The Top 5 Anticipated Displays at Computex 2024. For those of us who work in the computer industry, the most anticipated time of the year is undoubtedly Computex, when significant companies showcase their newest products and ideas at a single location. It helps that it’s located in Taipei, a beautiful city in and of itself (mainly the Night Markets).
However, 2024 will be the year that artificial intelligence (AI) takes over this conference in a big way, covering everything from the CPUs used by the top laptops of the year to the peripherals and other computer-related devices that will incorporate AI innovations into them. This starkly contrasts with previous years when the industry was relatively stagnant.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will undoubtedly be the hot topic at Computex, regardless of whether any of it is helpful. From what I’ve observed this year, I expect to see many new technologies showcased at this year’s Computex exhibition in Taipei.
It’s All About the AI PC
As mentioned earlier, OEMs will undoubtedly promote AI PCs across the board this year. There hasn’t been much of a need for people to buy new computers and peripherals, like the best webcams, in the past three years. This is because everyone bought new computers in 2020 due to the lockdowns and the need for multiple people to work from home simultaneously.
Because they are more expensive, people tend to replace laptops and desktops less often than a keyboard, mouse, or PC gaming headset. As a result, the personal computer market has shrunk since COVID-19, and even Apple had trouble selling new MacBooks in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
This year, though, new laptops can do all sorts of new AI-powered tasks that weren’t possible before, thanks to the AI boom and the introduction of NPUs into AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm mobile processors. These AI PCs might be the clincher that finally gets people to upgrade from their four-year-old PCs.
Qualcomm will Make a Splash
Qualcomm has been a household name in the mobile computing industry for quite some time, and for good reason: they made almost all of the smartphones and tablets that weren’t Apple products. Though PC customers are more aware of the long-running AMD vs. Intel duopoly, Qualcomm isn’t as well-known.
While there are still many who swear by MacBooks and Apple’s in-house CPUs, most people use Windows laptops or PCs, and the few Windows devices powered by Qualcomm that have come out so far have been, to put it mildly, met with mixed reviews.
However, that might soon change due to two systems on chips from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon X Plus and the Snapdragon X Elite, which can potentially challenge the Apple M3. I expect to see a lot of new Snapdragon X devices from top OEMs like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others at Computex. It is unclear how well Windows will run on Qualcomm’s Arm-based architecture, but given Microsoft’s big push with Qualcomm and Copilot+ PC before Microsoft Build last month, there is a lot of excitement about these devices.
Intel and AMD Need to Play Catchup
It would not be competent for Intel to sit on their hands now that Qualcomm appears ready to make a significant splash in the PC chip market this year. It’s no secret that next-gen mobile CPUs from Qualcomm are all the rage, but established players like AMD and Intel will need to convince consumers to remain loyal to their x86-based chips if they want to keep up with the competition.
During their keynote presentations, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su will, without a doubt, unveil their plans for the next generation of artificial intelligence personal computer processors. No one can say for sure, but I’m expecting it.
Nothing Major on the GPU Front
Regarding the graphics processing unit (GPU) industry, it’s reasonable to assume that Computex will not witness any significant announcements beyond introducing new models with water cooling and possibly new tiny form factors.
With the debut of the RTX 4000-series Super edition cards by Nvidia in January and February, as well as the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, my current favourite graphics card, the current generation of graphics cards has just come to a close. There won’t be any significant GPU news breaking next week because next-gen announcements regarding AMD, Intel, or Nvidia’s discrete graphics cards are still months away, at the earliest.
More Wood Paneling on PCs than a 1980s Midwestern Basement
Things have begun to change considerably in the design of gaming PCs recently, after at least a decade of devices and components adhering steadfastly to the prevalent stealth bomber motif (albeit not so covertly due to all that RGB lighting).
Many of the components, systems, and devices showcased next week will likely incorporate natural materials, such as wood, into their construction. This trend is already visible in the builds of many popular PC gaming devices, like the Corsair One i500 gaming PC.
