This is because Microsoft and basically all the major PC makers seem to be jumping on the AI PC bandwagon. Because Microsoft and basically every major PC maker appears to have jumped on the AI PC bandwagon. And while there may be real, fundamental, game-changing benefits that come from this shift, the underlying motivation is pretty basic.
This is because PC sales have been in steep decline for the past two years. After a remarkable surge during the pandemic, when many people bought new devices to work and study remotely, PC sales seemed lackluster. However, analyst firms like IDC seem bullish that PC sales will increase in 2024, although they report that PC sales will continue to decline through the end of 2023.
Intel is one of the strongest proponents of AI PCs because its recently released Meteor Lake CPUs are optimized for the tasks that many "AI" applications perform, such as blurring the background of a video call, NPUs (neural processing units) This is because the new design incorporates a These Meteor Lake laptops are available now, but having used them myself, I can say that there are not yet many applications or Windows features that take advantage of the NPU in these new chips.
However, Intel and Microsoft (and much of the PC industry) are hoping that by 2025 AI PCs will be able to do more; Intel's David Feng told Nikkei Asia that Microsoft and Intel are working together to AI Microsoft and Intel are working together to "define" the value of the PC, linking the promise of Intel's Meteor Lake chips with the potential of Microsoft's Copilot "AI" chatbot and the newly added Windows Copilot key.
"Intel seems to be actively encouraging developers to find cool new ways to use their latest chips.
"We are in the business of selling performance [of chips], CPU and GPU performance, and the whole chipset package," Intel Vice President David Feng told Nikkei Asia. Intel vice president David Feng told Nikkei Asia, "We are in the business of selling performance (of chips), CPUs and GPUs, and the whole chipset package. I am talking about something that is only brought to life by software.
That's very exciting. Because the promise of a PC that intelligently assists you and does many of the tedious tasks of everyday life without your input is enticing. However, I review laptops for a living, and as of Q1 2024, I have yet to see an "AI" or "Copilot" implementation that would inspire me to buy a new PC.
Intel's plan to power 100 million AI PCs by 2025 seems like a good plan for Intel, whose sales have been declining for the past few years, and whose business needs a win. Intel also needs to have something exciting to say about its chips now that several generations of Apple silicon have made the best MacBooks more power efficient and often more powerful than the best Windows laptops.
However, after using some of the first Meteor Lake laptops, I can say that there are still not many attractive uses for the NPUs in these Intel chips. If software developers can find and deliver such an experience, they will have ample reason to look forward to buying an AI PC. Right now, however, it would be difficult to encourage people to rush out and buy one. But by 2025, ....... Who knows.
Oh, and Apple. Yes, Apple has been quietly integrating NPUs into its laptop chips since at least 2020, with no sign of stopping or marketing the computer as an "AI" MacBook. Whether that is a well-founded caution or a marketing blunder remains to be seen.
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