• Microsoft unveiled its new Copilot+ standard for PC hardware, denoting capacity for generative AI.
• The company also debuted two new devices – the Surface Pro 11th Edition and Surface Laptop 7th Edition – for Copilot+.
• Microsoft says they can outperform the latest tablets and laptops from Apple.

Last night Microsoft unveiled what it has been working on when it comes to generative AI capabilities on hardware – Copilot+.

The company is using Copilot+ as a designation that devices meet certain standards when it comes to generative AI tasks and functions.

Namely that, “Copilot+ PCs have the most powerful Neural Processing Units (NPUs) in the PC category today. With over 45 trillion of operations per second (TOPS), these NPUs power new AI experiences,” according to Microsoft.

To that end Microsoft has two newly refreshed devices to showcase – the Surface Pro 11th Edition and Surface Laptop 7th Edition. At the time of writing, there is no official local pricing or availability, but we can at least look at what Microsoft has imbued its latest Surface hardware with.

Starting with the Surface Pro 11th Edition, it will be offered in either Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processor flavours depending on what region and specification you opt for.

The switch to Qualcomm silicon has yielded significant improvements, with Microsoft claiming a 90 percent faster performance compared to the previous generation Surface Pro.

The company is also taking some shots at Apple and its recently debuted iPad, noting that the integrated NPU on the Surface Pro 11th Edition, “delivers almost 20% more TOPS for AI processing than the Apple iPad Pro M4 making it exceptionally well-suited for running multiple AI models simultaneously.”

Other noteworthy features include an OLED display, support for WiFi 7 and up to three connected 4K monitors, as well as 5G connectivity on selected models, and up to 14 hours of battery life.

Shifting to the more traditional Surface Laptop 7th Edition, it too will be in Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus skews.

While Microsoft has not outlined the performance improvements Qualcomm’s silicon brings compared to the previous generation, it has highlighted Apple once again, stating that, “Copilot+ PCs are tuned to deliver optimal processing and response times – and are faster than the latest Macbook Air.”

In terms of other specifications, two PixelSense Flow display options will be made available – 13.8″ and 15″. Added to this is support for WiFi 7 too, with up to 22 hours of battery life, along with up to 32GB LPDDR5x RAM, and up to a 1TB Gen 4 SSD.

As mentioned, local pricing and availability are still in the offing, but Stateside, both the Surface Pro 11th Edition and the Surface Laptop 7th Edition start at $1 099.99 (~R20 004).