Use wechat scan QR code to share with friends and circle of friends. In the past decade, our mobile phones have become faster and faster, while laptops and other personal computers (PCS) feel like they are surviving < p > for a long time, whether we work at home or in the office, we need to make a choice: to start the heavy "bricks" (laptops), with noisy fans, pixel display, only a few hours of battery life and intermittent Internet connection. Or reach into your pocket and open the supercomputer that's on the go, always connected, and full of apps The main reason why notebook computers survive is that they are more suitable for heavy work. After all, their screens are larger and their physical keyboards are more suitable for efficient and creative tasks. But when novel coronavirus pneumonia mobile came, we found that these characteristics exceeded the mobile phone and tablet computer's advantages, especially because we usually work at home, use Wi-Fi and plug the power plug into the wall socket. p> < p > in the past ten years, the sales of personal computers have been declining, and it is expected that this decline will continue in the foreseeable future. According to IDC, a technology market research firm, PC sales increased by 50% or more every quarter during the epidemic compared with the previous year. Notebook manufacturers are seizing the opportunity to suddenly return to the spotlight < p > every major PC brand is integrating more technologies, which make mobile phones the core of our lives. They use a power-saving but powerful processor and a clearer display, with less thickness and weight and longer battery life. These evolving technologies make it possible to design more flip back laptops, including "detachable" (tablet computers that can insert a keyboard) and "two in one" (ultra-thin laptops with 360 degree hinges that can be folded into the shape of a tablet computer) Perhaps the most revolutionary thing is that laptops will eventually be directly connected to cellular networks, including 5g networks. The "netbooks" supporting cellular connection briefly appeared a few years ago, but never became the mainstream, mainly due to the lack of cooperation between hardware manufacturers and wireless suppliers. The next transformation of laptops will be driven by changes in the behavior of consumers, businesses and schools during the epidemic, but it also coincides with the rapid development of technology entering the field of personal computers < p > Apple leads the way < / P > < p > Geoff blaber, chief executive of CCS insight, a technology consulting firm, said that longer battery life is directly related to using less power to support more computing power, and apple is in the lead in this area. Apple has been accumulating expertise in internal chip design for many years, and has set up its own processor, first for iPhone. These processors are based on the design architecture of arm, a British microchip design company, and compete with Intel x86 technology, which has always dominated the PC and data center industry and until recently provided processors for Apple Mac. Apple used the same expertise to develop the M1 processor for the Mac The performance of Apple's chips "worries the rest of the industry a lot," Braber said, adding that the company "is several orders of magnitude ahead of today's competition.". For apple, this means that many of the benchmarks for its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, as well as the iPad pro, have broken records. The iPad Pro uses the same M1 processor and supports 5g. The M1 chip is now available on the iMac, but Apple has not yet provided touch screens for its laptops, although many other competitors are already doing so According to Miguel Nunes, senior director of product management at chip giant Qualcomm, Apple's strict control over hardware and software means that the company has pioneered microchip customization to some extent and accelerated the adoption of microchip customization in the whole industry to better run our most commonly used software. This kind of hardware level customization makes software run faster than only on general-purpose chips, such as the general-purpose chips that have been the core of Intel's business for decades < p > set off a wave of competition < / P > < p > when it comes to promoting mobile phones for personal computers, Apple's competitors are not waiting to die < p > Microsoft's surface Pro x is one of the company's relatively new detachable products, running the arm based processor designed in cooperation with Qualcomm. Windows is not yet able to run on such processors, largely because there are not many third-party developers writing software for the version of windows used on such hardware, although the company has always encouraged it. Microsoft said it will release a new version of windows on June 24, with preliminary indications that the new version of windows will include a substantial redesign of the operating system to make it easy to use and unify in various processor types and personal computer designs < p > Intel accounts for about 80% of the notebook computer market, and almost all of the rest is occupied by its direct competitor AMD, whose chips are basically the same as Intel. There are also a small number of laptops equipped with arm based processors, using chips made by apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek and other companies. Intel has responded to these changes in laptops by adjusting its design to remain competitive with arm in the field of laptops < p > at the same time, Intel has created Evo platform certification for laptops using its latest generation processors. To qualify, the device must meet strict standards: lightweight design, instant power on, nine hours of battery life, and other features that are reminiscent of smartphones. However, these specifications usually have a high price tag. "This work is already in progress, and the demand for our key Evo experience has been greatly accelerated by the epidemic," said Chris walker, Intel's vice president for laptops and other businesses According to Braber, personal computers are benefiting from the revival of web applications, which are programs that can run on browsers and do not need to be written for specific operating systems. But it's also likely that windows computers and apple devices will continue to lose out to GoogleOne of the reasons for chromebook. For a long time, Google has always pursued the strategy of promoting users to use web applications through chrome operating system. Thanks largely to the rapid adoption of the education market, chromebook's share of PC sales has exploded in the past 18 months < p > chrome ecosystem may appear in the most diversified devices and underlying technologies of all operating systems. Except for apple, all major PC manufacturers use Intel's x86 processors in their devices, but there are also MediaTek and Qualcomm's arm based processors. The latter two companies are both launching chips for laptops, which are more powerful than the chips that have been sold to Android handset manufacturers for many years, and more chips are being developed. Lenovo's chromebook duet and Acer's spin 7 are the devices that have installed such processors. The former carries the chip of MediaTek, while the latter uses the chip of Qualcomm and supports 5g connection < p > connectivity is not very good yet < / P > < p > perhaps one of the most useful functions of mobile phones is to connect to the internet almost continuously through cellular network, but this function may not appear on laptops as quickly as other elements of mobile computing < p > the challenge is not simply to install LTE and 5g modems on personal computers. Moore insight & amp; Patrick Moorhead, President of strategy, said operators had not figured out what they wanted. He added that they were worried that potential data hungry devices such as personal computers would overburden their networks < p > the good news is that 5g represents an opportunity to adjust incentives, making it easier for individual buyers of laptops to get data packages. "All these operators are making all these capital expenditures and they need to get a return on their investment in spectrum and equipment," murhead added. We're going to be in an oversupply of connectivity. " < p > for some time, windows laptops have been able to connect to cellular networks without requiring consumers to buy the physical SIM cards that smartphones rely on, a spokesman for Qualcomm said. Currently, Microsoft's surface Pro x supports this "e-sim" technology and allows data packages to be purchased through applications, he added < p > despite connectivity challenges, analysts predict that the recent upward trend in PC sales will continue. Jitesh URANI, IDC's analyst in charge of smartphones, tablets and personal computers, said the reasons include unmet demand in the education market, where people upgrade their computers every four to five years instead of the usual six to seven years. In addition, working from home means that employees need their own devices, rather than sharing them in a workplace like a call center There are also behavioral changes that may support people's purchase of personal computers, including the rise of mixed office and telecommuting trends and the widespread adoption of zoom meetings, which have stimulated the demand for better webcams on laptops, he added（ Small) < / P > < p >