Microsoft’s claim that Arm-based Copilot+ PCs are “fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs” is debunked on X – and the community’s verdict isn’t wrong

on
  • Microsoft made some unwise claims about Snapdragon-toting Copilot+ PCs
  • X fact-checkers made short work of the assertion that they’re the ‘fastest’ PCs
  • They also disagreed with the ‘intelligent’ claim, though that’s not as clear-cut

'Be careful what you post on social media' might be a lesson Microsoft is just now learning: a swift nugget of PR that was published on X (formerly Twitter) may, in hindsight, be viewed with some regret.

Windows Latest noticed the post, which was posted by the official Windows account on X, claiming simply that Snapdragon-powered (Arm) Copilot+ laptops are the “fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs” out there.

As you can see, X readers have ‘added context’ – essentially a community-based sort of loose fact-check that pops up here and there, pointing out alternative views, or information that a post has missed out – and did so in a rather withering fashion.

The X community asserts that: “These are not the fastest Windows PCs. They run on Snapdragon processors which have significantly less computing power than top-of-the-line Intel or AMD chipsets."

“[They] lack functionality for gamers, the major aspects of the AI are not implemented.”

So, should we fact-check the fact-checkers in this instance? Why not…

Microsoft Surface Laptop and Surface Pro Copilot+ devices on a table.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Analysis: We can’t argue for the most part

There are two main claims here from Microsoft, so let’s deal with them in turn, with the first being that Snapdragon-packing Copilot+ PCs are the “fastest” computers. This one is easy – no, they are not, as the X community rightly observes. This is a rather absurd claim, given that there are mighty desktop PCs out there running Windows that are massively more powerful than a svelte Arm-based laptop.

Even if we assume Microsoft really meant laptops – so not including desktop PCs, and the company should have specified that, we might add – they are still not the most performant devices out there.

How does the Snapdragon X Elite stack up to, say, the Core i9-14900HX for gaming laptops, performance-wise? Not very well, and that’s before we even consider overheads for emulating x86 apps on Arm. (Most software is coded for the x86 platform, and so needs to run via Microsoft’s Prism emulation layer on Windows on Arm, dropping back performance a bit).

The X context-check also notes that Arm-based CPUs “lack functionality for gamers” and this is also true – games can be rather troublesome in the compatibility stakes compared to a traditional x86 AMD or Intel-powered laptop. We’ve seen reports about how this is a particularly shaky area for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips.

On to Microsoft’s second claim that these Copilot+ PCs are the “most intelligent” Windows machines ever seen: it’s here that we’ll concede Microsoft might have a point.

By "most intelligent", Microsoft is clearly referring to the extra AI functionality that comes with Copilot+ PCs, such as exclusive powers to enhance video chats, provide system-wide live captions, and AI-driven photo editing extras. The big halo feature is Recall, the supercharged AI search that’s been mired in controversy, and was sent back to the drawing board earlier this year – but is finally out (in testing) now.

However, while technically these extra features do make Copilot+ PCs more intelligent – we’ll give Microsoft that – they aren’t just for Arm devices, as x86-powered Copilot+ laptops get them too. Although granted, Recall will be exclusive to Snapdragon notebooks to begin with – but it’ll come to AMD and Intel Copilot+ PCs eventually.

So, this isn’t really a strong suit of Arm-based Copilot+ PCs specifically, but all of these new AI-focused devices, both Arm and x86 machines included. And, as the X fact-check also points out, those AI powers are pretty limited right now. Remember, Recall is still in limited testing (and some folks may not trust it anyway).

The upshot of this is that Copilot+ PCs are not really that much more ‘intelligent’ than normal Windows 11 computers – not yet, anyway – but still, what Microsoft claims in that second aspect of its post is technically true.

Overall, though, the post feels like an unfortunate piece of PR puffery, though that’s certainly not a crime that only Microsoft is guilty of in the tech world.

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