Windows 11's key incoming feature for the 24H2 update, which is theoretically AI Explorer, could be exclusive only to ARM laptops, if a new clue unearthed in Microsoft's desktop operating system means anything.
On 24H2 update).
It turns out that Windows 11 build 26100 (supposedly 24H2 RTM) contains AI Explorer requirements 📃 built into the operating system💠 ARM64 CPU💠 16 GiB RAM💠 225 GiB system unit (total, not free space)💠 Snapdragon X Elite NPU (HWID QCOM0D0A) I guess that's one way to drive ARM64 adoption 😶🌫️ pic.twitter.com/ZbQf4KY1BNApril 18, 2024
Those system requirements call for 16GB of RAM (not a surprise), a system drive of at least 225GB (that's the total size, as opposed to free space), and an ARM processor (definitely a surprise).
In fact, these requirements stipulate an ARM CPU and specifically a Snapdragon X Elite NPU.
What this means, in theory, is that AI Explorer is designed to run only on Snapdragon This also means that if you have an AMD or Intel (x86) processor in your laptop or desktop, you won't get AI Explorer.
Analysis: Exploring all the possibilities
This is a big deal because AI Explorer is, as far as we can discern from the rumors, the key feature for AI PCs and the biggest step forward in terms of using AI with Windows 11 in the 24H2 update. It sounds like the wow moment for Copilot's capabilities, allowing natural language searches to find anything on the PC (“Find me that document that has all the settings for my TV”).
So we assume this only happens on ARM-based PCs, and not Intel or AMD devices, it's a different kind of aha moment. A 'wow, wait a minute. I do not understand this?' moment, more specifically.
We must emphasize that we must be very cautious with leaks, especially clues that have been unearthed deep within the workings of the operating system. We don't know for sure that this is happening, by any means; this is just a suggestion.
So what are the chances of this happening? Well, it seems unlikely that Microsoft will put a hard limit on its best features outside of ARM devices. While the company is clearly putting a lot of weight on the Snapdragon
What we could consider is the possibility that AI Explorer will initially be only for Snapdragon
A limited exclusive, so to speak, and the key point why this might be necessary is the NPU, as the Snapdragon X Elite has a much faster neural processing unit, which accelerates AI workloads. Current-generation chips, with their much weaker NPUs that don't meet the 45 TOPS (trillion operations per second, a measure of power relative to AI tasks) requirement, simply aren't up to par. work height of running AI Explorer. Or at least, run it fast enough to be impressive.
The Snapdragon Then, when Intel's Lunar Lake chips, with 45 TOPS, or AMD's Strix Point (at a similar level), arrive later this year, those mobile ranges will be good for using AI Explorer. So Microsoft will open things up more at that time.
This is pure conjecture, of course. There's another potential benefit for Microsoft, too: it'll give people another reason to buy a Snapdragon point).
Microsoft's Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are AI-powered PCs that will use that Snapdragon chip, of course. (As a side note, we can assume that these devices will have a base level of 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, given the other requirements mentioned above, and that would be interesting in itself.)
After all, Microsoft is putting a lot of effort into getting Windows on ARM to really take off, so this could all be part of that strategy. Surely the requirement for ARM to power AI Explorer would be temporary if it happens, though, and Intel plus AMD CPUs would eventually join the party. Well, time will tell, but there's certainly no reason why they shouldn't with Teams Blue and Red's next-generation laptop chips.
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