Windows AI, Surface, and more

Microsoft is holding a digital event titled “Advancing the New Era of Work with Copilot” on March 21. Among the possible announcements are new Surface devices, potentially the first to be branded as computers with artificial intelligence. This will now be the second Windows hardware event — and the first major Surface Pro launch — without former chief product officer and longtime keynote Panos Panai, who left for Amazon last year. Here’s everything we could see at the company’s first 2024 unveiling.

The company describes the event as breaking down “the latest in scaling AI into your environment with Copilot, Windows and Surface.” There are conflicting reports about exactly what we’ll see at the end of March.

Windows Central claims The OLED Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 will headline the event, with their upgraded processors enabling “huge gains in performance and efficiency” over their predecessors. However, a report from On the edge assumes This month’s event will only cover the business and retail versions of the devices – with much more subtle upgrades than the consumer versions. The store claims that custom variants with a “bigger redesign” will follow later this spring.

The new devices are said to be powered by Intel Core Ultra or Snapdragon X Elite silicon with next-generation neural processors (NPUs) for advanced AI tasks. The Intel variants are expected to launch in April, while the Arm Snapdragon-based ones will arrive a few months later in June. If reports are accurate, this will be the first time the Surface Laptop line includes an Arm-based version.

Rumor has it that, at least in consumer models, the Surface Pro 10 will switch from LCD to an anti-reflective OLED screen. The device will be brighter than the Surface Pro 9 screen and will support HDR content. Meanwhile, the Surface Laptop 6 is rumored to feature thinner display bezels (with rounded corners) and a haptic touchpad. Its updated port selection is said to include two USB-C and one USB-A on its left side.

Commercial/business models (which may be all we see at this month’s event) are rumored to include a built-in card reader for common access (CAC) and options with up to 64GB of RAM.

Whether at this month’s event or later, the new consumer-focused Surface Pro and Surface Laptop are expected to kick off Microsoft’s push for AI PCs with Windows 11. They will reportedly be among the first to include a version of Copilot on the device. Other rumored AI features include real-time captioning and translation, upscaling and frame rate smoothing for games, upgraded Windows Studio Effects, and a feature called AI Explorer. Both devices will reportedly include a dedicated Copilot key.

AI Explorer is said to include a built-in timeline that can be searched using natural language. Perhaps similar to the third party AI rewind app for macOS, the feature is said to log everything you do and see on your device, allowing you to view it with Copilot. This will allow you to ask Assistant things like “Find me that thing about dinosaurs” and see every moment in your computer’s history related to them. (It can be a privacy nightmare if not handled properly, but expect Microsoft to offer security safeguards like encryption and on-device processing.)

The feature is also said to “understand context, help quickly launch projects or workflows, and even suggest tasks based on what’s currently on the screen.” Other rumored features include the ability to tell Copilot to remove the background of screenshots from third-party apps in the Photos app.

The AI ​​features, which are not expected to be exclusive to Surface devices, will reportedly arrive in this year’s Windows 11 Annual Feature Update (version 24H2), which is expected in the fall. Windows Central noted that it’s unclear whether Microsoft will discuss the features at the March event.

Engadget will have full coverage of Microsoft’s announcement on March 21 at noon ET.