything you do on your Windows 11 computer. At regular intervals, it takes a screenshot of whatever is on your display and saves it in case you ever want to recall what you were doing, searching for, or working on at a later time.

For example, you could ask Copilot to remember a pair of shoes you were shopping for a month ago or find an essay draft you lost in your files last week.

That might sound useful, but I'll admit that as I watched Davuluri demonstrate Recall that day, I was more concerned than impressed. Microsoft quickly discovered that I wasn't the only one concerned, perhaps even scared.

Having an AI watch everything you do all the time, in case you need help finding it later, requires a lot of trust in a big tech company. As it turns out, most people don't trust Microsoft, leading to an explosion in controversy over Recall.

Over the months following that original announcement, Microsoft learned the hard way that privacy matters far more than convenience in this early era of AI for all. The controversy — as you'll read below — might make future AI programs more thoughtful about how artificial intelligence uses their data.

Microsoft Recall is watching, even when you tell it not to

Early in his Recall demo, Davuluri explained that users can control what Recall sees by turning it off or blocking it from screenshotting specific websites. He noted, "Even the AI running on your device can’t access private content."

Unfortunately, this anecdote was not enough to quiet fears about the risks Recall posed for privacy and security. When the feature was initially announced on May 20, the day before Microsoft Build 2024 kicked off, Microsoft had planned to launch Recall as a preview feature a month later on June 18, 2024. However, the backlash over privacy concerns was so intense that Microsoft paused that release... a long pause.

People were quick to notice serious vulnerabilities in Recall. On May 31, just days after the feature's announcement, Kevin Beaumont, a cybersecurity expert and former Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst at Microsoft, published a post on Medium explaining the slew of security risks he found in Recall. The article's title says it all: "Stealing everything you’ve ever typed or viewed on your own Windows PC is now possible with two lines of code — inside the Copilot+ Recall disaster."

Beaumont was one of many cybersecurity experts calling out what he saw as significant issues in Recall's design. Users were right to be concerned, too. As Beaumont revealed, the original version of Recall stored data as plain text files with little to no protection from unauthorized access. There was also the apparent risk of the AI recording sensitive information, such as private conversations, passwords, or financial data.

Just a couple of weeks after Recall's announcement, on June 7, 2024, Microsoft finally responded to the outcry. It added clear yes and no buttons to opt-in for Recall during the setup process for Windows 11 PCs and required Windows Hello to use Recall for an added layer of security.

Microsoft delayed the preview release of Recall twice, with updates and attempts to address the plethora of security issues throughout the year. Finally, on December 6, Recall launched as a preview feature only available to members of the Windows Insider Program.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, even after months of reworking the feature, security issues with Recall were spotted within days. Tom's Hardware caught Recall capturing credit card numbers and social security numbers even with the "sensitive information" filter turned on.

Apparently, when AI is woven into "every layer" of the Windows experience, it's hard to unweave it when you want your privacy back. The rampant security concerns with Microsoft Recall have a critical lesson for tech companies and AI developers: convenience is not worth sacrificing privacy for most people.

The Recall recall and the importance of privacy in the age of AI

I've noticed a recurring theme this year: AI can do many cool things, but it does so at the cost of enormous amounts of data, often your data.

This reality is that AI still creates friction across many audiences, from celebrities campaigning against deepfakes to everyday users concerned about privacy with new Windows features.

AI is finding its way into our tech, for better or worse. There are some incredible ways AI can be used for good, even to save lives. However, the need for massive amounts of data to power and create AI models also creates very real possibilities for this tech to be used for harm, even to ruin lives.

We need to reckon with that for AI to be part of a future where technology is used to build a better world. The Microsoft Recall debacle should serve as a warning for other tech companies. Over the past few decades, tech has been used to make our lives more convenient, but Recall proved there's a limit to that.

The reality — right now, anyway — is that most people don't want tech to do everything for them. The ability to have an AI remember where you store your files is not worth letting that same AI track everything you do on your laptop. It's certainly not worth the risk of a hacker snatching your social security number from a screenshot with just a couple of lines of code.

In the age of AI, there's at least one thing far more critical than convenience: privacy and respecting users enough to let them control it.

If you're anything from an AI enthusiast to the average AI tinkerer (or simply seeking out some of the additional features offered through Windows Copilot+ PCs or Apple Intelligence on Macs), then you'll need a powerful and performative laptop to keep up to speed with your needs.

At Laptop Mag, we review laptops year-round to ensure we're giving you expert-backed and up-to-date recommendations on which notebook is right for you. When it comes to the best AI PC category, our top picks are the excellent Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) for Windows users and the impressive Apple Macbook Air M3 for those running macOS.

So, if you're shopping for a new laptop and looking to invest in an AI PC (or just a great laptop in general), check out our current top-tier picks below.

Sometimes to find out what's going on at a company, the best source of information is its competition.

In a recent interview with the Verge's, Rene Haas, CEO of Arm Holdings covered a wide array of topics including the AI PC race, politics, and the recent troubles at Intel.

For those uninitiated in the world of CPU architecture, Arm Holdings is a semiconductor and software design firm based in Cambridge, England. The company's designs have been the power behind Apple's M-series Silicon and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X platform.

While Haas's insights into Arm and the future of AI PCs are certainly worth examining, as is his commentary on how Trump's second administration could change the tech industry, Haas's comments on Intel were what immediately grabbed our attention.

What Rene Haas said about Intel

We all want to know what's going on at Intel these days. It has only been a few weeks since Pat Gelsinger's abrupt resignation as CEO of Intel.

When asked about Intel, Haas elaborated, "I guess at the highest level, as someone who’s been in the industry my whole career, it is a little sad to see what’s happening from the perspective of Intel as an icon."

However, Intel's biggest dilemma according to Haas is "how to disassociate from being either a vertical company or a fabless company, to oversimplify it... And [former Intel CEO] Pat [Gelsinger] had a strategy that was very clear that vertical was the way to win."

It's worth noting that Gelsinger's strategy for Intel was intended to be a multi-year strategy. One that he did not get to see to the finish.

Haas, admitting to his own personal bias as the CEO of a vertical company, supported Gelsinger's intention to turn Intel into a multi-faceted powerhouse. "My personal bias is that vertical integration can be a pretty powerful thing, and if they can get that right, they would be in an amazing position. But the cost associated with it is so high that it may be too big of a hill to climb."

What Rene Haas said about an Arm takeover

One of the many rumors circling around Intel this year is the potential for an Arm or Qualcomm takeover of the company.

When asked by The Verge about a possible merger directly, Haas dodged the question, stating only "I’m not going to comment on the rumors that we’re going to buy it."

However, Haas did double-down on the idea of Intel and Arm working together in the future. Because, "if you’re a vertically integrated company and the power of your strategy is that you have a product and fabs, you have a potentially huge advantage in terms of cost versus the competition. When Pat was the CEO, I did tell him more than once, 'You ought to license Arm. If you’ve got your own fabs, fabs are all about volume and we can provide volume.'"

What this means for the future of computing

Despite all the rumors of buyouts for Intel, it's worth noting that Intel still makes up a solid 70% of the market share for CPUs across desktops and laptops. AMD is the main competitor for Intel on desktops and servers. Even in the laptop space, Intel has a solid lead over AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple. While AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple are all performing well and AMD has made many inroads in chipping away at Intel's dominance, it isn't like Intel is dead in the water.

It's no surprise Haas dodged the takeover claims. If a possible merger were in the works, that would be kept under wraps while the legal proceedings were underway. However, the rumors of a takeover don't seem to have much proof backing them outside of pure speculation.

What is more salient about Haas's comments on Intel relates to the Intel Foundry. Haas argues that becoming a "vertical" company with multiple avenues of production and both design and production locked down would be the more advantageous position. This essentially backs former CEO Pat Gelsinger's strategy for the company.

And it isn't like Intel has notably backed out of the foundry business. Intel's interim co-CEO, David Zinsner, said earlier this month that Intel's next CEO will have experience in the foundry and product sides of the business.

Of course, if Intel did get an Arm license, that would make the AI PC world even more interesting. After all, Nvidia and AMD also hold Arm licenses for chips we haven't seen yet. If Intel also made an Arm-based chipset, we'd have Arm designs with every major chip manufacturer since Apple and Qualcomm already use Arm architecture in their current silicon.

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Surface laptops have seen better days.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-powered Surface Pro (11th Edition) and Surface Laptop (7th Edition) (both of which were released in June) should have been the highlight of Microsoft's new AI PC platform, but instead, they wound up being two of the more lackluster launches in the lineup. Both scored a middling 3.5 out of 5 stars in our reviews.

Now, new rumors indicate that Microsoft is overhauling the 2024 Surface lineup, including models powered by Intel and AMD's new AI chipsets. Given recent releases, it would be easy to meet that news with a big shrug, but thanks to Intel, this year's Surface hardware could actually be a brand-saving upgrade.

Can Lunar Lake's successes make up for the Surface's issues?

The Surface Laptop (7th Edition) and Surface Pro (11th Edition) suffered from poor graphics.

Despite having a good early showing, the Snapdragon X Elite's Adreno integrated GPU doesn't hold up as well as the Intel Arc or AMD Radeon integrated graphics chips on the Lunar Lake and Ryzen AI chips. So switching to Lunar Lake or even Ryzen AI will offer a much more satisfying gaming experience at Medium settings and 1080p resolution.

We even pushed the Intel Arc 140V integrated graphics chip on the Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) on three demanding games at high settings with ray tracing and were pretty blown away by the performance. Sure, a discrete GPU will always handle ray tracing better than an integrated GPU, but the Zenbook S 14 did stay within the 50-60 FPS range on Doom Eternal at High, 1080p settings with ray tracing off, which is far better than expected.

The Surface Pro may have lasted 12 hours on our battery test, but it was far less efficient than other Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite systems.

Lunar Lake has done a solid job of keeping up with the Snapdragon X Elite in terms of battery life. The Dell XPS 13 (9350) with Lunar Lake's 18:35 battery life is just a half hour less than the XPS 13 (9345) with Snapdragon X Elite's 19:01 battery life. So the Surface Pro 11 with Lunar Lake may have a similar 12 hours and 11 minutes of battery life.

However, some benchmarks have indicated that the Lunar Lake chipset is less power-hungry than its Snapdragon counterpart. After all, Lunar Lake requires less CPU power than the Snapdragon chip, making Intel's AI PC platform a more efficient choice. So there is always a chance that the Lunar Lake model gets better battery life.

Surface Laptop and Surface Pro fails

Some of our biggest problems with the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) and Surface Pro (11th Edition) came down to construction. The Surface Laptop had a poor display with flat colors and severe ghosting, while both the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro suffered from shallow keyboards.

If Microsoft overhauls the Surface line to add AMD and Intel processors, the company may as well go in and fix some of our other issues, like adding a better display panel and keyboard to the Surface Laptop.

Unfortunately, as the Surface Pro uses the existing Surface Pro Keyboard folio case, we likely won't see much of a change there. Microsoft is also unlikely to update the Surface Pro chassis to add more ports for a mid-cycle refresh.

But switching to Lunar Lake can help offset some of our other issues like poor graphics performance and better battery optimization.

Outlook

Lunar Lake as a platform focuses more on battery efficiency and smooth graphics compared to the raw CPU power offered by the Snapdragon X Elite, which could help turn around the Surface lineup's struggles this generation.

After all, most people who gravitate to thin and light laptops don't need benchmark-busting CPU power. They need a laptop that can last all day on battery. And some may want the flexibility of being able to game without needing a dedicated gaming laptop.

However, some of our issues with the Surface come down to manufacturing on the Microsoft side. After all, a new chip can't make a bad display look better, and a new processor can't fix a poor keyboard.

But there certainly is some hope that these new Intel-powered Surface devices can help breathe new life into Microsoft's premium brand.

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Microsoft's Surface line of laptops, tablets, and 2-in-1 devices looks set to return following a major shakeup within the software giant's premium hardware division.

The Surface lineup we know today is largely shaped by the thirst for innovation shown by former EVP of Experiences and Devices, Panos Panay. However, following cancelations, layoffs, and cutbacks that impeded his vision for Microsoft Surface, Panay would step away from his role in September 2023.

Even though Microsoft would confirm its commitment to Surface hardware by announcing several new Intel Core Ultra and Qualcomm Snapdragon X-powered Surface models in March and May 2024, there was an air of doubt surrounding how future products would fare without the creativity of Panos at the helm.

However, a report from Windows Central indicates that the Surface line still has room to surprise, with early 2025 circled as the likely release window for new Surface Laptop, Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Pro, and potentially an all-new 11-inch Surface device.

Intel on Surface, surfaces

The report, coming from Zac Bowden of Windows Central, claims sources have revealed that a full-scale Surface refresh involving Copilot+ PC compatible chips from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm is in the cards for Q1 2025.

We've already caught wind of an Intel Core Ultra 268V-powered Surface Laptop, a claim that Bowden's sources lend further credibility to. According to the report, new Surface Pro and Surface Laptops will feature Intel's Lunar Lake chipset, bringing both under the Copilot+ umbrella thanks to a dedicated NPU with 40+ TOPS of computing.

The uniquely convertible Surface Laptop Studio is also expected to receive a chipset refresh as well as a 16-inch boost in display size, though there's no confirmation whether we can expect this device to house an AMD Ryzen AI or Intel Lunar Lake processor.

The Surface line still has room to surprise

When Panos Panay left Microsoft, so did much of the hope for the Surface line to continue with its innovation in design. However, according to Bowden, there's still room for Surface to surprise, with a new, unknown 11-inch device potentially joining the fray.

Described as a "Surface Go-sized Laptop Go hybrid," we could see Microsoft return to its detachable 2-in-1 form factor, though little is shared other than its adoption of "premium materials and components," and its adoption of a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor.

Outlook

Despite concerns regarding the future of Surface innovation, it appears that there's still the potential for Microsoft to experiment and try out new ideas within this line-up.

A full suite of Copilot+ laptops is also a welcome addition, bringing with it the improved performance and battery life enhancements we've seen wash across the industry throughout 2024.

As for when we can expect to see these new Surface devices, the report is somewhat vague. Early/Q1 2025 could suggest a reveal as early as CES 2025 or during a potential Microsoft Surface for Business event in March (should it mirror the same date as this year's event).

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