Microsoft positions Copilot+ PCs as supremely powerful compact computers–true to some extent. It recently posted a short clip on X touting Copilot+ PC’s prowess: “The fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever.”
The clip doesn’t say anything more, but people on X weren’t happy with what Microsoft posted. As a result, the users added more context to the post and even linked an article that illustrated how many of the AI features have been available in Copilot+ PCs since their launch.
It’s embarrassing to get fact-checked by a platform for tall claims, especially when the much-hyped features weren’t even there during the initial launch (remember Windows Recall). The context box lambasts the Copiot+ PCs for not being the fastest processors when compared to the top-of-the-line AMD or Intel processors.
Even if we consider the latest Intel Ultra AI Series 2 processors, they match the NPU performance (some even exceed it by 3 TOPs). Similarly, AMD AI CPU reaches 50 TOPs, which is more than the earlier debuted Snapdragon processors.
Since Intel and AMD CPUs are here and will be in Copilot+ PCs soon, Microsoft shouldn’t have brazenly pushed Snapdragon CPUs as the best.
Another problem that users had was the ARM architecture of the Snapdragon CPUs. It doesn’t support as many apps as the X64 architecture processors.
Gaming isn’t super convenient on the Copilot+ PCs as it’s on X64. The list of titles is expanding, still don’t expect any less popular games to appear on it.
Windows Recall was a major selling point of the Copilot+ PCs which was ironically “recalled” due to its half-baked privacy and security mechanisms. It’s back in preview now, but how many users who bought the Copilot+ PCs for Recall will participate?
Copilot+ PCs won’t replace everything
It’s true that ARM PCs, like Copilot+ PCs, consume less power and offer decent performance in a tiny package. That said, it won’t replace any powerful desktop PC unless it incorporates a dedicated GPU.
Snapdragon must be working on the next overhauled version of the X Elite processors, and we expect the NPU performance to increase.
Microsoft has a long list of comparisons with Macbook performance, battery life, and how the most popular apps have ARM versions. But that’s not compelling enough for everyone to shell out $1000 or more for a Copilot+ PC, which can do a few AI tricks.
That doesn’t make the PC more appealing for gamers and running anything at high FPS and resolution. So, anything GPU-bound is still a struggle for these lightweight PCs. Microsoft expects ARM to be the future of computing–an uphill battle considering how old and reliable X64 is.