Microsoft Unveils Its First Pluton-Powered Windows 11 Pc At Ces 2022

Just when you thought that Microsoft already came up with Windows 11 and there’s not much left in its sleeve at the moment, the tech giant surprises everybody.

During CES 2022, Lenovo introduced the world to the first Microsoft Pluton-powered Windows 11 PCs, which is the ThinkPad Z13 and Z16, with AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processors.

Right now, we’re about to take a closer look at this new unveiling and find out everything that is to know about it.

Lenovn, AMD and Microsoft created a beast

First of all, let us tell you that the Microsoft Pluton is a security processor, which was pioneered in Xbox and Azure Sphere, and designed to store sensitive data, such as encryption keys.

All this is securely stashed within the Pluton hardware, which is integrated into the die of a device’s CPU and is a lot more difficult for attackers to access, even if they have physical possession of a device.

Many of us were expecting this to happen, as Microsoft announced it would integrate its Pluton security processor into Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm CPUs as an on-die chip to reduce the available attack surface on Windows PCs.

This was announced back in November 2020, and the first models were introduced with the XBOX One and Azure Sphere.

Pluton emulates a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to protect the boot process, encryption keys, and credentials directly on the CPU with the end goal of blocking threat actors from gaining access to such sensitive data.

And wait until you hear about all the highlights that Lenovo included in the description of this new laptop:

• Recycled black vegan leather and aluminum, and recyclable bamboo and sugarcane packaging
• Communications Bar integrating an FHD camera with a larger sensor, electronic e-Shutter for privacy and dual-array microphones
• Highest screen-to-body (STB) ratio in ThinkPad portfolio – 91.6% (Z13) and 92.3% (Z16)
• Larger 120mm haptic ForcePad
• Vivid display options including touch-enabled 2.8K OLED on Z13 and 4K OLED on Z16, both with Dolby Vision® support and low blue light
• Dolby Atmos® Speaker System and Dolby Voice® AI noise cancellation technology
• New double-tap function on TrackPoint launches Communication QuickMenu for rapid access to camera and microphone settings
• Z13 is powered by AMD Ryzen PRO U-Series processors with integrated AMD Radeon graphics plus Microsoft Pluton security processor. Z13 is also available with an exclusive AMD Ryzen PRO 6860Z processor
• Z16 is powered by AMD Ryzen PRO H-Series processors with integrated AMD Radeon graphics or optional AMD Radeon RX 6500M discrete graphics, and include the Microsoft Pluton security processor
• AMD Ryzen PRO 6000 Series processors with Qualcomm® FastConnect 6900 offer advanced manageability and industry leading Wi-Fi connectivity on Z13 and Z16. Additionally, Qualcomm® 4-stream Dual Band Simultaneousⁱ (DBS) on AMD Ryzen™ PRO 6000 Series processors enables sustained low latency potential of Wi-Fi Dual Station, natively supported on Windows 11
• Preloaded with Windows 11
• Match-on-chip fingerprint reader integrated into keyboard for security convenience

Redmond officials state that this step is only the start of the Pluton journey with the Windows ecosystem, so it’s safe to say that we can expect great things in the future.

Also, the Redmond tech giant said that customers should look for updates from Microsoft and our partners in the future around the expanded hardware availability of Pluton.

What’s your take on this new device from Lenovo, Microsoft, and AMD? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.