2024 is undoubtedly the year of AI PCs. Microsoft has already launched its Surface lineup with Intel AI processors, and its consumer edition will launch with Snapdragon X Elite chips with NPU. Today, Microsoft has announced “Recall,” a new AI-powered feature for upcoming “Copilot+” PCs with Windows 11.

Windows 11 Recall is exclusive to Snapdragon X Elite processors only because Intel and AMD chips do not meet the minimum hardware requirements of 40 TOPs. Like you, we were also surprised to hear that Microsoft is reserving the most interesting AI feature for a selective lineup of processors by Snapdragon.

The hardware requirements to run Recall are equally high. To use this feature, your PC must have:

• An ARM64 processor
• Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus.
• 225 GB Storage
• 16 GB RAM

Did you notice something weird in the requirements list? It’s an ARM64 processor! Windows on ARM has a small user base compared to Intel and AMD’s x64 processors. But there’s more.

You need an ARM64 processor, and you need a specific version of it. According to the hardware requirements, the PC must have the Snapdragon X Elite with NPU to support the Recall feature.

Microsoft’s stern hardware requirements for Recall will upset many users. Until now, Windows 11 users have only had access to Copilot, a glorified web result with summarization capabilities, at best.

Enforcing such strict processor requirements excludes almost every Windows user, even those with AI processors from Intel and AMD. If you want to use Recall, upgrade to the upcoming lineup of Snapdragon X Elite PCs. But what is Recall?

Recall is a super-charged timeline preview

Recall makes your every past action searchable. That’s the simplest explanation. The feature records your screen and uses that data to help you remember things.

For example, you want to refer to a conversation and extract some details. You can ask Recall to look into all the conversations with that specific person and then find the information on a report, a schedule, etc.

With Recall, finding files in a large download pileup or revisiting your browser history is easy. You can give commands to Recall in natural language, eliminating the need to type precise commands. You can converse with it like you do with another person in real life.

The feature runs natively and doesn’t store data in the cloud (it would be a privacy nightmare). You can delete the stored snapshots, adjust and delete time ranges in Settings, or pause Recall using the Taskbar icon. Moreover, filtering apps and websites to prevent them from being recorded is also possible.

Windows Latest understands that all this real-time processing requires a powerful NPU, the current strength of Snapdragon X Elite.

With 45 TOPS NPU power, Snapdragon X Elite dominates Intel and AMD’s current AI processors. However, upgrading to a new Windows PC for Recall isn’t a big selling point, and Microsoft should rethink this.

Microsoft added a dedicated update history section for Recall in the Settings app and a new Privacy and Security settings toggle. These updates do not appear under definition updates or other updates. However, you won’t get to try Recall until the September/October 2024 update.

More AI Features

Apart from Recall, there are other upcoming AI features that you will like:

Live Caption translations: Copilot+ PCs will be better at live translations, which is handy while watching something, in a video conference, and much more.

Auto Super Resolution: Automatic Super Resolution adds upscaling capabilities to apps. You can selectively turn this feature on or off for any app.

Enhanced image and text generation with Cocreator: Microsoft plans to rebrand Paint Cocreator to Image Cocreator and will offer better-quality images and text generation via Copilot.

Advanced Windows Studio Effects: Windows Studio Effects automatically adjusts the camera to blur the background, curb audio noise, clear the video quality, and more.

Remember that all these experiences are exclusive to Microsoft’s just-announced “Copilot+” PCs, aka Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. The company claims that the PCs offer up to 15 hours of web browsing, 20 hours of video battery life, and uncompromised performance, which is just what Windows 11 needs.

To add salt to the wounds, Microsoft said that Copilot+ PCs are 58% faster than MacBook Air M3. Copilot+ PCs from OEMs like Asus, Dell, and four others will debut on 9th June 2024.

This is a developing story…

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