As the world becomes increasingly digitized, AI is playing a significant role in driving innovation across various industries. The latest report from Omdia highlights the growing market for AI-enabled PCs, with Apple and NVIDIA leading the way.
According to the report, titled “AI PCs: An Emerging Device Class,” there are two main technology options for delivering AI inference on PCs: traditional PC architecture enhanced with a high-performance GPU or a smartphone-style system-on-chip with dedicated AI acceleration. While some PC manufacturers have already started shipping powerful NVIDIA GPUs since 2019, Apple has defined the second option with its Apple Silicon MacBooks.
To better understand the different needs and performance requirements of users, Omdia researchers developed various user personas. The largest but least served persona is the “Corporate Warrior,” which represents business users who heavily rely on collaboration tools and travel frequently. Intel’s Core Ultra CPUs are targeting this persona to break back into the AI space, while Arm-based systems like Apple’s have an advantage with unified memory.
Unified memory is critical for AI on PCs as it impacts the type of AI models that can be run and the performance level. Arm’s investment in its unified memory architecture since the 1980s gives it a significant edge in this space. The Omdia report covers technology, user personas, major silicon vendors, and PC OEMs and is available in Omdia’s Advanced Computing Intelligence Service.
Overall, the report highlights that as more businesses look to leverage AI to drive growth and innovation, it will be essential for them to select technology solutions that meet their specific needs and requirements. With so many options available on the market today, choosing wisely will require careful consideration of factors such as performance level, unified memory capabilities, and compatibility with existing infrastructure.
