Copilot+ PCs are a huge deal for Microsoft, Windows, and the manufacturers that make them. By all accounts, the Snapdragon X Elite chip that powers most of the new breed is astonishingly good, and by and large, those on our team who have started testing have been impressed.
But hardware is only part of the story, and Copilot+ has had its fair share of bad headlines since its announcement. Perhaps rightly so, but Windows Recall isn’t my problem. It’s the way Microsoft has seen fit to handle its rollout.
Copilot+ is all software, albeit with a hardware requirement. But here I have a laptop with a Ryzen 9 CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 4090 dedicated GPU in it that can easily run Copilot+, and yet I can’t. That can’t happen because of a conscious decision by Microsoft to keep one of the biggest improvements in Windows 11 exclusive to those who decide to spend at least $1,000 on a new laptop.
And that stinks.
NVIDIA is getting Copilot+, but we have no idea when
NVIDIA has already announced that its RTX GPUs will be able to power Copilot+ and that there will be new laptops that support this feature. The problem is that we don’t know when this will happen, and if it happens at all in 2024, it will be a surprise. All we do know is that it will be a free update ‘when available’.
There have been rumors that a Microsoft exclusivity deal with Qualcomm is set to expire this year around ARM chips in laptops, supported by further rumors that NVIDIA itself is looking to get into the ARM game after 2024. The skeptical brain in my head would say that this deal also covers Copilot+, which would suggest that Microsoft has chosen to line its pockets over serving millions of existing Windows users.
This is all speculation, of course, but there has to be a reason why existing, more than capable hardware is being left out of Copilot+. Let’s face it, money talks, so it’s not hard to believe that could be behind this decision. However, it doesn’t make it any better.
NVIDIA RTX GPUs will CRUSH current NPUs for AI
The other mind-boggling part of this to me is that existing laptops with NVIDIA 40-series GPUs inside have AI capabilities far beyond the NPUs currently deployed by Qualcomm. Copilot+ requires a minimum of 40 TOPS to operate locally. The RTX 4050, the bottom rung of the ladder, boasts a whopping 194 TOPS, while the RTX 4090 I have reaches a whopping 686 TOPS. Both are far more powerful than the 40 TOPS requirement for Copilot+ and, importantly, are already in the hands of millions of Windows users worldwide.
NVIDIA has risen to the lofty heights of claiming the title of the world’s most valuable company, thanks in part to the AI boom. The company’s ceiling is sky-high, as companies of all sizes around the world scramble to get in on the action. NVIDIA itself has been building its own portfolio of AI software for some time now, with its hardware powering apps like NVIDIA Broadcast and the more recent developments RTX Chat and RTX Video.
Copilot+ is clearly a big deal, and equally a big part of Windows’ future. Yet only a small portion of Windows 11 users can even try it now. Will anyone using an NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD PC compatible with the feature remember what it is by the time this free update rolls out? Or even worry?
Mass adoption over marketing
I firmly believe that mass adoption of Copilot+ should have been an immediate priority over any kind of deal or carefully crafted marketing campaign. And let’s be honest: with the Windows Recall debacle, marketing has already fallen on its head. There’s too much negative buzz about what should be a monumental shift in the way we use our PCs, and it’s unlikely to go away if the vast majority can’t even use it for themselves.
The way to get people behind Copilot+ is to simply get them to use it firsthand. We’re going to do our utmost to cover Copilot+ developments through the rest of 2024 and beyond, but it’s already difficult. And this is what we do. The only members of the Windows Central The only team that can actually contribute to our Copilot+ knowledge base at this point are those who have received Snapdragon X Elite review units from the various manufacturers.
I want Copilot+ to succeed. AI is an exciting technological development and I am already using it extensively. But I also firmly believe that you have to put your best foot forward. The best way here would have been to reveal it and get it into as many hands as possible, and that’s not happening. It’s hard to generate excitement for a feature that no one can use, and it’s even harder to have any control over the story when no one can see the product itself.
That won’t happen, but I beg of you Microsoft, make sure Copilot+ gets distributed to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.