If you want to use the Recall AI feature in Windows 11, your PC should meet the Windows 11 Recall AI hardware requirements. You can find the requirements from this MiniTool post.
Windows 11 Recall AI Hardware Requirements Are Higher
If you follow AI news regularly, you’ll see that 2024 is the year of the AI PC. Microsoft is bringing more and more AI features to Windows 11.
For example, Microsoft has introduced its Surface series featuring Intel AI processors, and it’s now unveiled the consumer edition equipped with Snapdragon X chips including NPUs. Additionally, Microsoft has revealed Recall, a novel AI-driven feature for the upcoming Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11. Here, you should know that Copilot+ PC requirements are higher.
The Windows 11 Recall feature is exclusive to Snapdragon X processors due to the fact that Intel and AMD chips fail to meet the minimum hardware requirements of 40 TOPs (trillions of operations per second).
Hardware Requirements for Windows 11 Recall AI
The hardware requirements to run Recall is higher. Your PC should meet the following Windows 11 Recall AI hardware requirements to use Recall:
- Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus.
- 40 TOPs.
- 225 GB Storage.
- 16 GB RAM.
You can see that this AI feature is for a limited lineup of processors by Snapdragon.
Why Copilot+ PCs Are Limited to Snapdragon X and X Plus?
As per Microsoft, Windows 11’s Recall and other AI functionalities necessitate a capacity of up to 40 TOPs. The on-device AI processing capabilities are quantified in TOPs, representing trillions of operations per second.
Here is a speed comparison table:
Processor | NPU Power | Peak (with GPU/CPU) |
Snapdragon X Elite/Plus | 45 TOPS | 75 TOPS |
Intel Meteor Lake | 11 TOPS | 34 TOPS |
AMD Ryzen Hawk Point | 16 TOPS | 38 TOPS |
You can see that the superiority of Snapdragon X over Intel and AMD AI chips is evident in its significantly higher speed. This is the reason why Windows 11 Recall AI is exclusively tailored for Qualcomm hardware at present.
So, if you want to use Recall, you should upgrade your PC to the upcoming lineup of Snapdragon X Elite PCs, a much higher Copilot+ PC requirements.
What Is Recall in Windows 11?
Recall enables you to sift through your previous activities by capturing your screen and utilizing that information to aid in memory recall.
It has the capability to observe your PC usage, the applications you engage with, your interactions within those apps, and even your conversations within messaging platforms like WhatsApp. That is, Recall meticulously records all these activities and stores snapshots in local storage.
As an illustration, suppose you wish to revisit a conversation with a colleague to delve deeper into a meeting. You can instruct Recall to search through all interactions with that individual. Recall will then scour through various sources including apps, tabs, settings, and more to locate the specific conversation you seek.
As for personal privacy, you should not worry so much. Recall operates natively, ensuring that data isn’t stored in the cloud, theoretically mitigating privacy concerns. You are able to delete stored snapshots, adjust or delete time ranges in Settings, or pause Recall via the Taskbar icon. Furthermore, you can filter apps and websites to prevent them from being recorded, adding an extra layer of privacy control.
Bottom Line
Now, you know the Windows 11 Recall AI hardware requirements. If your PC meets the requirements, you can easily get this feature through Windows Update. However, you cannot try Recall before this feature is released to the public.