AMD is right about AI PCs being 'the biggest change in the PC form factor in the last decade' but it's not because of AI

HardwareAMD is right about AI PCs being ‘the biggest change in the PC form factor in the last decade’ but it’s not because of AIWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Future)

A photo of the AMD keynote speech at Computex 2024, with AMD and Asus CEOs on stage

In a Q&A session afterAMD’s keynote speech, CEO Dr Lisa Su was asked what AI meant for the computer industry as a whole. Her response was naturally very ebullient towards artificial intelligence and even went as far as saying that so-calledAI PCsare “probably the biggest change in the PC form factor in certainly the last decade.” Given the wealth of new chips, system designs, and AI-badged products showcased at Computex 2024, it’s hard to entirely disagree with this statement but, arguably, the AI boom itself isn’t responsible for this change.

The appearance of the NPU—a collection of cores dedicated to neural network calculations—inside processors from AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm is only present because of AI, of course, and it’s certainly the new battleground for bragging rights when it comes to who can makethe most power-efficient NPUor the one with the most TOPs.

Microsoft’sCopilot+ AI PC ecosystemis hell-bent on making us all think that life before AI was impossibly complex and tedious, and the new laptops that meet Microsoft’s criteria will make all the difference.

One company’s innovation has become a launch pad for making a big step forward in the whole PC industry.

Likewise, Qualcomm’s Arm-basedSnapdragon X processors. We’ve had laptops running Windows-on-Arm for many years now, but they’ve all failed to make any serious headway against x86 machines. That looks set to completely change and although this is partly down to the fact that Snapdragon X laptops are the first Copilot+ AI PCs, it’s more because they’re able to run x86-developed applications and games very well.

Though it’s not the same thing, I feel that it’s in a similar vein to the success of theSteam Deck. That device uses x86 components and runs games developed for Windows-based PCs, and yet its operating system is Linux-based.

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Snapdragon X laptops look very promising regardless of being an AI PC(Image credit: Future)

A photo of a Qualcomm Snapdragon X laptop, on display at Computex 2024

Valve’s software engineers have done sterling work in getting it all to work almost perfectly—not every Windows game will run on the Steam Deck but there’sno shortage of great gamesto choose from that do.

The boom inhandheld gaming PCsis thanks to the Steam Deck and it’s a PC form factor that many of us are turning to, rather than the traditional laptop, for mobile gaming. It also has nothing at all to do with AI PCs.

AMD and Intel’s latest CPU architectures (Zen 5andLunar Lake) are both significant improvements on previous designs, on paper at least, and while both companies banged the AI drum so hard at Computex you probably heard it at home, the majority of the updates have little to do with AI. The NPU parts, obviously, but not the core architectures.

One company’s innovation has become a launch pad for making a big step forward in the whole PC industry

The ancient combatants in the chip industry have been forced to up their game because they’re facing proper competition from Qualcomm and, next year,perhaps Nvidia as well. If the latter two decide they want to properly compete in the general x86 workstation and server CPU markets, AMD and Intel will need to be even more innovative.

None of this is to say that there aren’t some genuine AI-based innovations (Nvidia’s G-Assistis honestly one of them) but few, if any, are ‘AI PC’ things. As much as Microsoft would like everyone to think that AI PCs and Copilot+, or AMD and Intel with their NPUs, herald a new era for the PC form factor, it’s just good old-fashioned competition that’s responsible for the changes we’re seeing.

Computex 2024

(Image credit: Jacob Ridley)

The Taipei 101 building and Taipei skyline in Taiwan.

Well, that and the fact that PC sales were indecline for yearsand are still very sluggish. Hardware that’s barely any better than the previous generations is hard to promote to a market that’s saturated with products and to customers struggling to justify spending hard-earned money.

While I suspect AI PCs will probably sell quite well, to begin with, once customers realise that there’s nothing especially great about AI at the moment, shipments will trail off again.

But then as the rest of the innovations kick in, and the humble PC becomes markedly better than ever (more performance, less heat, longer battery life, better gaming on the go—take your pick), sales should start to climb again. I don’t expect AI to ever disappear from our PC lives but the ‘AI PC’ should thankfully be short-lived.

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