Opening thoughts. This is a bit surprising. There is a general consensus that CoPilot+ PCs need to have at least 16GB of RAM and Artificial Intelligence (AI) functionality for Windows 11 to work. And if you want to run the on-device model, it requires 32GB of memory to effectively deploy those advanced use-cases. A few days ago, Microsoft announced a new business-focused Surface Laptop, and the entry point for business the 13-inch $1,299 Surface Laptop will have 8GB of RAM when it’s made available later. Same price point as the Apple MacBook Neo, which many criticized for having 8GB of memory (mostly without understanding basic macOS and Windows differences and optimization finesse). I will point out something you might define as hypocrisy.
Some time ago, following the MacBook Neo launch, a Microsoft-commissioned study by Signal65 compared how Windows 11 PCs compared to the MacBook Neo. The concern was obvious, as PC makers were scared, struggling to find an answer of such quality at the same price. The study compared the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x, HP OmniBook 5, Lenovo Yoga 7i, and HP OmniBook
Unsurprisingly, they found the MacBook Neo to be worse in all selected performance metrics. And now Microsoft thinks it’s okay to sell machines with 8GB of RAM, and all will be forgotten?
editor’s corner
Tesla’s departure reported
I’ll be honest, because I don’t know where the talk about Tesla dropping factory plans for India is coming from. Most people don’t realize it, but most of the “news” and “official statements” you read these days are repeats of something that happened before. A tweety headline and an exciting social media post don’t make them new news again. Anyway, leaving that broader point aside, I guess some newsroom on God’s green earth picked up a quote from Heavy Industries Minister, HD Kumaraswamy, saying 2025 and didn’t bother to read the date. At that time, with reference to car manufacturing companies manufacturing and assembling in India, he had said, Mercedes-Benz, Skoda-Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia have shown interest in it. “Tesla, we are not really expecting (interest) from them… They are not interested in manufacturing in India.”
Tesla has not formally announced any plans to abandon building a manufacturing facility in India at some point (but nor have they mentioned any roadmap since then), nor has the government confirmed it. I will say it clearly (and I have no brief for Tesla or EVs in general), they have no intention of doing so. Nothing about the brand’s India presence indicates any such move is on the agenda. And who is to blame for the slight ‘delay’ in setting up the manufacturing facility? Any corporate will take into account the global economic scenario, currency valuation and costs at the ground level.
At present, Tesla has four showrooms in India – in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram and Bengaluru (I specifically mention Delhi and Gurgaon separately, they are not the same place). Along with this, the Supercharger network that is spread around Delhi NCR and Mumbai – and this is where I would categorically say that Tesla needs to do more, and with some urgency. Misattribution and information only harms the EV market, carmakers, and customers alike, with impacts that extend far beyond a single brand. Confident misinformation is today’s unfortunate reality.
second thought
A milestone for phone cameras
It’s been written (I’ve contributed, I’ll admit) about how smartphone cameras are now on par with larger DSLRs and, to a large extent, professional cameras. And this is true, if we look at the latest generation which includes Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Xiaomi 17 Ultra, Vivo X300 Ultra and most recently the Oppo Find X9 Ultra to name a few examples. None of these assessments are unreasonable. A weekend Major League Soccer game in the US between the LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo FC was shot entirely using the iPhone 17 Pro phone.
This makes it the first professional live sporting event to be shot entirely on the iPhone 17 Pro. Of course it will be streamed live on Apple TV, as the platform has the streaming rights. “iPhone 17 Pro will capture live footage throughout the match, including team warmups on the pitch, player introductions, in-net goal angles and the atmosphere inside the stadium. With cameras deployed throughout the venue, the broadcast will deliver the pristine video quality fans have come to expect, as well as dynamic new perspectives that bring viewers closer to the action, made possible by the iPhone’s smaller form factor,” Apple promised ahead of the event. This also, for those of us watching closely, marks a larger intention on the part of Apple to get involved in football content. The addition of an immersive video on Real Madrid for Vision Pro headsets is another milestone.
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