Microsoft is looking to set new standards for PC hardware specifications, as the tech giant apparently plans to institute a 16GB RAM requirement for all AI PCs.
This comes from a TrendForce market research report (reported by TechPowerUp), the reason likely being the push of AI PCs: PCs that use built-in AI acceleration for various AI features native to Windows 11 23H2.
This is especially true of Copilot, an AI chatbot that automates and generates work. Microsoft has been pushing this feature particularly hard, including a dedicated Copilot key on Windows keyboards, similar to the Windows key.
Copilot and Microsoft’s other AI tools require certain hardware requirements for local acceleration, the first of which is the NPU (Neural Processing Unit) which is used for special processing and the second is memory. That’s why Microsoft requires AI PCs that have at least 16 GB of RAM to run both native and cloud-based Copilot features.
16 GB should be the standard in the future
There are plenty of other Copilot announcements, like the special Copilot key, the Copilot Pro subscription service that adds extra features AI tools like ChatGPT Plusas well as a feature currently being tested that would customize Copilot chat responses based on previous chats by saving them.
And while the aforementioned revelations were on the controversial side, the 16GB RAM requirement for all Windows AI PCs is easily one of the best announcements regarding Copilot and Windows AI in general.
In fact, 16 GB should be a RAM standard for all Windows laptops and desktops in the future. With the rising cost of laptops starting during the pandemic and showing no sign of slowing down, it’s honestly unbelievable that any PC can be released with 8GB or even a terrible 4GB of RAM.
Hopefully, by 2024 and beyond, AI laptops and desktops will not only see a 16GB baseline (with commercial PCs seeing the 32GB or even 64GB standard), but this requirement will expand to non-AI PCs in in general. As manufacturers see that customers expect computers to have such a standard, this shift could very likely occur.
Fingers crossed that this reported initiative from Microsoft will be the kick the PC industry needs to stop releasing machines with such low RAM as it directly hurts the performance of said machines.