Lenovo has launched two new notebook computers, which are made of recycled aluminum and “recycled black vegetarian leather”, packaged with compostable bamboo and sugarcane. But there is another innovation behind environmentally friendly hardware: Microsoft’s proputo security processor.
The new Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 and Z16 announced at the Las Vegas International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Tuesday are the first personal computers using proputo since Microsoft announced the security architecture in November 2020. Proputo adopts the security technology existing in the separate hardware components of Windows PC and integrates it directly into the CPU.
In this case, the CPU is the new AMD ryzen Pro 6000 series processor.
Lisa Su, chief executive of AMD, said at the CES press conference on Tuesday morning: “our cooperative development work with Microsoft has eliminated all attack vectors on laptops and better protected key data such as system credentials, user identity, encryption keys and personal information.”. “The proputo processor, combined with our other security features, provides the most innovative security of PC processors.”
Proputo imitates the design of Xbox one chip launched by Microsoft in 2013. The company also uses its azure sphere processor for Internet of things devices.
As David Weston explained in a blog post, It “aims to safely store sensitive data (such as encryption keys) in plutonium hardware, which is integrated into the CPU chip of the device, so it is more difficult for attackers to access, even if they actually own the device, Microsoft Enterprise and operating system security director.” this design helps to ensure that emerging attack technologies cannot access key materials. ”
Lenovo said that Z13 and Z16 will be listed in May, starting at $1549 and $2099 respectively.
Microsoft called this “the beginning of the journey between proputo and windows ecosystem”, saying that other hardware manufacturers and chip companies are also trying to integrate proputo into their upcoming products. Intel and Qualcomm participated in the initial plutonium release with AMD in 2020.
In other processor news released by CES, Microsoft and Qualcomm said they were working together to develop new custom chips for augmented reality glasses.