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Microsoft is dropping the Copilot+ PC label for new Surface devices

only one source so far

The new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop (2nd Edition), which will be released on 13 October, meet and exceed the technical parameters for Copilot+ PC (80 TOPS NPU versus the required 40), but Microsoft is not marking them with this label and is switching to the more generic label "performance PC".

Microsoft has introduced the new Surface Pro 12-inch (2nd Edition) and Surface Laptop 13-inch (2nd Edition), which will be released on 13 October. Both devices run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus processor with a Hexagon NPU delivering 80 TOPS – double the minimum threshold of 40 TOPS that Microsoft previously set for the Copilot+ PC label. Despite this, the company is not using this label for the new devices.

According to Brett Ostrum, corporate VP of the Surface division, the devices meet all the existing requirements for Copilot+ PC (16 GB RAM, 256 GB storage, NPU with performance of 40+ TOPS), but Microsoft is still not marking them with this label. According to him, the company continues to bet on the concept of edge AI and hybrid solutions, just without the exclusive brand. Kedar Kondap, SVP of Computing at Qualcomm, stated that the purpose of the Copilot+ PC label was to define a category of devices with a certain performance bar; now, according to him, it is about offering the same experiences, just without using this terminology.

Microsoft's marketing page for Copilot+ PC, which was still active in May (according to Internet Archive records), now redirects to a page called \"performance PCs\". It still mentions the Copilot+ PC name, but much less prominently than before.

What changed

Why it matters

For consumers buying a Surface, this does not mean a retreat from AI features – the hardware offers the same or higher NPU performance than before, only the marketing label is changing. For companies purchasing hardware for employees, however, it means that the "Copilot+ PC" label is no longer a reliable guide for identifying devices with edge AI acceleration; specific technical parameters (TOPS, RAM, storage) need to be tracked instead of the marketing label.

Two audiences, two different impacts

What this means

01

For individuals

Buyers of new Surface devices cannot use the Copilot+ PC label as an indicator of edge AI capabilities – new devices have higher NPU performance, but do not carry the label.

What to do When choosing a new Surface or other Windows PC, verify the specific NPU performance in TOPS instead of relying on the marketing label.
More practical updates →
02

For a business

Companies purchasing laptops with AI acceleration cannot rely on the Copilot+ PC label as a reliable guide, because the same or better hardware may no longer carry it – specific technical parameters need to be assessed.

Sales and marketing
What to decide When specifying the purchase of corporate laptops with AI support, verify the technical parameters of the NPU (TOPS, RAM) instead of the marketing label.
More business impacts →
AI PC Copilot+ PC Microsoft NPU Snapdragon X2 Plus Surface

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Event sources

only one source so far · 1 publisher, 1 independent. We count feeds from the same owner only once.

1
Ars Technica (AI) independent context · first detected Microsoft stops insisting you need a "Copilot+ PC"