Snapdragon X laptops might be the only Copilot Plus machines for a while

TL;DR

• Microsoft’s Copilot Plus PC program has a list of requirements for eligibility.
• Although upcoming Intel and AMD laptops will meet those criteria, it doesn’t appear those machines will actually have Copilot Plus approval.
• It’s possible that Snapdragon X-based laptops will be the only Copilot Plus machines to be launched in 2024.

In May, Microsoft unveiled a new program called Copilot Plus PC, aimed at identifying laptops that support advanced on-device AI features. To qualify, laptops must have at least 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of performing at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS).

Initially, Microsoft's own Surface Laptop (7th-gen) and Surface Pro (11th-gen) will be designated as Copilot Plus PCs. These devices are powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor, a new Windows on Arm system-on-chip (SoC) designed for high performance, energy efficiency, and AI capabilities. Besides these two Surface models, many other laptops using Qualcomm processors from various manufacturers will also qualify.

Recently, Intel and AMD introduced new chips that meet or surpass the Copilot Plus PC standards. However, details remain unclear about when laptops with these new processors will be officially recognized as Copilot Plus PCs by Microsoft, AMD, and Intel. 

The Verge reached out to all three companies for statements regarding this issue. While all of them responded, none provided clear information about Intel or AMD machines. What we do know is that the initial batch of Intel and AMD machines won't come certified as Copilot Plus PCs right out of the box. Instead, they'll receive free software updates later that will add some Copilot Plus PC features. However, the companies didn't specify which features would be included or when the updates would roll out.

In other words, it might be 2025 before Intel and AMD laptops get Copilot Plus PC features like Recall and Auto Super Resolution. Intel and AMD were quick to highlight that their machines will have unique AI features, with hundreds more in development.

Additionally, the absence of Copilot Plus PC certification might not be entirely negative. Given the backlash against Recall—a program that takes a screenshot of your screen every five seconds—it might be preferable to have a PC without certain AI features until the bugs are ironed out.