Microsoft released a 12-second video on the official Windows YouTube channel, saying, “We’re faster than a Mac. Here’s how much faster.” The host in the short YouTube clip says, “Top Copilot+ PCs are up to 58% faster than MacBook Air with M3.” They reiterate, “That’s right, faster than a Mac.”
Redmond has been pushing its Arm-based Copilot+ PCs hard, primarily because they accounted for less than 10% of total shipments in the 3rd quarter of 2024. These Snapdragon-powered laptops have already been on the market for a year, but their uptake is still seemingly slow. This is happening despite the Qualcomm CEO saying that Arm processors will corner 50% of the Windows PC market in five years.
Copilot+ PC manufacturers tout their laptops' AI capabilities as their main selling point. However, people's main reasons for looking at and purchasing these devices are their extreme battery life and the need to upgrade to a new laptop.
The cheesy ad seems to target buyers in the latter camp, telling them that Copilot+ PCs are faster than the most affordable MacBook Air. However, if you look at the fine print, the data was gathered from a test done last year, and it specifically says the result was from a multi-core benchmark.
Apple launched the M4 MacBook Air earlier this year, and it’s one of the best value laptops you can get from Cupertino. More than that, this model is more affordable than the previous-generation M3 MacBook Air and now comes standard with 16GB of unified memory. The new M4 MacBook Air would likely blow other Copilot+ PCs out of the water, especially as it’s significantly more powerful than the M3.
Still, this does not mean you should avoid Copilot+ PCs and go for the Mac. After all, many people are still more comfortable using a Windows PC, and their extraordinary battery life should be able to stop a few laptop shoppers on the fence from jumping ship.
Suppose Microsoft can improve software support for these Arm-powered devices, allowing for more hardware customization and upgrades. In that case, PC enthusiasts will likely experiment and see what they can do with them. But until that happens, you might continue seeing cheesy ads like this, practically saying, Please, buy a Copilot+ PC.
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