The reason why these new Windows AI PCs have 16GB RAM as standard is because that's mandated by MS. That much minimum RAM is needed for the new AI features to perform properly.
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Microsoft Says New Surface Pro is Faster Than 15" M3 MacBook Air
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That depends on if MS or Qualcomm publishes the data the Linux people need to port to the Surface. Apple is being quite reticent about the hardware specs needed for a Linux port which is a strike against them given their stingy support policies.
The other issue is battery life of course. If an M4 MacBook Air has a low power mode that has M1 performance but twice the battery life it would be very compelling.
The brand new release of Ubuntu still runs on a Core 2 Duo. OK maybe strolls along would be more accurate, but I have the current 21.3 version of Linux Mint on a 2012 mini and it runs quite spritely including the current FireFox.
It’s time websites stop parroting the AI marketing claims and start asking Apple and MS to show the amazing benefits of all this AI-focus.
Microsoft has a huge advantage over Apple in the race for a faster PC. Microsoft does not make 90% of their money from cell phones. Apple is a cell phone company that has some other minor products. So Apple when they design a CPU has to think about what is best for the phone, then they put some variation of the phone chip on the Mac.
But if you remove the design constraint that the chip has to work in a phone, you can build a MUCH faster chip. Others have server-grade ARM chips. Yes, they can use a lot more power, but few people care how much power a desktop PC uses.
Again, Apple sells a lot more notebooks than desktops so if Apple does make a computer chip it is going to slanted for notebooks and battery life over raw power.
But if you remove the design constraint that the chip has to work in a phone, you can build a MUCH faster chip. Others have server-grade ARM chips. Yes, they can use a lot more power, but few people care how much power a desktop PC uses.
Again, Apple sells a lot more notebooks than desktops so if Apple does make a computer chip it is going to slanted for notebooks and battery life over raw power.
Folks should read Paul's review of the M3 MBA. I couldn't believe how much he liked it (considering he's been really hard on Apple most of the time), and he pointed out all the flaws in Windows laptops that I know I've experienced. I know he's buying one of these at least partially because he has to. After all, he's made a living writing about Microsoft, Windows, and PCs. I can see him providing a fair shake between the 2. He's also one of the first to tell you the flaws in both platforms.A 15” HDR2 touch screen Surface laptop with 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 22 hours battery life is $1299. A 13” OLED iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 10 hours battery life is $1,648. I think Apple may be seriously challenged here. Especially iPad.
3 4k monitors in addition to the laptop screen can be used on the surface. Nice touch. Plus 16gb minimum is nice. Apparently new faster x86 and x64 emulation layers too but will have to see if they are better than Rosetta 2 as they are claiming!
Microsoft is going all in on AI, today introducing a series of Copilot+ PCs that have AI-focused hardware. The new Surface Pro is one of the first Copilot+ PCs, equipped with Qualcomm's Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite processor.
Microsoft is already pitting the Surface Pro against Apple's M3 MacBook Air, and in marketing materials, claims that the Surface Pro has superior processing power and battery life. Compared to the 15-inch MacBook Air with 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, the Surface Pro and other Copilot+ PCs with 12-core and 10-core processors offer 58 percent better sustained multithreaded performance (based on Cinebench benchmarks).
As for battery life, Copilot+ PCs support up to 15 hours of web browsing or 22 hours of local video playback. The MacBook Air models offer the same 15 hours of wireless web browsing, but only 18 hours of local video playback.
According to The Verge, Microsoft's demonstrations for media included several comparisons of the Surface Pro compared to the MacBook Air, and the Surface Pro came out on top in many of them. Windows PCs have struggled to keep up with Apple silicon in recent years, but it appears that Qualcomm's technology is catching up.
The Surface Pro is a 2-in-1 laptop that runs Windows, and it has an OLED display, much like Apple's newly launched iPad Pro models. It weighs under two pounds, supports Wi-Fi 7, and has advanced AI capabilities enabled by the neural processing unit.
Pricing on the Surface Pro starts at $1,000, but the version with OLED display and Snapdragon X Elite chip, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD is priced starting at $1,500. Microsoft today also introduced the Surface Laptop with the same Snapdragon X Elite chip, with pricing that starts at $1,299.
The Surface devices will arrive to customers starting on June 18.
Article Link: Microsoft Says New Surface Pro is Faster Than 15" M3 MacBook Air
Looks like it might have been worth it for Nuvia/Qualcomm to grab those Apple Silicon engineers after all 😂
Apple gives up legal war on iPhone CPU wizard who co-founded Nuvia
Qualcomm acquisition dodges one bullet, Arm still coming for blood
www.theregister.com
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This is exciting. Enough of the power hungry underperforming Intel chips. The Mac will always be a niche product, so they don't have to worry about losing market share. Share the Arm love with everyone and go back to the good ol Mac VS PC.
If you're using it in a setting where auto update can interrupt work (computers used once a week in church tech booths are good examples), it does matter to tweak the settings on Mac, too.
That seems to be Apple's hope, but even they haven't released xCode for iPadOS
I know it's standard operating procedure for internet commentators to disparage Windows and Microsoft, but as someone who has been buying the Surface Pro since SP6, Windows 11 is more slick, advanced, and usable than Mac OS in a lot of ways. Window management, settings, WSL, Hello, the Terminal app, etc - all of these are much nicer on Windows 11 than on my MBP. You can turn off all of the stuff that people cry about with a few checkboxes too.
You guys putting this down don’t realize you’re doing a disservice to your own interests.
You should be rooting for this to be amazing so that Apple actually has to work.
You should be rooting for this to be amazing so that Apple actually has to work.
See that Apple? Pro computers can start with 16Gb of Ram, and 512Gb SSD, have an OLED display, all for a reasonable price of 1,500.00.
GPU is a good point, not sure what these use. My Steam Deck has a really good AMD GPU but still probably not as powerful as Apple's chipsets.
And yet, at my job we run several windows 8.1 machines still, a majority of windows 10 machines, and 2 windows 11. Most people will take arm on windows seriously when Microsoft and intel finally ditch x86. Till then, arm on windows is like apple selling the Apple TV, just a side hobby
The Unicode emoji subcommittee is co-chaired by Apple, they have major influence there.
Did you miss the point? It was the iPod, followed by the iPhone and the iPad that shifted things for them. The new market area, different from computers. At one time Apple was touting the Mac as the hub for all our digital devices, but now Macs are secondary to the iPhone juggernaut.
Not saying VR headsets and cars are necessarily a good idea, but then we wouldn't have had the iPhone without the Newton.
Nothing in today's event suggests Windows on ARM is a side hobby. Every major hardware OEM has announced devices running Qualcomm processors & WoA. The whole industry is behind it now, in a big way.
Not me over here gaming on my Steam Deck which runs Linux...
BTW if Steam is any indicator, more people game on Linux than on Mac OS.
There's a durable collective of people who want the iPad to be a Mac, and this continues to mystify me.
Why? The complaints of a couple of dozen enthusiasts doesn't equate to the millions of sales such a thing would take for it to make sense.
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