We have a presence at Computex this year (everyone wave 'Hi' to President and Editor-in-Chief Dave Altavilla), and so we're getting to see the first wave of Copilot+ laptops in person. To say they're gorgeous would be an understatement. These are all premium, high profile models from each brand's thin and light offering. They're also all powered by
Qualcomm's Snapdragon X platform (Snapdragon X Elite and Plus), with models from Dell, Lenovo, HP, Microsoft, Acer and others, several of which are available to preorder now.
Snapdragon X presents the biggest threat to x86 to date. Qualcomm's latest silicon has paved the way for power efficient chips to facilitate extra long battery life, and with Microsoft's backing for Windows on Arm, there's a clear path to potentially claw a significant chunk of x86's dominant market share. In fact, Arm's CEO recently went on records predicting that Arm chips will be found on
50% of Windows PCs by 2029.
It's a bold prediction for sure, but not necessarily hard to imagine. After all, equally bold is Qualcomm's plan to inject
Snapdragon into all form factors, including desktop PCs. Obviously the desktop is a domain dominated by Intel and AMD, but Qualcomm is confident that it can make a move and shake up the landscape, similar to how Apple went all-in with custom Arm chips on its entire product line.
We'll have to wait and see how everything transpires. In addition to long battery life, the other allure of Snapdragon is the dedicated NPU (neural processing unit) for AI chores. AMD and Intel have also adopted dedicated NPUs in some of their newest products (like
Lunar Lake and
Strix Point) for an upcoming second wave of Copilot+ laptops, so it will be interesting to see how all unfolds.
Here's a live demo of the machines that Dave was able to capture on the scene in Taipei...
In the meantime, Snapdragon is making a spirited move on laptops, with Qualcomm attracting some major players, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Samsung. They're all coming soon, though you can already preorder several configurations. Here's a look at what's on tap at Best Buy, including both Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus setups...
- Microsoft Surface Pro 13" OLED (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD): $2,099.99
- Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16" OLED (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD): $1,749.99
- Microsoft Surface Pro 15" (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD): $1,699.99
- Microsoft Surface Pro 13" OLED (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD): $1,699.99
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8" (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD): $1,599.99
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 15" (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,499.99
- Microsoft Surface Pro 13" OLED (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,499.99
- Dell XPS 13 13.4" OLED (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,499.99
- Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16" OLED (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,449.99
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8" (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,399.99
- Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 14" OLED (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,349.99
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 15" (16GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $1,299.99
- Microsoft Surface Pro 13" (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,199.99
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8" (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,199.99
- Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14.5" OLED (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,199.99
- Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 14" (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,099.99
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8" (16GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $999.99
- Microsoft Surface Pro 13" (16GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $999.99
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 15" (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD): $2,099.99 (coming soon)
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8" (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD): $1,999.99 (coming soon)
- HP OmniBook X 14" (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD): $1,199.99 (coming soon)