New Arrow Lake refresh rumours confirm addition of NPU to bring Microsoft's Copilot+ AI features to desktop machines

The rumours around an Arrow Lake refresh from Intel are back! Again! And this time they're focussing on AI. This generation of chips launched with more of a plop than a cheer leaving gamers disappointed with their new CPU. Intel could be looking to correct this, though as the company hasn't come out and confirmed the next set of Arrow Lake cards, we've been hearing rumours all year, and the latest give more weight to an improved NPU to target AI.

The Verge spotted an article on ZDNet Korea, which reiterates the idea that the Arrow Lake refresh won't change much, but will deliver an NPU for AI performance. According to the article, these chips will use the same architecture we saw on the Lunar Lake laptop CPU that allowed them to receive the Copilot Plus AI update last November. With this NPU4 design, the new Arrow Lake chips could be the first Intel desktop CPUs with the ability to run this tech.

Weirdly, this looks like the only real change Intel is planning for this refresh, which is sad news for gaming. With no expected change to clock speeds, you will probably get more from enabling Intel's 200S Boost Mode than upgrading to a refresh. Which you should absolutely do if you're running an Arrow Lake CPU.

Instead, the focus on the NPU means these new Arrow Lakes indicates a reliance on the AI abilities of this chip. While its likely not aimed at PC gamers, that doesn't mean it won't have some extra functionality in there to improve your games. If it is the same NPU4 architecture then they should at least be able to run Microsoft's upscaling tech, Auto Super Resolution, which was originally only available on Snapdragon powered Copilot+ machines.

It's a bit different to Nvidia's DLSS4 or AMD's FRS4, but this upscaling tech could still help a bunch when it comes to making games look better and run smoother. Unlike the other two, Auto Super Resolution is handled entirely by the CPU, and has a toggle that can be turned on in Windows to run it. Though, the list of compatible games still isn't exactly huge, for now.

It will be interesting to see how these refreshed chips do in desktop machines, but I'm not expecting them to be the top pick for gamers by any means. If you are super keen on Microsoft's upscaling tech then you might be better off holding out until its available on a more gamer-favoured CPU.

Microsoft has said the Copilot Plus features will be coming to Intel Lunar Lake and AMD Strix Point PCs at some point in the future too, so maybe the updated Arrow Lakes will make for a perfect testing ground for the software.