Copilot Plus Features Might Arrive on Desktop PCs Thanks to Intel's New CPU
So, last year, Microsoft rolled out its newest Windows AI features, but only on those fancy new Copilot Plus PCs. And get this – they were only available on a specific type of laptop! But things might be about to change, and I'm pretty excited about it.
Intel is planning to update its Arrow Lake desktop CPUs later this year. This could mean we'll see Copilot Plus features making their way to desktop PCs for the first time. I mean, how cool is that?
Now, Intel's most recent Core Ultra desktop CPUs, which launched in October, did have an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) inside. However, it wasn't quite powerful enough to meet Microsoft's 40 TOPS requirement for Copilot Plus features. Think of it like trying to run a high-end game on a low-spec PC – it just won't cut it.
But here's the kicker: ZDNet Korea is reporting that Intel is prepping an Arrow Lake Refresh. This refresh will supposedly come with faster clock speeds and a more advanced NPU. This new NPU should be capable of handling those Copilot Plus features. Apparently, the updated Core Ultra 200 lineup will move to a newer “NPU 4” design. It's the same architecture found on Intel's Lunar Lake laptop CPUs, which already got Copilot Plus AI features back in November.
This is great news for those of us who prefer desktops! It means we could finally have true desktop PCs with a powerful NPU. Right now, Copilot Plus is mostly limited to mini PCs and all-in-one PCs that use laptop processors. It sounds like the upgraded NPU will be the main highlight of Intel's Arrow Lake Refresh. However, it looks like there won't be any additional CPU or GPU cores compared to the existing Core Ultra 200 chips.
For gamers who have been waiting for Intel to step up its game in the desktop CPU arena, this might be a bit disappointing. The initial Arrow Lake chips were more efficient and ran cooler, but their PC gaming performance was underwhelming. They often lagged behind Intel's older Raptor Lake CPUs. Intel even admitted that its Arrow Lake launch “didn’t go as planned.”
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Intel will be able to compete with AMD's Ryzen 9800X3D and 9950X3D chips in gaming performance until its next-gen Nova Lake CPUs arrive in 2026. So, while this news is exciting for AI enthusiasts, gamers might have to wait a little longer for a real performance boost from Intel.
Source: The Verge