In mid-2024, Microsoft introduced, in collaboration with Qualcomm, the first series of processors with ARM architecture. We are talking about the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors, a series of processors that, in addition to being available in the Surface range, can also be found in laptops from other manufacturers such as ASUS and Lenovo.
At this same presentation, Copilot+ PC was also unveiled, the Windows Artificial Intelligence that is gradually adding new features that, until now, have been limited to computers powered by Qualcomm processors, something that has undoubtedly not helped sales of laptops with this new architecture.
While some of these features were limited to Qualcomm processors, that didn’t mean that new Intel and AMD Copilot-certified processors, like the Core Ultra 200 or Ryzen AI 300, weren’t capable of performing them. Once again, the two companies had reached an agreement to incentivize sales of the new processors, something that, as we’ve seen, hasn’t actually happened.
Finally, it seems that the agreement has ended, and from now on, all the functions that until now were exclusively limited to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors are also available on the latest generation processors that Intel and AMD have launched on the market in recent months.
This limitation made no sense since both were Copilot certified by including a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with a performance equal to or greater than 45 TOPS, a certification that the Core Ultra Series 1 and the AMD Ryzen Series 8000 did not have.
Copilot+ features are now available to everyone
From now on, if you have a laptop with a Core Ultra 200 processor or an AMD Ryzen AI 300, you can start using the following features that, until now, were limited to Qualcomm processors with ARM architecture.
- Voice Access. The Voice Access feature allows users to communicate with their PC using natural language, not robotic commands, a feature primarily intended for people with mobility issues.
- Restyle Image and Image Creator. But if you’ve been waiting to be able to generate images with AI on your PC, you can now do so locally using the Image Creator features. Plus, with the Restyle Image feature, you can also give any other image a completely different look.
- Cocreator in Paint. Little by little, Paint has stopped being Windows’ ugly duckling. With the introduction of Windows 11 and soon after with AI, it’s now capable of not only erasing backgrounds and working with capacitive touches, but also turning sketches into true works of art with the simple click of a button.
