You'll have to wait months for one of the most exciting Copilot+ PCs of 2024
What you need to know
ASUS just announced three new PCs for creators set to ship in the second half of 2024.
Among those new devices is the ProArt PZ13, a convertible PC powered by a Snapdragon X processor.
The ProArt PZ13 also has a 13-inch 3K OLED display, a kickstand, and a 70Wh battery.
We don't know full pricing details for the ASUS ProArt PZ13 at this time, but the PC is expected to ship in the second half of this year.
ASUS just unveiled three new PCs at Computex 2024. The lineup includes the powerful ProArt P16 running on AMD's new Ryzen 9 AI 300 processors and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, the convertible ProArt PX14 that's also powered by those Ryzen chips, and a Surface Pro competitor called the ProArt PZ13 running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processors. We'll cover the powerful AMD PCs in a separate piece. Here, I'll focus on the new ASUS convertible that's on the way.
The ASUS PZ13 is a 2-in-1 PC that can be used as a standalone tablet or with an attached keyboard. It also has a kickstand, which is surprisingly not that common in the convertible space. A 13-inch 3K OLED display should deliver excellent colors and contrast for creators and anyone using the ProArt PZ13. Inside, the convertible tablet has a Snapdragon X Elite processor.
At 9mm (0.35 in) thick, the ASUS PZ13 isn't as thin as the new iPad Pro, but it's thin enough to be portable and easy to move around. The PCs weighs 850g (1.87 lbs) on its own and its detachable keyboard adds on another 350g (0.77 lbs).
As a Copilot+ PC, the ProArt PZ13 hits the required specs to earn that moniker, including 45 TOPs for AI computing and 16GB of RAM. The ProArt PZ13 also has an IP52 rating and a 70Wh battery. A pair of USB 4.0 Type-C ports and an SD card reader help the ProArt PZ13 stand out from some of its key competition.
We don't know full pricing details for the ProArt PZ13 at this time, but our colleagues at Tom's Guide say the PC from ASUS will be priced in line with the Surface Pro 11. If the two PCs are priced the same, ASUS' will have some key differentiators it can highlight that make the ProArt PZ13 the better option for some workflows.
More Copilot+ PCs
A wave of Copilot+ PCs powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processors are on the way this month. Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Samsung will all ship Copilot+ PCs within a few weeks. But there's another wave of Snapdragon X-powered PCs on the way.
Some of the second-wave Copilot+ PCs go beyond the laptop form factor. Others, such as the ASUS ProArt PZ13 are 2-in-1s. The Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite inside the new PCs are intriguing, as they promise all-day battery life paired with impressive performance. Windows on Arm is also prepped for waves of Arm-powered devices.
At least for now, all Copilot+ PCs run on either a Snapdragon X Elite or a Snapdragon X Plus processor. These devices represent a major shift in Windows computing that includes better battery life paired with performance that competes with the likes of Apple's MacBooks. This isn't the half-hearted attempt to get Windows on Arm to work that we've seen in the past; major manufacturers are on board and Microsoft has optimized Windows for Arm computing.
Our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino said that ARM64 and AI are "driving a 'Great Reset' in the Windows PC industry" and that those technologies are behind a "transformation unlike any witnessed in the past three decades." We only have to wait a few weeks to see the new Arm PCs in action and see if they live up to the hype. Then, we'll have to wait a few more months for wave two.
