AMD’s new AI chips have a home in HP’s next Copilot Plus laptop

HP’s resurrected OmniBook line will soon be getting a performance boost with the new HP OmniBook Ultra, featuring an AMD Ryzen AI 300-series processor with integrated AMD Radeon 800M graphics, up to 32GB of RAM, and a pair of 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports. Available starting in August for $1,449.99, the new HP OmniBook Ultra will eventually receive a free software update to make it one of the first Copilot Plus PCs not powered by an ARM-based processor.

The OmniBook branding was originally revived back in May with the HP OmniBook X AI laptop, which, as with most of the Copilot Plus PCs announced at that time, is powered by an ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite processor. Its neural processing unit was rated at 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS), but with the AMD Ryzen AI 300 series inside, the new OmniBook Ultra offers “up to 55 TOPS of NPU performance,” HP says in a press release.

The AMD Ryzen AI 300 series is also an x86-based processor, which should offer more compatibility with a wider range of Windows apps. Some older applications may require emulation to run on a Windows PC powered by the Snapdragon X Elite or other ARM-based processors.

Both OmniBooks feature 14-inch, 2240 x 1400-pixel LCD touchscreens, but the new Ultra model includes a handful of small updates. In addition to two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports (plus an older USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port), the Ultra’s webcam gets a resolution bump to 9MP and quad speakers supporting DTS:X Ultra instead of just stereo speakers.

The 3.48-pound OmniBook Ultra is also about half a pound heavier than the OmniBook X AI, due in part to a larger 68Wh battery. Despite the Ultra’s battery being larger than the X AI’s 59Wh battery, the OmniBook Ultra actually offers slightly less battery life, maxing out at up to 13 hours of average use or up to 21 hours of local (not streamed) video playback.

The new OmniBook Ultra won’t be a Copilot Plus PC at launch, but HP plans to release a free update at some point adding those features and functionality. HP says timing and availability for the update “will be dependent on Microsoft.”