Microsoft stacks Copilot+ PCs powered by Intel and AMD chips against (last year's) MacBooks in updated benchmarks

[Windows Central]

Microsoft shared benchmarks and comparisons of Copilot+ PCs powered by Intel and AMD processors this week. Here's how they stack up against MacBooks and other systems.

Microsoft stacks Copilot+ PCs powered by Intel and AMD chips against (last year's) MacBooks in updated benchmarks : Read more

 

[Sonivaldo Silva]

Microsoft is once again making the mistake of trying to convince consumers that Copilot+ PCs are better than Macs. That’s like comparing Nokia to the iPhone or Windows Phone to iOS. Most consumers don’t care about processing power; what matters to them is the experience the product delivers to justify their purchase. At the moment, there’s nothing in Windows 11 that justifies replacing a Mac or an old laptop with a Copilot+ PC.

Let’s be honest: is the Windows Recall feature available to everyone? No, right? And Copilot offers a terrible experience because it opens in a web page instead of an app. Plus, everything Microsoft promises with AI can already be done using ChatGPT, DALL·E, and Sora on any device.

Microsoft needs to stop and focus on something that truly attracts people glued to their phones to come back to Windows or makes them really want to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11. For now, there’s no “killer feature” in Windows 11 that justifies this transition.

Oh, but someone might say: “It’s better for gaming!” That doesn’t matter, because there are already dedicated consoles for that. According to studies by Newzoo and Ubisoft, most gamers prefer playing on consoles or smartphones rather than PCs. Moreover, Windows 11 ARM is clearly losing to Macs with Apple Silicon in terms of game optimization.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Microsoft is once again making the mistake of trying to convince consumers that Copilot+ PCs are better than Macs. That’s like comparing Nokia to the iPhone or Windows Phone to iOS. Most consumers don’t care about processing power; what matters to them is the experience the product delivers to justify their purchase. At the moment, there’s nothing in Windows 11 that justifies replacing a Mac or an old laptop with a Copilot+ PC.

Let’s be honest: is the Windows Recall feature available to everyone? No, right? And Copilot offers a terrible experience because it opens in a web page instead of an app. Plus, everything Microsoft promises with AI can already be done using ChatGPT, DALL·E, and Sora on any device.

Microsoft needs to stop and focus on something that truly attracts people glued to their phones to come back to Windows or makes them really want to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11. For now, there’s no “killer feature” in Windows 11 that justifies this transition.

Oh, but someone might say: “It’s better for gaming!” That doesn’t matter, because there are already dedicated consoles for that. According to studies by Newzoo and Ubisoft, most gamers prefer playing on consoles or smartphones rather than PCs. Moreover, Windows 11 ARM is clearly losing to Macs with Apple Silicon in terms of game optimization.

The most popular device used to play games is the smartphone, followed by the PC. https://www.statista.com/statistics/533047/leading-devices-play-games/

 

[naddy69]

The fact is, for most people a Windows PC is what you use at work. Consumers generally want nothing to do with Windows PCs when they get home (or stop working when they are working from home). They have a phone and maybe an iPad. That's all most people need.

Windows PCs are still too clunky, too difficult and generally just not fun to use for most people.

"Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite processors are up to 58% faster than MacBook Air M3".

Still cherry picking test results? Why is the comparison to the Air? It has 8 CPUs. Of COURSE systems with Snapdragon X Elite processors are 50% faster. They have 12 (50% more!) CPUs. Where is the comparison to the M4 MacBook Pro?

Pathetic.

 

[Sonivaldo Silva]

The most popular device used to play games is the smartphone, followed by the PC. https://www.statista.com/statistics/533047/leading-devices-play-games/

The research or study I’m basing my comments on is prior to the most recent one you shared here, but this doesn’t change the fact that, in previous years, consoles were ahead of PCs. The growth pointed out by Statista for PCs in 2024 is a reflection of hybrid devices, which contributed to the increase, while the drop in console sales is partly due to the price hikes by Sony and Microsoft. Let’s see if this trend continues in 2025 with the release of GTA6, which could boost console sales. Additionally, the Newzoo study I’m referencing focuses more on player habits than sales and also revealed that more than half of gamers play on more than one platform. When it comes to choosing only one system to play on, the PC comes in last with 8%, while smartphones and consoles are the first and second, with 35% and 9%, respectively, according to Newzoo.

 

[ad47uk]

The fact is, for most people a Windows PC is what you use at work. Consumers generally want nothing to do with Windows PCs when they get home (or stop working when they are working from home). They have a phone and maybe an iPad. That's all most people need.

Windows PCs are still too clunky, too difficult and generally just not fun to use for most people.

"Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite processors are up to 58% faster than MacBook Air M3".

Still cherry picking test results? Why is the comparison to the Air? It has 8 CPUs. Of COURSE systems with Snapdragon X Elite processors are 50% faster. They have 12 (50% more!) CPUs. Where is the comparison to the M4 MacBook Pro?

Pathetic.

I changed to Mac last year, after years of using Windows, macOS, while it does have its faults, they are nowhere near what windows have.
Ai is not pushed onto me like it is with Windows, it has one toggle, off or on.

Windows is clunky and I never really seen it as such before, but after using MacOs, I now do.

 

[dkstrauss]

Why doesn't anyone discuss driver support (lack of) with these Windows ARM devices. For example, there is no driver support for ANY standalone scanner, and the scanner support for multifunction printers is primitive at best. A lot of finger point here - with Microsoft telling me to contact the vendor for drivers, and the vendors just saying "NO." I blame this SOLELY on Microsoft because they are the ones foisting the future on us without supporting our devices.

I traded my M1 Max MacBook Pro for the Surface Pro 11 Elite/5g - and that Apple ARM laptop supported my Canon ImageFromula R40; Raven Scanner (now abandoned by Raven); and my wife's old ScanSnap scanner - but no dice with the SP11.

I LOVE the SP11 form factor and combination of laptop with a tablet (even though it is far from an iPad Pro as a tablet, it is still adequate) but it has been more than six months since the SP11 was released and it looks like Microsoft has accomplished what it really wanted - getting Intel/AMD off their collective a***** to release CoPilot+ laptop processors, and leaving the QC experimenters behind.

 

[ad47uk]

Why doesn't anyone discuss driver support (lack of) with these Windows ARM devices. For example, there is no driver support for ANY standalone scanner, and the scanner support for multifunction printers is primitive at best. A lot of finger point here - with Microsoft telling me to contact the vendor for drivers, and the vendors just saying "NO." I blame this SOLELY on Microsoft because they are the ones foisting the future on us without supporting our devices.

I traded my M1 Max MacBook Pro for the Surface Pro 11 Elite/5g - and that Apple ARM laptop supported my Canon ImageFromula R40; Raven Scanner (now abandoned by Raven); and my wife's old ScanSnap scanner - but no dice with the SP11.

I LOVE the SP11 form factor and combination of laptop with a tablet (even though it is far from an iPad Pro as a tablet, it is still adequate) but it has been more than six months since the SP11 was released and it looks like Microsoft has accomplished what it really wanted - getting Intel/AMD off their collective a***** to release CoPilot+ laptop processors, and leaving the QC experimenters behind.

You hit the nail on the head, if these Windows arm machines are supposed to be business machines then they certainly need good support for hardware, certainly in the printer/scanner side. There are still a lot of scanners out there, and some pretty expensive ones.
I bought an Epson ET-8550 printer last week, looking at all the drivers available, even for Linux and Linux Arm , nothing for a windows Arm machine. By all accounts it does work, but only basic settings. If you pay over £600 or over 700 US $ for a printer , you would want all the features to work on your computer.

 

[dkstrauss]

You hit the nail on the head, if these Windows arm machines are supposed to be business machines then they certainly need good support for hardware, certainly in the printer/scanner side. There are still a lot of scanners out there, and some pretty expensive ones.
I bought an Epson ET-8550 printer last week, looking at all the drivers available, even for Linux and Linux Arm , nothing for a windows Arm machine. By all accounts it does work, but only basic settings. If you pay over £600 or over 700 US $ for a printer , you would want all the features to work on your computer.

What's really frustrating is that Apple somehow gets the vendors to write drivers to Apple's ARM based silicon, yet those same vendors (some of the biggest - Canon, HP, Fujitsu) just tell MS to go but a stump...