All about AI laptops: What they are, how they work, and which ones to buy

It’s raining AI laptops right now. For years, PC makers have tried to put a label on their products to make them more appealing to consumers and this year’s trend is AI PCs. An AI PC or an AI laptop is a device tailor-made to handle AI and machine learning tasks. In other words, these are devices that can do number-crunching, data-sifting, and run machine learning tasks without breaking a sweat.

While Apple has not necessarily joined this bandwagon, Intel describes AI PCs as ones that include an NPU for AI work. The primary role of the NPU is to relieve the CPU and GPU from performing AI-related tasks. Microsoft has a much broader requirement for a laptop to qualify as an AI PC. In addition to being powered by a chipset with NPU, Microsoft also expects its OEM partners to include a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard.

AI laptops: What are they and how do they work

AI laptops are portable computers designed to excel at AI-related tasks. They are packed with hardware and software that are specifically tuned to accelerate AI tasks. Whether it is running a simple machine learning algorithm or advanced neural networks and deep learning models, AI laptops are designed to excel at it and do so without showing any signs of hardware weakness.

ALSO READ: What is generative AI?

Like any other laptop or a PC, an AI laptop also relies on a CPU and a GPU to perform most tasks but they also get a helping hand from a neural processing unit (NPU) to further elevate AI tasks. These NPUs are designed with the specific purpose of accelerating AI and ML tasks that run natively on your laptop.

For instance, if you are using generative AI-based features on a photo application like Adobe Photoshop then in addition to the application being accelerated by CPU and GPU, NPU will also support the application. AI is still very much in its infancy and the number of useful applications is very few but as companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and others compete to make even better AI models, we might suddenly see an onslaught of AI-based applications.

The immediate possibility is that AI will become fused into everything that you already do, like search or browsing or dictating a message. AI laptops, thanks to that additional hardware underneath, should perform these tasks faster than a standard laptop. Microsoft is betting on this idea of your laptop becoming your true companion with its “CoPilot+ PC.”  

Best AI laptops in the market today

The idea of an AI laptop is still evolving and as Qualcomm enters the fray with its Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite chips for laptops, the space will only get more competitive. However, there are some early winners from the likes of Apple, HP, Dell, Acer, and Lenovo that can claim to be the best laptops for AI right now.

ALSO READ: Top 5 AI laptops to buy today

Here is a look at the best laptop for AI that you can buy right now.

1. HP Spectre x360 14 2024

This is undoubtedly the best laptop for AI right now, mainly because of its convertible design. The HP Spectre x360 has a sleek design with a beautiful 14-inch OLED display, either the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H or the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, an excellent keyboard and touchpad, a 4K webcam, and a battery rated for six to seven hours. It is expensive but delivers a complete experience. Read our review here.

2. Apple MacBook Air 2024

Apple MacBook Air 2024 comes with a new M3 chip that Apple claims to offer a 60 per cent faster neural engine than the one seen on the original M1. It pairs that AI chops with a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, responsive keyboard, spacious trackpad, and support for dual external monitors. The MacBook Air is still the benchmark for thin and lightweight industrial design in laptops but the limited ports might deter some people.

3. Dell XPS 14

Dell XPS 14 is for those who want a 14-inch clamshell device that excels at AI-related tasks. It is equipped with Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and optional Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 for the perfect balance between computing and neural processing. Other features include a 14.5-inch 3.2K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 1080p webcam, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader.

4. Acer Swift Go 14

The Acer Swift Go 14 has a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display, 16GB  RAM, and 1TB SSD storage, and is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H with integrated AI Boost NPU and Arc GPU. It comes with a rated battery life of about 7 hours, a QHD webcam and two built-in stereo speakers for an immersive user experience.

5. Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i

The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor delivering Intel AI Boost and also comes equipped with a dedicated copilot key. The laptop also features a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display with 120Hz refresh and 400 nits brightness. There is an 84Wh battery, dual speakers, FHD webcam with a privacy shutter. Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is a no-compromise AI PC that doesn’t charge a premium.

ALSO READ: How to find out if your laptop is an AI PC

The AI laptops we are seeing right now are the first wave of AI PCs envisioned by Microsoft with help from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. However, this space is only likely to heat up as competitors try to differentiate between themselves not only in terms of hardware and form factor but also useful AI features. While there will be missteps like Microsoft’s Recall feature,  the real potential of AI laptops will become clear once software catches up with the hardware but it never hurts to be future-proof.