Microsoft confirms Windows 11 Recall AI hardware requirements

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

Windows 11 Recall AI is currently exclusive to Snapdragon X Elite processors only because Intel and AMD chips do not meet the minimum hardware requirements of 45 TOPs. Like you; we were also surprised to hear that Microsoft is reserving the most interesting AI feature to a selective lineup of processors by Snapdragon.

The hardware requirements to run Recall AI 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 E with NPU to support the Recall AI feature.

Microsoft’s stern hardware requirements for Recall AI 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 AI, upgrade to the upcoming lineup of Snapdragon X Elite PCs. But what is Recall AI?

Recall AI is a super-charged timeline preview.

Recall AI 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 AI to look into all the conversations with that specific person and then find the information on a report, a schedule, etc.

With Recall AI, finding files in a large download pileup or revisiting your browser history is easy. You can give commands to Recall AI 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). Windows Latest understands that all this real-time processing requires a powerful NPU, which is 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 AI isn’t a big selling point, and Microsoft should rethink this.

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

This is a developing story…

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