Microsoft is having a special event in Seattle on May 20, and as always, the company is keeping a low profile on what exactly we’re going to see. Thankfully, we already have a pretty smart idea of what the company intends to communicate, and it will most likely involve Windows, Surface, and yet-to-be-announced AI experiments that will bring them together.
According to my sources, this time is on a grand scale. Microsoft will take the time to deliver its vision of a new era of Windows with AI and Copilot at the center, starting with the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, whether it’s with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X. Chips. The company will discover how those chips enable incredible next-generation AI experiences, adding new features such as retrieval, complex studio effects, translations with live captions, and much more.
Unfortunately, this event may not be livestreamed, which means you must follow our blog live at 10am. m. PT (1 p. m. ET) to watch the news as it happens. You can also read on for a review of the ads I’m expecting. to see.
Microsoft is expected to set the bar for a new era of Windows powered by next-generation AI experiences, many of which will be delivered as a component of the next major Windows 11 update coming later this year as Windows 11 Update 2024. The edition will be available for the first time on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X-based PCs introduced in June and will be released to all others in the fall.
Many of those next-generation experiments will likely require a neural processing unit (NPU) with a strength of around forty-five TOPS. Qualcomm’s upcoming SoC is capable of running this, as are the next-generation chips from Intel and AMD that will be released to the market. They are also expected to run those next-generation AI experiments by 2025.
The most likely star of the display will be AI Explorer, an internal umbrella term for several next-generation AI reports coming to Windows, the most notable of which is “Recall. ” Recovery will rely on NPU hardware to allow Windows to run AI in the background and whatever it does, allowing users to use natural language to locate everything they’ve noticed on the screen over time.
According to my sources, the feature includes a timeline interface that will allow you to scroll through all the other things you’ve done on your PC that the AI has captured, and will allow you to do so at any time by simply typing in a search criteria. .
For example, if you were chatting with a friend named Sarah on WhatsApp who happened to talk about a list of videos she wanted to watch, typing “show me this list of videos Sarah said she wanted to watch” would bring up that precise moment when that verbal exchange takes place.
AI Explorer can also analyze what’s currently on the screen and provide contextual recommendations based on what it can see. An example of this is searching for two apps or internet pages side-by-side and asking AI Explorer to compare the two. You might just take a look at a symbol that was sent to you in an email, and AI Explorer can recommend cutting the background of photos from that symbol with a single click.
You can read more about the upcoming AI Explorers in my in-depth article.
Microsoft also plans to introduce a number of Windows Studio effects, adding new video effects that will apply real-time filters to lighting or allow you to showcase yourself in other art styles. These deserve to be built into Windows and can be deployed in any application that uses the built-in webcam and Studio Effects streaming.
Live captions can also be mentioned. I heard that Microsoft is running a new AI feature that will allow other languages to be translated in real-time on the audio played on the system. Microsoft will provide this as an example of how AI improves accessibility software.
I’m also hoping Microsoft will communicate a bit about how it enables generative AI reporting on devices. So far, many AI reports in Windows 11 are cloud-based, allowing PCs without NPUs to use LLM technology. Starting later this year, Copilot will take advantage of some on-premises generative AI capabilities, adding generation of symbols and text that can be controlled on the device, reducing its reliance on the cloud on PCs with compromised NPUs.
The other part of this occasion will be dedicated to Surface and Windows on Arm. Specifically, I expect Microsoft to introduce client variants of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, either with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Series SoCs.
Qualcomm’s new chip outperforms Intel’s newer Core Ultra chips in terms of functionality and efficiency, and even trades blows with the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. It’s the first truly competitive Windows chip at Arm, and hardware brands, nonetheless, are. confident enough to put Windows devices on Arm in their customer line.
That’s what we’ll see with the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop at this event. As I know, Microsoft intends to offer those client variants with Arm chips only, a first for the Surface lineup. I’m also expecting other OEMs like Dell, HP, and Lenovo to announce their own Qualcomm-powered laptops around the same time.
In fact, I expect Microsoft to reclaim this hardware and software breakthrough as a new era for Windows PCs, one in which the hardware is capable of generating true next-generation AI reports and exists in most of the AI-enabled PCs we already have on the market. .
The first Snapdragon X Series-powered laptops are expected to begin shipping in June, and Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop offerings will likely be among the first available.
It’s the Surface Laptop line that’s most in need of a design refresh, and it looks like that’s what we could get with the Arm-powered Surface Laptop 6. According to my sources, the new Surface Laptop with Arm will be available in either version. 13. 8-inch and 15-inch screen sizes, both made up of thinner bezels with rounded corners.
In addition, the device is also said to come with an updated keyboard with a larger haptic trackpad, which is said to be similar to the trackpad discovered on the Surface Laptop Studio 2. I also heard that the device will have a revised version. variety of ports, adding one USB-A, two USB-C, and Surface Connect.
The Surface Laptop with Arm is expected to start with a base configuration of 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, a first for the Surface lineup, which in the past started with 8GB of RAM. It can be configured with up to 32 GB. de RAM and 1 TB of storage.
As far as I can tell, the Arm-powered Surface Pro isn’t a major upgrade. I expect it to come with a similar design to the Surface Pro 10 for business, adding the rounded screen corners that debuted with this model. The device will be available in more colours, as will the Surface Pro Type Cover, which has been updated with a committed Copilot touch.
I’m told that Microsoft is making plans to offer Arm-powered Surface Pro for the first time in an OLED demo configuration, matching that of the new iPad Pro. There will also be an LCD option for those who need or prefer this demo technology. The device will have an anti-reflective coating, similar to the Surface Pro 10 for business.
Like the Surface Laptop with Arm, the Surface Pro with Arm will be the first to boot with a basic configuration of 16GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. This means that there possibly won’t be 8GB of RAM for the first time in a trendy Surface Pro.
While I don’t expect it to be discussed at the event, I heard that the Surface Go four will be available for consumers to buy this summer. Until now, Surface Go four has been available exclusively to advertise to customers. , but that means you haven’t been able to find Surface Go four at retailers like Best Buy or Amazon.
I perceive that the consumer-facing Surface Go four will be the commercial Surface Go four, meaning it will run on the same Intel N200 processor and not an Arm chip.
It’s always conceivable that Microsoft has one or two wonders up its sleeve. I know we probably won’t hear about any other Surface products at the event. That means there will be no Surface Laptop Studio, no Surface Studio, and indeed no Surface Duo or headphones. The focus is on the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, as well as Qualcomm’s newest SoC.
So that’s all I hope to see (and not see) at Microsoft’s event on May 20. I’ll be on the floor covering the event as it happens, so stay locked to Windows Central for all the news.
Zac Bowden is an editor of Windows Central, giving you a unique policy on the global scope of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. I’m also an avid collector of rare prototypes of Microsoft devices!Stay in touch on Twitter and Threads
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