A Mass Laptop Refresh is Coming: Here’s what you need to know.

For those who own and use PCs, change is coming. Between aging PC populations, Windows updates, and the introduction of AI PCs, users and IT leaders alike will have to make decisions soon regarding their hardware. Here’s what you need to know about the trends driving the refresh and expected results on both the IT landscape and the environment.

With the pandemic came a surge of laptop and PC purchases as hybrid and remote work took off. Gartner reports that worldwide PC shipments grew 10.7% in the last quarter of 2020 and 32% in the first quarter of 2021. In the following years, however, purchasing has remained stagnant, as users continue to rely on the PCs purchased in 2020 and 2021. But that was four years ago. Many users and organizations find themselves with aging hardware that will soon reach EOL. Between normal wear and tear and aging hardware that cannot keep up with software advancements, it’s time for IT leaders to think about updating their hardware.

Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will enter EOL October 14, 2025, so users have only until then to update to Windows 11. Windows 11 features several updates to ease user experience, including an updated user interface, seamless redocking and Windows studio effects. It is estimated that 32% of Windows users have already made the switch, but 64% still have a decision to make. While newer laptops may be able to handle the change, many users and decision-makers alike time major updates with hardware upgrades. Combined with aging hardware, the introduction of Windows 11 may be the push IT leaders need to upgrade.

The artificial intelligence boom has led to the introduction of AI PCs. But what exactly is an AI PC? What separates an AI PC from your normal, garden variety PC is the inclusion of a neural processing unit (NPU). An NPU will make the PC able to execute AI tasks without requiring the cloud. Unfortunately, there is no existing “killer app” for the AI PC, according to a recent report by Forrester, which predicts that 2025—not 2024—will be the “year of the AI PC.” Users are speculating that use cases will be more tangible with the launch of Windows 11 24H2, which includes the controversial Microsoft Recall—a feature that captures and stores all user activity by taking screenshots every five seconds—and the more helpful live captions, studio effects and Copilot Runtime.

In May 2024, Gartner predicted that AI PC shipments would reach 22% of total PC shipments in 2024, and that 100% of PC sales in 2026 will be AI PCs. So what happens to all the replaced laptops? Canalys predicts that 240 million PCs—roughly a fifth of existing devices—will become e-waste when Windows 10 support ends. Many of these devices are not compatible with Windows 11, leaving them vulnerable and buggy. Because Windows 11 is incompatible with these devices, users are losing their investment and will be contributing to the growing, global e-waste problem.

Despite the sheer volume of devices that will no longer be usable after the Windows 11 refresh, an ITAD provider can help you get the most value out of your devices and mitigate environmental impact. For those that cannot be refurbished and remarketed, ITAD providers can process the equipment, extracting valuable components for recycling and disposing of assets with methods that hit and exceed environmental regulations.